October 27, 1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



423 



in 1882, it is grown by the Chinese for fuel and thatching, 

 and is a large stout Reed. M. Sinensis is distinguished by 

 its shorter, thinner culms, which at Kew attain a height of 

 five feet and are less than a quarter of an inch in diameter, 

 while the leaves are two and a half feet long, a quarter of an 

 inch wide, channeled their whole length and shining green, 

 with a white stripe along the midrib. The sheath is glab- 

 rous and covered with a wax-like bloom, and there is a 

 tuft of long silky hairs on each side of the ligule. This 

 species is a native of China and Japan. It was introduced 

 by the French horticulturists in 1889 under the name of 



and other parts of China. Planted in strong deep soil, 

 where they will get plenty of moisture and sunshine, these 

 plants are seen at their best and show to advantage in 

 comparison with those grown under less liberal treatment. 

 Phragmitis communis variegata. — This is a highly deco- 

 rative variety of the common Reed, the Arundo Phragmitis 

 of Linnaeus. A small plant of it was presented to Kew 

 four years ago by Messrs. Wallace & Co., of Colchester, 

 and it is now a mass of stems ten feet through and six feet 

 high, clothed with leaves a foot long, an inch wide, and 

 green, striped and margined with creamy white, the sheaths 



m 



- 



Fig. 54. — Juniper in Yellowstone National Park. — See page 420. 



Eulalia gracillima, var. foliis univittatis. Under the name 

 of M. Ogi we have a third species which was introduced 

 from Yokohama in 1895. It is as hardy as the others, 

 larger than they are, and at least as handsome. In the 

 Bamboo garden at Kew it has formed a cluster of about 

 fifty stems nine feet high and half an inch in diameter, the 

 leaves three feet long, one and a half inches wide, and dark- 

 green, with a white stripe along the midrib, the sheaths 

 glabrous and tinged with purple, the ligule bearded. It 

 promises to be a plant of exceptional value in the garden. 

 The specific name looks like Chinese or Japanese vernacu- 

 lar. Possibly it is M. sacchariflorus, a native of Peking 



partly rose-purple, partly green, and the band round the 

 ligule blackpurple. It is by far the most ornamental form 

 of this Reed known to me, and it is an ideal plant for the 

 water-side. It was, I believe, found by Dr. Wallace as a 

 sport from the type, which is common in wet places in 

 this country, and he took it into his garden and found the 

 variegation was permanent. Possibly the stems would 

 grow to a height of eight or ten feet in a warmer situation 

 than the margin of the lake at Kew. It must not be con- 

 fused with the Gardener's Garters, Phalaris arundinacea. 



Laportea Canadensis. — I lately saw a large quantity of 

 this plant under cultivation in tiie Jardin d'Acclimatation, 



