496 



Garden and Forest. 



[December 12, 18S8. 



Peas, and of tlie brightest scarlet color. Like all the Kenne- 

 dyas, it is Australian. The Kew plant has been known to 

 flower profusely for at least six months at a stretch. (2) Hib- 

 berlia dentata, which is another green-house climber of great 

 attraction. It has oblong leaves about three inches in length 

 and colored deep chocolate; the flowers are large, single and 

 golden yellow. During winter this plant makes a pretty dis- 

 play. (3) Senecio Ghiesbreghtii, which is used here sometimes 

 for out-door liedding in summer, but it is of greater value as 

 a flowering plant for large conservatories in winter. The 

 stem is stout and from si.x to ten feet high, with large ovate 

 leaves a foot Inng, and enormous terminal corymbs of deep 

 yellow flowers. It is planted in the beds in the Kew conser- 

 vatories, and is in grand condition now. No doubt you culti- 

 vate this plant in your gardens, as it is Mexican, but it may not 

 be utilized with you as a winter-flowering subject. (4) Dahlia 

 imperialis, which is another giant composite from Mexico. 

 In the gardens bordering the Mediterranean it attains magnifi- 

 cent dimensions, and at Kew it grows to a great size. The 

 largest plants are twelve feet high, with a stout single stem, 

 clothed with very large decompound leaves, those at the base 

 of the stem being about a yard through. The flowers are in 

 large spreading panicles, very numerous on well-grown 

 plants, and each one is six inches across, somewhat cupped, 

 the single row of petals broad at the base and gradually nar- 

 rowed to a long point ; they are white, with a faint tinge of 

 purple, the small cluster of disc-florets being yellow. As this 

 plant blooms in November and December, it is valuable for 

 the decoration of large houses. At Kew it is started early in 

 spring in a little warmth, and then placed outside when the 

 weather is warm enough. It recjuires a little heat in October 

 and November to bring the flowers to perfection. (5) Bcfaria 

 glauca, which is an interesting green-house shrub. i]itroduced 

 to Kew a year or two ago from the Andes of Peru. It flowered 

 for the first time last year, and a plant of it is again in bloom. 

 The habit is that of a Rhododendron, the leaves are about two 

 inches long, glaucous beneath, and the flowers are in terminal 

 spikes. The plant is only three feet high, with one stem, but 

 this bears a cluster of seven erect spikes, each nine inches 

 long, and bearing a score of flowers, which are bell-shaped, 

 one inch across, and rose-colored. This plant is known here 

 as the Andean Rhododendron. It is Ericaceous and evergreen. 

 Out-of-doors there is, of course, a scarcity of flowers, but we 

 have three little attractions which deserve mention. They 

 are: first, the autumn-flowering species of Crocus. The Kew 

 collection of Croci is exceptionally rich, and they are arranged 

 in two groups, the one autumn- and the other spring-flower- 

 ing. Until only a year or so ago the autumn Croci were un- 

 known in English horticulture here, but, thanks mainly to Kew, 

 they are rapidly appearing in all good gardens. Of course, the 

 display in the autumn depends very much on the nature of 

 the weather, and in November it is seldom favorable to flow- 

 ers. Lately, however, mildness, with a little sunshine now 

 and then, have favored us, and consequently these Croci are 

 good just now. Amongst them are white, lilac, mauve, pur- 

 ple, blue, and variegated. Altogether there are about thirty 

 species of Crocus which flower between August and Decem- 

 ber, the first to appear being the pretty C. Scharojani of the 

 brightest orange color. The cultural requirements of the 

 species which bloom in autunm are exactly those of the better 

 known spring-flowering kinds. The winter Daffodil {Stern- 

 bergia lutea) is another pretty and easily grown hardy plant 

 which flowers at this time of year. At Kew it is planted in 

 borders and bogs, where it never fails to develop its large, 

 bright yellow, Crocus-like blooms. Close to it, or growing 

 mingled with it, is the crimson-flowered Winter Gladiolus 

 {Schisosfylis coccinea), and the combination is pretty in effect. 

 I suppose every one knows the value of the Schizostylis as a 

 winter-flowering plant for the green-house, but is not often 

 seen in a border out-of-doors. At Kew it remains in bloom 

 till December, unless the frost is very severe, or there is a 

 long spell of heavy fogs. Is Hippophae rhaiinioides used as a 

 garden plant in America ? Here it is native, and consequently 

 not often met with in gardens. It is the Sea-Buckthorn of 

 every-day people. Planted on the edge of the lake, so that its 

 roots are constantly under water, this shrub is a great success 

 at Kew, every branch being now weighed down with the enor- 

 mous crop of bright yellow berries. It is easily grown, and 

 flowers and fruits freely every year. Being dicecious, how- 

 ever, one must be careful to get' both sexes and plant them 

 near each other, or no fruit will come. The berries have a 

 strong styptic flavor similar to that of the Oleaster, to which 

 the Sea-Buckthorn is closely related. CratcEgus Lelandi, a 

 form of the well-known Pyracantha, is a new addition to win- 

 ter-berried hardy shrubs. It is useful as a pot plant, owing to 



its habit of fruiting freely when only a few inches high. Large 

 specimens are now a gorgeous picture of the brightest orange 

 scai^let, the berries crowding on the branches much more than 

 I have ever seen the old Pyracantha do. Whether grown 

 against a wall or as a specimen shrub on a lawn, it is a perfect 

 success. We are indeljted to the Messrs. Veitch for its intro- 

 duction. W. Watson. 



Niiveniber i6th. 



New or Little Known Plants. 

 Berberis Fremonti.* 



THE ^lahonia section of the genus Berberis is the 

 exclusively prevalent one upon the western side of 

 our continent, ranging from British Columbia to Central 

 Mexico, and from the Pacific Ocean to the Rock)' Moun- 

 tains and the Gulf of Mexico, and is represented by half a 

 dozen or more species within the limits of the United 

 States. It presents also an exception to the general rule of 

 resemblance of the eastern-Asiatic flora to our Atlantic- 

 coast flora rather than to that of the Pacilic, inasmuch as 

 several species of this section are found in Japan, China 

 and the north-eastern borders of India, and nowhere else 

 in the Old World. 



Mahonia differs from Berberis proper in the full develop- 

 ment of all the leaves, and the consequent absence of 

 spines (which in the common Barberry are abortive, pri- 

 mary leaves), and in the pinnation of the leaves, which 

 consist of one or more pairs of leaflets upon a common 

 petiole. This petiole is jointed at the base of each pair of 

 leaflets. There are no differences of importance either in 

 the flowers or fruit, and it is easily seen how the Barberry 

 is simply a Mahonia with undeveloped foliage, the pri- 

 mary leaves being reduced to a cluster of spines, and the 

 secondary pinnate leaves to the single terminal leaflet 

 which is always jointed upon the ver)' short petiole. The 

 leaflets in Mahonia are always evergreen and spinosely 

 dentate, usually rigid and glossy, and often strongly 

 reticulate- veined. The berries are globular, or nearly so, 

 and often blue or nearly black. The species most fre- 

 quently met with in cultivation are the well-known 

 " Oregon Grape," the B. aqidfolium of the Pacific Coast, 

 and B. Japonica from Japan. Several other species are 

 doubtless as well worth cultivation. 



Berberis Fremoiili, the characters of which are well 

 shovv^n in Mr. Faxon's figure, is a shrub growing from five 

 to fifteen feet high, found in the arid regions of the south- 

 west from Texas to Arizona and Lower California. It is 

 very peculiar in the character of its fruit, which at maturity 

 becomes dry and inflated, inclosing six or eight seeds. 

 What appears to be a form of this species, with compara- 

 tively broader, elliptical and less spiny leaves, occurs in 

 central Texas, and was named by Mr. Buckley B. Sivaseyi. 

 Little is known respecting it. 5. W. 



Pentstemon rotundifolius. 



OF this plant, which was figured and described in the 

 issue of this journal for November 28th, Mr. Pringle 

 writes : 



In the autumn of 1886 was found hanging quite in 

 the manner of rock-brakes, from thinnest seams of dry 

 granitic cliffs (on their sides least exposed to the sun), 

 among the dry mountain chains southward from Chihuahua, 

 a most singular Pentstemon, of so much beauty that 

 Dr. Grav, when naming it as above, desired that efforts be 

 made to bring it into cultivation. Seeds were accordingly 

 distributed to botanic gardens, but in consideration of the 

 strange habitat of the plant, it was with slight hopes of 

 success. The plant is evergreen, with short stems which 

 branch freel)' ; its leaves are broad, ver)' thick and 

 leathery, glaucous ; its flowers tubular, scarlet. 



On its dry wall of rock, through winter frosts and the 

 long term of fierce heats and absolute drought, when it 



*B. Frbmonti, Torr., in Bof. Me.x. Bound. Surv., 30. 



