354 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 498. 



inner portion of the tube. On the part nearest the orifice of 

 the tube even the house-fly cannot obtain a foothold. The 

 lower portion is covered with a multitude of hairs barely visi- 

 ble to the naked eye, and their ends are directed toward the 

 bottom of the cavity. When an insect is once inside the 

 chances are greatly against it regaining its liberty. 



The flowers are quite as curiously formed as the leaves. 

 The style expands at the summit into a structure exactly 

 resembling an umbrella, which is composed of five divisions, 

 and each division terminates with a small hooked stigma. 

 The long petals, five in number, protrude from between the 

 divisions of the style. The stamens are quite numerous. 

 There are six species, all native of the Atlantic states. Five of 

 these are found only south of Virginia ; the other species, 

 Sarracenia purpurea, ranges from Florida to the most northerly 

 point in the New England states. S. psittacina is the least 

 attractive of those, having small pitchers shaped like the head 

 ot a parrot. S. variolaris grows about ten inches high ; the 

 hood is more perfectly developed than in any of the other 

 species. On the top of this hood are whitish, almost 

 transparent, spots, the purpose of which has not been made 

 clear. The color of the flower is yellow. The only other 

 yellow-flowered species is S. flava, the most common of the 

 southern species, ft grows to a height of from one to three 

 feet. The prevailing color is greenish yellow, with beautiful 

 reddish brown markings on the under part ot (he hood and a 

 little way down the tube. S. Drummondii, from a horticul- 

 tural point of view, is the most attractive species. LikeS. flava. 

 it is an erect-growing species. Its beauty lies in the hood and 

 the upper portion of the tube, which are white veined with 

 dark purple, and a well-grown plant never fails to excite admi- 

 ration. It grows in the almost impenetrable swamps of 

 Florida. S rubra is a low-growing species with numerous 

 narrow pitchers. The flowers are very sweet-scented and their 

 odor somewhat resembles that of the common English Violet. 

 The common or best-known species is S. purpurea ; like those 

 ot S. psittacina, the pitchers are prostrate on the ground. 



Among the numerous hybrid forms there are several with 

 very large pitchers, such as Sarracenia Chelsonii, a hybrid 

 between S. rubra and S. purpurea. This species colors up 

 well, but is inferior in markings to S. purpurea as it is found 

 growing in favorable situations about Wilmington, North Caro- 

 lina. A cross between S. variolaris and S. purpurea, named 

 S. Swaniana, has the broad form of the latter, while the light 

 markings of S. variolaris are intensified. One of the hand- 

 somest hybrids is S. Formosa, between S. psittacina and S. 

 variolaris. The form is nearly intermediate and the rich mark- 

 ings characteristic ot S. variolaris are seen all over the upper 

 part of the pitcher. All the species of Sarracenia intercross 

 very readily under cultivation, and not a few natural hybrids 

 have been found in the native wilds of these plants. If there 

 are several plants of each species in a collection and each 

 comes into bloom at the same time, which is an easv matter 

 to accompli-h by putting the backward ones into a little heat, 

 there is no difficulty in raising an endless variely of hybrids. If 

 some of the best of the hybrid forms already in cultivation 

 were used as pollen parents the resulting seedlings would 

 probably develop something entirely new. Two or three years 

 ago I had the pleasure of raising many hundreds of seedlings, 

 using all of the species as seed-bearers, and some of them 

 along with already existing hybrids as pollen parents. So 

 readily did they intercross that not a single flower failed to set 

 seed. Of the hundreds of plants grown from the seed those 

 having S. Drummondii or S. flava blood in them, no matter 

 what they were crossed with, were always, much inferior to 

 the parents both in form and color. One set between S. Drum- 

 mondii and S. crispata, the former being the seed-bearer, has 

 more dark purple than there is in S. Drummondii. The most 

 satisfactory results were obtained by using S. psittacina as a 

 seed-bearer, taking the pollen of S. variolaris or S. purpurea, 

 or even hybrids of these species. S. variolaris is also a good 

 species to select as a seed-bearer. S. purpurea crossed with 

 any of the species excepting S. Drummondii or S. flava givts 

 some pleasing forms. 



Although the raising of new varieties of Sarracenia through 

 hybridizing is an easy matter, no small details should be 

 neglected, or good results will not be secured. It is safest to 

 keep the seed-bearing plants by themselves, and when the 

 flowers are unfolding their petals, or just before the anthers 

 shed their pollen, the stamens should be removed with a small 

 pur of sharply-pointed scissors. The pollen to be used is in 

 excellent condition when it falls on the concave surface of the 

 expanded style. A little should be taken on the point of a 

 camel's-hair brush, just enough to cover the five stigmas 

 which are situated on the under parts of the extremities of the 



divisions of the umbrella-shaped style. To prevent confusion 

 a label should be tied to each fertilized flower, containing the 

 names of the parents, the seed-bearer first. The seed will 

 ripen in time to sow and have the seedlings about an inch and 

 a half high before the approach of winter. A good mixture in 

 which to sow them may be made up of two parts chopped 

 sphagnum and one part charcoal, rough-grained sand and 

 broken pots small enough to go through a quarter-inch sieve. 

 This should be mixed thoroughly, firmly pressed, and the 

 seeds covered but slightly. A pane of glass should be placed 

 over the top of the seed-pans, and these should be stood in the 

 shady part ot a cool house. The two seed-leaves are about 

 half an inch in length and quite narrow ; the first true leaf 

 reveals the genus to which they belong. At this stage they 

 may be pricked off around the edge of a three-inch pot, putting 

 eight or ten in a pot, in the soil already described, and they 

 will pass the winter safely in these pots. When they begin to 

 grow in spring they should be singled out into two-inch pots, 

 using a little fibrous, peat with the soil mixture. 



Botanic Garden, Washington, D. C. G. IV. Oliver. 



Seasonable Notes. 



TASIANDRA MACR ANTHUM, perhaps better known under 

 *— ' its old name of Pleroma macranthum, is a welcome addi- 

 tion to the few greenhouse plants in bloom at this season. The 

 flowers, which are of a beautiful deep violet-purple color, are 

 freely produced at the ends of the shoots in branchlets, and 

 although the flowers only last about twenty-four hours, new 

 ones open every day, and the flowering season continues 

 through several weeks. From cuttings inserted in April we 

 have now nice, bushy plants, in six-inch pots, but to grOw this 

 plant most successfully it requires to be kept two or three 

 years and trained on a wall or tied to some wires on the side 

 of a cool house. With a fair amount of root-space under such 

 conditions it blooms for a long time ami commands attention 

 from all who see it. L asiaiuiras are of the easiest possible 

 cultivation, They are not seen in many places, probably 

 owing to the short-lived nature of their flowers and the fact 

 that they have no value for cutting. 



Caryoptens mastacanthus, which has been quite extensively 

 advertised as a novelty dining the last year, is really an old 

 plant, having been introduced from China as long ago as 1844. 

 I remember seeing the plant grow freely on a warm border 

 in a garden near the Scotch border twenty >ears ago. It was 

 then called Mastacanthus Sinensis. It made quite a neat little 

 bush, but was not held in any particular esteem, and did not 

 prove reliably hardy there, but a scattering ot broken fern 

 overhead and a mulching ot manure at the root carried it 

 through the winter safely. I saw well-grown small bushes of 

 it last summer in the south of England, where it was said to 

 be quite hardy. It is only occasionally seen even in England. 

 When exhibited by Mr. Manning, of Reading, last year in Bos- 

 ton, it won a silver medal. It attracted much notice there 

 and was described in some ot the papers as a new introduc- 

 tion from China and called Blue Spiraea. A more correct 

 name would be Blue Verbena, belonging as it does to the 

 order of Verbenacese. I am unable to state whether C. mas- 

 tacanthus is hardy in this climate, and it is probably not. It 

 germinates freely, and fiom seeds sown about March 15th 

 we now have good plants in bloom in six-inch pots. The 

 flowers and plants are lavender-blue. In catalogues they 

 are described as azure-blue and rich violet. The plant as we 

 knew it two decades ago bore flowers of the lighter shade. 

 There is a pure white form of Caryopteris which I have not 

 yet found, but which is said to be an excellent companion to 

 the blue one. " ■ 



Chrysanthemum Golden Fleece is useful grown in a row by 

 itself, or dotted here and there, as we grow it, in the perennial 

 beds. Yellow flowers are peihaps too much in evidence at 

 this season, with so many Helianthus, Heliopsis, Rudbeckias, 

 Coreopsis, etc., but on account of its height (about two feet) 

 and its persistent blooming qualities, this Chrysanthemum is 

 worthy of a place in every flower border. It begins to flower 

 with us about July 20th, and continues until cut down by frost. 

 It proved perfectly hardy here during the past two winters, 

 only a few halt-decayed leaves being scattered over each 

 clump. The flowers are extremely useful for cutting. 



Taunton, Mass. -\_ W- N. Craig. 



Work of the Season. 



THE replanting of Carnations must now be attended to 

 promptly, and the weight of opinion is in favor of having 

 them under glass by the first or second week of September. 



