524 



Garden and Forest. 



[December 26, 1888. 



perfect Marechal Neils. Tliere is liltle doubt tliat it will prove 

 a valuable bedding; variety ; and as to its suitability for forcing 

 under glass there can no longer be a question. M. GuiUot, to 

 whom we are indeljted for this magnificent variety, has once 

 more placed the lovers of fine Roses under grateful obliga- 

 tion to his house. „ ^ ' ijii 



The Forest. 

 The Forest \'ei^etation of Xortli Me.xico. — X. 



IF we continue, o\'er the ]ilains and amongst the foot- 

 hills bordering Ihem, our examination of the frutescent 

 species of Chihuahua, we shall Hnd sparsely scattered 

 through the chaparral several shrubs of interest in one 

 regard or another — Cassia WisHsciii, Gray, in small 

 clumps about si.x feet high, for its abundant yellow bloom 

 shown in April, and again after the midsummer rains 

 have refreshed the c<5untry : Anisacanlhus insigiiis. Gray, 

 a slender bush three to six feet high, for its showy light 

 purple flowers, which appear on the leafless branches 

 in March ; Zizyphus lyciodcs. Gray, growing in clusters 

 six or eight feet high, for its burden of lilue-black berries, 

 long persisting; Acacia cons/ricta, Benfh., here merely a 

 shrub with tall, slender stems, for the delightful fragrance 

 of its flowers, growing in little yellow heads strung on the 

 virgate branches, which throughout several months of the 

 year betray to all passing nea:r the presence of this shrub : 

 Lippia h'cioides, Steud., a tall and tender shrub, often sup- 

 ported by other species, for a similarly sweet and long 

 continued perfume ; Ukraurus lep/ocladus, Hook,y^, a Itiw, 

 soft bush, for its feathery panicles of fruit : Ephedra Iri- 

 y'l/rca. Ton:, two to ten feet high in clumps, for its rush- 

 like, leafless branches ; and Epiiedra pedunciddta, Engelm,, 

 a vine-like plant climliing amongst shrubbery, for its 

 numerous scarlet berry-like fruits. 



On the extensive sandy plain, in some parts shifting 

 sand-hills, \jmg siuth of Paso del Norte, Bigelovia piil- 

 chcl/a, Q>x?ij, Arleiuisia fili/ulia. Torn, and Polominiha in- 

 cana. Gray, are scattered as small shrubs amongst clumps 

 of Mesquite. In arroyos of the plains BrickcUia laciiiiala, 

 Gray, and Hynieiiocleamonogyra,Grciy, are woody-stemmed 

 plants a few feet in height, A wild Grape, ]'iiis Arisonica, 

 Engelm., bearing clusters of a iew small berries, grows on 

 river banks. Two species of Baccharis, B. angusti/olia, 

 Michx., and B. ghilinosa, Pers. , border streams or cover 

 their higher gravel. The Osier-like stems of these two 

 common plants, harvested before the resin-covered leaves 

 fall, and bound into bundles, ser\-e as fuel for burning- 

 tiles, lime, etc. Senecio salignus, DC., and VarUIa i\/e.\i- 

 caiia. Gray, are woody composites of the lower valleys, 

 conspicuous in ^Farch for profuse yellow flowers. 



The low shrubs which occup)' the mesas of thin soil 

 on a cemented foundation, previoush' described, are 

 chiefly Lanca Me.xicana, Moric. , and Flnurensia cor una, 

 DC, the leaves of both covered with resin as a protection 

 against drought, and the following, -whose leaves have a 

 ■ velvety covering, serx'ing the same entl — Parlheuium inca- 

 iium, HBK., Lippia WriglUii. Gray, Buddleia marriibiifolia, 

 Benth. , with round heads of orange-colored flowers, and 

 Leiicophyllurn ■minus, Gray, whose deep jiurple flowers 

 contrast well with its silvery leaves. Quite at home 

 amongst these, and overtopping them, we notice Rhus 

 inicrophylla, Engelm., six or eight feet high, and attractive 

 with its scarlet fruits, and a depauperate state of Acacia 

 cons/ricla, Benth. 



Approaching finall}' the foot-hills by the arroyos, strewn 

 with gravel and boulders, through which their torrents rush 

 down to the plain, channels left dry throughout most or 

 the year, however, we pass a straggling growth of shrubs, 

 the acquaintance of man}' of which we have already made 

 upon the plain. I'Vom the arroyos we follow into' the 

 gulches and cafions others, however, which better love the 

 hills, — Moms inicrophylla, Buc*l., ten to fifteen feet high, 

 of interest as )ielding fruit, though small and barely edible, 

 ]5erhaps the best wild fruit to l)e found : P/elia angiislifolia, 

 Benth., five to twelve feel, of slender, irregular habit ; 



Garrya Wrigli/ii, Torr., six feet high, a leafy evergreen ; 

 Berberis tri/oliolata, Moric, a Berberry with glaucous, pun- 

 gent lea\'es and the usual scarlet berries ; Ungnadia spc- 

 ciosa, Endl., loaded in earliest spring wiili pink flowers: 

 A'hus vireiis. Lindh., approaching arborescent proportions, 

 with shining e\-ergreen leaves, pink flowers and scarlet 

 fruits ; Lonicera albijlora, 'J'. & G., a white-flowered Honey- 

 suckle ; Cotoneaster denticulala. HB]\.. six to eis^ht feet hitrh, 

 and loaded with rosy-wliite fruits of the size of Huckleber- 

 ries ; Foresiiera phillyreioides. Torn, six to ten feet high: 

 Mimosa prolifica. Watson, four or five feet : Rhainnus Cal- 

 ifornica, Esch., fifteen feet : and Cohibrina Texensis, Gray, 

 ten to fifteen feet high. 



Without the canons v\e find preferring more open situa- 

 tions, on the lesser hills, Eyseiiliardlia spniosa, Engelm., 

 one to two feet : Teconia stans, Juss.. three to six feet, bril- 

 liant throughout the growing season with shining yellow 

 flowers: Mimosa dysocarpa, Benth., and M Priiiglei. Wat- 

 son, both pretty, with a jirofusion f)f purplish flower clus- 

 ters : iMortonia scabrella, Gray, two or three feet ; Adolphia 

 infesla, Meisn.. spiny and almost leafless, in broad clumps, 

 l)ut a foot or two high ; that strange j^lant, Foucjuie.ra spleii- 

 dcns, Engelm.. with virgate stems fen to fifteen feet high, 

 several spreading from a common crown and terminated 

 by a cluster of flaming red flowers; and ^'amiuclinia ee- 

 ry mbosa, Corr., a beaulififl shrub of a few feet in height \\\\\\ 

 compact, evergreen foliage and cor)'mbs of white flowers ;. 

 on the upper slopes and summits — Ceauoihus Greggii, 

 Gray; Coimnia Me.xica/ia, Don, three to six feet high ; Cerco- 

 carpus parvi/'oliiis, Nutt., ten feet : and Fcudtera rupicola, 

 Engelm. and Gray. 



In canons of mountains about the Laguna c- untry were 

 found, besides many of the above, — Acacia crassifolia, 

 Gra)% A. Berlaiidicri, Benth.. and A. anisophylla, Watson, 

 ;/. sp., Bauhinia uii/Jlora.W'ciisou. 11. sp.. showy, with purple 

 flowers, and Randia Priiiglei, (Jra)-. \vith white fragrant 

 flowers, all about flfteen feet high, and doubtfully to be in- 

 cluded among shrubs. Hoffiiuriiscggia fru/icosa, \\'alson, 

 71. sp., and Jl/achao/iia Pringlei. Gray. 11 ■ sp., a loveh' e\-er- 

 green with white flowers, \\-ere but three to five feet high. 



Charlotte. Vt. - - _ 



C. G. Pringle 



Correspondence. 

 An Appeal for Pretty Plants. 



To the Editor of G.-^rden ..\nd F(.)REST : 



Sir. — I am a vulgarian. I like prettj' plants. I also like to 

 own them. I like to see them growing on my little grounds. 

 1 like them just as much if they come from far away as if thev 

 were first found near at hand ; and if they are very unlike 

 what all my neighbors have, I love my prettv plants the better 

 for that. I enjoy gathering- around me handjon-ie shrubs and 

 trees which I couldn't otherwise see short of a horticultural 

 Ij.irk or a big arfioretum. To n-iy low taste it isn't the end 

 of all perfection in planting to secure " repose," or general 

 sleepiness, or so refined a con-imoiiplace that nobody will no- 

 tice whether anything is growing near my house. 1 rebel 

 against Mr. Olmsted and you, and only a revolt will east, 

 my iriind and temper when you go to laying down those 

 austere rules of landscape-gardening. What ! May sorne 

 high artist come along, and oi'der out of the ground 

 my phn-ning Pan-ipas Grass and striped Eulalias, my de- 

 licious Japanese Maples and the Paulov.nia which I cut 

 down every year that it n-iay yield n-ie leaves n-iore 

 than two feet across, my Hydrangea Grandifloras, all in a 

 l)ouncing bed, n-iy dainty blue Spruce and delicate Deodar 

 Cedar, my Retinisporas, too various to describe in a letter of 

 |:)rotest, and my Irish Yew, black as the Sun-ra)- Pine is yel- 

 low ? Shall he n-iake me believe that all the people who look 

 over my fence as they go by and who say this lawn is the 

 neatest thing in the neighborhood, lack good taste for ad- 

 miring a plain n-ian's collection of all the fine things he 

 could find a nice place forand n-iake grow out-of-doors ? Why 

 n-iav I not think a dai:k Austrian and a light Scotch Pine set 

 each other off as well in Pennsylvania as if they were planted 

 t'other side of the sea ? Why are not that rich Nordi-i-iai-in Fir 

 and that bland Nobilis as charming side by side as if one were 

 thriving unseen in the Crimea and the other were hidden away 

 in the .Sierras ? 



