February 14, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



63 



Poinsettia are well known as holiday ornaments of north- 

 ern greenhouses, and here in the open air their blazing 

 color can be seen from a great distance. In spring the 

 plants must be cut back severely in order to induce them 

 to branch out more freely. A plant eight or ten feet high, 

 with twelve to fifteen or more flower-heads, is a magnifi- 

 cent sight. The Fire-bush, as it is called in Florida, is per- 

 fectly at home in the sandy soil. 



Franciscea (Brunfelsia) calycina, a native of Brazil, is an 

 exquisite shrub with large lanceolate light green leaves and 

 large trusses of purple flowers, which appear in succession 

 throughout the spring, summer and fall months. F. eximia, 

 F. Lindeniana, F. confertiflora, F. hydrangeasformis, F. la- 

 tifolia and F. uniflora are all broad-leaved evergreen shrubs 

 with blue flowers. A number of these were sent to Florida 

 in the fall of 1885 and planted out in a small clearing near 

 Lake Audubon, but they did not get the necessary care, and 

 all were lost. F. uniflora has been grown with great suc- 

 cess in Mr. E. H. Hart's garden. It was planted in a half- 

 shady position, where it is perfectly at home. Mr. Reasoner 

 grows another species from the West Indies, F. Americana, 

 whose fragrant flowers are yellow when opening, but 

 finally become white. 



Gardenia florida and its varieties, natives of China, but 

 known under the rather inappropriate name of Cape Jas- 

 mines all over the south, thrive admirably in Florida, and 

 make a beautiful display, especially when in full flower. 

 Specimens ten to twelve feet high, and as much in diame- 

 ter, are often seen on old places. The evergreen, shining 

 leaves, the pure white double flowers exhaling a delicious 

 fragrance, the dense growth and the ease with which the 

 plants are grown into fine specimens, place them in the 

 front rank of ornamental shrubs. The stunted yellow- 

 leaved specimens which we sometimes see in south Florida 

 only prove the carelessness of their owners. A little fer- 

 tilizer and a heavy mulching will make fine specimens. 



Grevillea robusta, Silk-tree, or Silk Oak, an Australian 

 tree of great beauty, grows as well as Magnolias do on the 

 dry sandy soil. The large fern-like leaves are covered with 

 a silky down. Trees in Orlando, planted six years ago, 

 are now twenty to twenty-five feet high and show a dense 

 crown of branches and leaves. The flowers appear in 

 panicled racemes and are of a beautiful orange color. The 

 variety Pyramidalis has a broad dense spreading crown 

 and is far superior to the type as a shade-tree. Grevillea 

 Hilli, of which I have a number of young plants, is said to 

 be very beautiful. 



Embothrium coccineum, of Chili, also a member of the 

 order Proteaceae, is an exceedingly beautiful broad-leaved 

 evergreen tree, bearing exquisite red flowers in great abun- 

 dance. It grows well in the gardens of the Riviera, and 

 even in Ireland, and ought to be tried extensively in Florida, 



Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Chinese Hibiscus, is one of the 

 best of flowering shrubs, being equally effective as a single 

 specimen and in groups. Its habit is always good, its 

 branches being dense and its leaves of a rich glossy green. 

 The many garden-varieties are all desirable. All are easily 

 grown on high poor Pine-land, and with a little care and 

 fertilizer three-year-old plants attain a height of ten to 

 twelve feet. The single-flowering varieties are stronger 

 growers than the double ones, but the latter are more pro- 

 fuse bloomers. Being tropical plants they luxuriate in the 

 full rays of the sun. A group, consisting of about a dozen 

 forms, is a picture which makes a lasting impression. If 

 massed together, so that the ground is shaded, they do 

 not need so much water as single specimens. The ground 

 around them should always be heavily mulched. In groups 

 the single varieties must find a place in the centre or in the 

 background, as they are of the most vigorous habit and 

 are certain to overtowerthe double kinds. The garden vari- 

 eties are too numerous to name, but they range through 

 many colors, and it is not difficult to make a good selec- 

 tion. 



Hibiscus mutabilis, Cotton Rose, or Confederate Rose, is 

 a small tree of rather open habit. I first noticed it in the 



gardens of New Orleans, and later at Mobile, Pensacola 

 and Jacksonville. It is a fine plant when in bloom, bear- 

 ing at the same time white and red flowers, and thus pre- 

 senting a very striking appearance. The showy double 

 flowers are white in the morning, changing to pink at noon, 

 and to deep red at night. As the flowers last almost to the 

 middle of the next day, the contrast of the white and red 

 blossoms is very impressive. This plant is also known as 

 the Mexican Rose ; it is, however, a native of China and 

 India, and thrives well on high Pine-land, but grows to 

 perfection in rich hummock soil. 



Hibiscus Syriacus, Althea, Rose of Sharon, in many vari- 

 eties, grows well in Florida. Though I do not grow this 

 shrub myself, I have seen several fine specimens near 

 Gotha. 



Hydrangea hortensis, the Hortensia of China, is growing 

 luxuriantly under the protection of a shed, near Viburnum- 

 tinus, Daphne Indica and Myrtus communis. It flowers 

 profusely in winter, commencing late in October or early 

 in November. I planted out the common rose-colored 

 variety, but in Florida the flowers have assumed a deep 

 indigo-blue. If well fertilized, mulched and shaded, this 

 fine old plant thrives in all parts of Florida. H. Otaksa, 

 H. Thomas Hogg and H. stellata grow equally well under 

 the same treatment. 



Milwaukee, Wis. JJ t T^cllTlillo- , 



Notes for Mushroom-eaters. — IV. 



GILL-BEARING FUNGI — CONTINUED. 



AMONG our most easily recognized forms is the Parasol- 

 fungus (Fig. 5, p. 44), Agaricus procerus, which is edible, 

 and not easily mistaken for poisonous forms. It has white 

 gills and spores, but no volva, and the ring is not fixed, but 

 may be moved up and down. The stipe is very long, 

 hollow and rather slender, and thepileus is closely covered 

 with scales free at the outer edge, and when expanded is 

 not flat at the centre, but raised in a blunt projection. The 

 color varies from nearly pure white to more frequently a 

 pale brown, and the fungus often attains a considerable 

 size, so that it can be seen from a distance as it stands up 

 in the grass. The substance is tougher than that of the 

 species previously mentioned, and it remains for some 

 time without decaying. The only species closely related 

 botanically to the Parasol-fungus which we can stop to con- 

 sider is Ag. naucinus, which is found only in the autumn, 

 when it is not uncommon on lawns. The fungus-gatherer 

 is often puzzled by this species, which, on the one hand, 

 resembles (he true mushroom, and, on tKe other, resembles 

 some of the poisonous white-spored species. From the 

 latter it can at once be distinguished by the absence of all 

 trace of a volva. From the former it is distinguished by its 

 white, not purple, spores, and by its gills, which remain 

 white until quite old, when they turn very slightly pink. 



After the true Mushroom, our commonest and best spe- 

 cies, considered by some even better than the mushroom, 

 Is the Horsetail mushroom (Fig. 10), which abounds in fields 

 and by road-sides in the autumn, and is sold to some extent 

 in the Boston market, but, as far as we know, not elsewhere 

 in this country, under the name of English mushroom. 

 The Horsetail mushroom springs up in groups, often of 

 considerable numbers, and the pileus, instead of opening, 

 remains like a closed umbrella until it begins to decay. 

 The pileus is oval in shape and densely covered with 

 shaggy scales of a white color. The stipe is hollow and 

 the small ring is quite loose. The gills are at first white, 

 and then pinkish until decay begins, when the whole fungus 

 quickly changes to a black fluid mass. The spores are 

 black. We have two very common forms closely related 

 to the Horsetail, which igrow in dense clusters near the base 

 of stumps and trees, but in neither form are there the 

 shaggy scales or the ring. Furthermore, mistakes here 

 are not dangerous, for the two species are not poisonous, 

 and one is certainly edible, but not very agreeable, at leasi 

 to the writer. 



