April 14. 1897. 



Garden and Forest. 



149 



and Columbine, Rock Cress and Saxifrage and many other 

 wild flowers are planted with the Ferns. We feel sure, among 

 other delightful " finds," that we have discovered Sedum 

 Neviusii, a rare plant, growing on our cliffs. This Sedum was 

 discovered and named a generation ago by Dr. Nevius, a cler- 

 gyman of Alabama, on rocky cliffs near Tuscaloosa, in that 

 state. It has also been found — I quote from Mr. Meehan, in 

 his Native Flowers and Ferns of the United States — on Salt 

 Pond Mountain in Virginia. We are impatient for its bloom, 

 in order that we may be sure we are not mistaken in suppos- 

 ing that our plant is the true species. 



Delicate pink and white Rue Anemones are now blooming 

 in our fernery in company with graceful fronds of common 

 Polypody, beds of Walking Fern, tiny plants of AspleniumTrich- 

 omanes, A. Ruta-muraria and larger plants of the Rock Brake, 

 Pteris atropurpurea and its near relative, Pteris gracilis. Here, 

 also, we have our collection of Mosses of this region, but, alas, 

 I am not enough of a botanist to know even the names of most 

 of them. What book on American Mosses and other flowerless 

 plants would be the most helpful to an amateur botanist who 

 wishes to begin the study of these plants ? 

 Rose Brake, w. Va. Danske Dandridge. 



[On Mosses, Lesquereux's Manual is the standard work, 

 and Barnes' Key, published by the University of Wisconsin, 

 should go with it. On Ferns and Hepaticte the chapters 

 in the last edition of Gray's Manual or Underwood's Native 

 Ferns can be consulted. — Ed.] 



The Nomenclature of the Spruces and Firs. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I trust you will give me a little space in the columns of 

 your journal for a few remarks upon the nomenclature of the 

 Spruces and Firs, in which I am much interested, and espe- 

 cially so since the discussion of this subject by Mr. Jack and 

 Professor Greene has appeared in this journal. I, in common 

 probably with many others, have noticed the difference 

 between the dates of publication of the genus Abies and of 

 the species A. balsamea as given in several of our recent pub- 

 lications. The publication of the species is made to antedate 

 that of the genus by twenty-one years, an oversight which is 

 scarcely excusable in those who have made the subject of 

 priority of publication a matter of special investigation. Pro- 

 fessor Greene says that Duhamel published a genus Abies in 

 1755, but fails to state what his type was ; was it limited to 

 Abies as at present understood, to Picea, to Tsuga, or did it 

 contain all of these genera ? I trust that Professor Greene 

 will enlighten us upon this point, as it is a most important one, 

 for, if it does not apply to Abies as at present understood, it 

 will necessitate a shifting of generic names and new combina- 

 tions. Now, in reference to Abies Canadensis, Miller, Diet., 

 ed. 8, No. 4 (1768), I think it can be shown that it is nothing 

 more than a synonym, pure and simple, of Pinus Canadensis, 

 L., Sp. PL, ed. 2, 1421 (1753). In the latter work Linnaeus 

 uses the descriptive phrase, "P. foliis solitariis linearibus 

 obtusiusculis submembranaceis," quoting as primary syn- 

 onymy, " Abies foliis solitariis confertis obtusis membraneceis, 

 Gron. Virg., i., 191," and as a second svnonym, " Abies foliis 

 picese brevioribus, conis parvis biuncialibus laxis, Mill. 

 leones, i., t. 1 " (1760). Five years later Miller published his A. 

 Canadensis, first using Linnasus' descriptive phrase, " P. foliis 

 .... submembranaceis," and adding as a second synonym 

 his own earlier description, " Abies fohis .... laxis," just the 

 same as Linnasus had done under Pinus Canadensis. There- 

 fore, as the description and principal synonym of Abies Cana- 

 densis, Miller, is the same as for Pinus Canadensis, L., and, in 

 fact, is mainly taken therefrom, the two names must be con- 

 sidered as applying to the same plant, which is the Hemlock, 

 Tsuga Canadensis (L.), Carr. As indicated by Professor 

 Sargent, the proper name for the White Spruce should be 

 Picea laxa (Ehrh.), Sarg. 



Detroit, Mich. 



0. A. Farwell. 



Notes from Carlton Hill, New Jersey. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The sixty or more hot-houses of Mr. Julius Roehrs are 

 near Carlton Hill, New Jersey, twelve miles out on the Erie 

 Railroad. Much of the stock seen here last week was for the 

 Easter trade, and many of the houses were brilliant with 

 bloom. However, in so great an establishment much space 

 was occupied by plants grown for other seasons. Not a few of 



the houses, for economy in wall-space and heating, are unsep- 

 arated, except by supports of cedar posts, and eight adjoining 

 houses, each one hundred or more feet in length, made a lux- 

 uriant field of Palms and other foliage plants. These have 

 almost no demand now, and are the specialty for autumn 

 trade, as plants in flower are for spring. A house of Arauca- 

 riaswas particularly beautiful and very thrifty, as, indeed, were 

 all the foliage plants. The type, Araucaria excelsa, and the 

 varieties known as Glauca and Robusta are all grown in quan- 

 tity ; the deep green of the older leaves and the tips of new 

 growth of a lighter shade made a beautiful effect in the great 

 collection of plants now three years old and imported from 

 Belgium two years ago. 



Among the less common flowering plants for Easter were a 

 house of French Lilacs, those intended for market now about 

 two feet high and well covered with opening trusses. Speci- 

 mens of the once popular Bottle-brush, Metrosideros, were 

 well flowered, as were trimmed plants of Bougainvillea San- 

 deriana, which Mr. Roehrs considers extremely useful on 

 account of its dwarf habit and its abundant flowers, which can 

 be forced at this season. About a dozen plants of the Rose 

 Acacia, Robinia hispida, were observed with their deep pink 

 flowers. The selected plants of Kalmia ready for Easter 

 looked well to the casual observer, though Mr. Roehrs said 

 the imported stock proved poor and unsatisfactory this season. 

 The distinct tints of thickly flowered plants of Ghent Azaleas 

 were conspicuous, and very densely berried plants of Ardisia 

 crenulala made a brilliant display near the green and white of 

 a collection of Choisya ternata. The latter has a very uncer- 

 tain sale, as it is but little known. There were plants of Cytisus 

 and of Acacia racemosa three feet high, the spiny branches 

 closely covered with the small leaves and globular clear yellow 

 flowers. Moss Roses, Baroness Rothschild and Ulrich Brunner 

 Roses filled several houses and bore a plentiful supply of 

 buds. Mr. Roehrs considers these two hybrid Roses the only 

 ones which bloom freely enough to compete with the steadily 

 improving Tea Roses. He remembers when Magna Charta 

 roses were readily sold for $18.00 a dozen at wholesale for 

 Christmas, while $6.00 is their current value in midwinter. Too 

 many of the hybrid Roses come blind, and thus prove un- 

 profitable, while Tea Roses bloom naturally and continuously. 

 There is, however, no great profit in growing Baryness Roths- 

 child and Ulrich Brunner specially for Easter, as the time 

 cannot be accurately measured, and some of the roses are 

 mature two weeks earlier than Easter, and must be cut, while 

 slower plants are belated a fortnight in flowering. 



Lilies, Azaleas, Rhododendrons and Hydrangeas comprised 

 the main Easter stock. Only Lilium longiflorum was grown 

 here this year, some 7,000 bulbs being in flower, and these tall 

 stalks bore an average of five exceptionally large and vigorous 

 buds. Most of the Azaleas were of medium size for use in 

 ordinary living-rooms, though there were some large plants 

 which will be returned by their temporary owners after the 

 flowering season is past. Three to four thousand of these 

 showy plants comprised all the best varieties and colors. So 

 much, time and money is necessary to grow large plants to 

 perfection that Mr. Roehrs finds those of medium size more 

 profitable, and they are also in greater demand. But even 

 these have dropped one-third in price in recent years. 

 The most showy Azaleas were plants of the brilliant car- 

 mine Le Flambeau ; Siegfried, a clear scarlet with a suggestion 

 of salmon, and almost free of marking ; C. B. Brigham and 

 Apollo, of a deeper shade ; Helen Thildeman, a good double 

 pink; Professor Walter, darker than Vervaeneana and an im- 

 provement on this popular pink variety. Bernhard Andre" 

 alba was the best white seen here, and Raphael is a little sen- 

 sitive so late in the season ; these, with Garten-director of 

 France, white, with markings of scarlet in clearly defined 

 sections, were among the best sorts. About three hundred 

 plants of Rhododendrons of various species were in flower. 

 The houses of Hydrangeas were hardly less showy than 

 those of Azaleas, and compact plants carried good heads 

 of many-colored flowers, various shades of blue, pink, laven- 

 der and green making a unique effect. 



Narcissi are sparingly grown, and most of the Tulips 

 were white ones, the green-tipped flowers making a pleasing 

 show in the leathery glaucous leaves. Lily-of-the-valley is one 

 of the staple crops here, and about 100,000 pips were being 

 forced. 



Orchids are grown for cut flowers, and four houses contained 

 resting plants of Cattleya trianaj, C. Mossiae, C. Gaskelliana, 

 C. labiata and Dendrobium formosum. A house of Swainsonia 

 was observed, and a group of standard Orange-trees two feet 

 high and coming into fruit, besides smaller Otaheite Oranges 

 in flower. Forced hardy shrubs were once a specialty with 



