August 12, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



375 



Tropical Nymphseas in the Open Air at Berlin. 



THE tropical Nymphseas, and especially the African spe- 

 cies (N. Lotus, N. Zanzibarensis, etc.), far excel most of 

 the species of cooier climes in the dimensions of their leaves 

 and in the size and colors of their flowers— so much so, that in 

 our colder latitudes lovers of these flowers will sometimes 

 incur considerahle expense in supplying them artificially with 

 the conditions of growth which will enable the cultivator to 

 enjoy the full development of their beauty. In some botanic 

 wardens and in the gardens of some rich amateurs we meet 

 with glass houses in which spacious tanks of water are kept 

 constantly warm by means of a powerful heating apparatus, 

 and the interior of these covered aquariums often presents a 

 heightened and more pleasing effect when contrasted with the 

 winter's snow or the summer's drought which may prevail at 

 the time out-of-doors. In somewhat warmer latitudes such 

 an expensive mode of culture is not necessary, and then tanks 

 in the open air, of dimensions proportioned to the size of the 

 plants, and deepest at the centre, take the place of tanks under 

 glass. A few coils of hot-water pipe sunk into the water raise 

 its temperature to the proper degree during the early period 

 of the growth of the plants, while all through the summer the 

 sun's rays, acting on the comparatively small volume of water 

 in the tank, heat it sufficiently to induce and maintain an abun- 

 dant and continuous bloom on the plants. It is in this way 

 that Mr. E. D. Sturtevant, in the vicinity of New York (that is, 

 in the same latitude as Madrid), successfully grows. the fine 

 Nymphcea Lotus, N. scutifolia, N. Zanzibarensis, etc., and the 

 numerous forms of hybrids of the first-named species. Culti- 

 vated here under less artificial conditions, these plants seem 

 to harmonize more with the surrounding vegetation, which is 

 quite of a southern type. 



But what will your readers say to the astonishing spectacle 

 of tropical Nymphasas growing and flowering in the open air, 

 in pieces of water of some considerable area, and that, too, in 

 the latitude of Berlin ? This is a sight which may be seen in 

 the garden of Herr Borsig during many of the summer 

 months. The solution of the riddle (which for a long time 

 has been no secret to many of your readers) is, that an appli- 

 cation has been made of the warm water formed by the con- 

 densed steam which issues from the machinery workshops of 

 Herr Borsig, which stand close to the garden. The idea 

 of utilizing this condensed steam in raising the temperature 

 of pieces of water first occurred to the grandfather of the 

 present proprietor, who, being a well-informed lover of gar- 

 dening, made his park, and even his dwelling-house, a centre 

 and museum of the most interesting horticultural collections. 

 A description of all these would occupy too much space here. 

 I shall confine myself to the pieces of water in the park which 

 are filled with Nymphseas. The grounds are about five acres 

 in extent, and are pretty thickly wooded. Through them Hows 

 a canal, raised four or five feet above the level of the river 

 Spree, which runs close by. This canal is divided into two or 

 three basins, averaging ninety-seven feet in length and thirty- 

 two feet in width. On the banks handsome trees temper the 

 sunshine, especially about the upper basin, into which the 

 warm water flows, under gentle pressure, through a pipe 

 about as thick as one's wrist, and a few yards in length. Its 

 temperature, on issuing from the pipe, is about seventy-six 

 degrees Fahrenheit, and in the basins from sixty-one to sixty- 

 nine degrees Fahrenheit. 



The varieties of Nymphsea grown here are pretty numerous, 

 and have more or less intercrossed with one another. The 

 principal one, both in numbers and effectiveness, is a variety 

 of N. rubra* seven or eight strong specimens of which grow 

 in the upper basin. This variety has peltate leaves, brown 

 underneath, and at least sixteen inches across, floating on the 

 surface of the water, and half raised at the centre of the cluster 

 of foliage. The flowers, which stand from six inches to one 

 foot above the water, are of a fine rose color, and more than 

 eight inches in diameter, with very numerous, thin, narrow, 

 limp petals. The characteristics of the plant very much re- 

 semble those of another hybrid, which was formerly named 

 N. Ortgiesiano-rubra, but are on a much larger scale. N. 

 rubra, considered as the type of this species, if it is one, is not 

 so largely developed as the handsome plant of which I have 

 just spoken. 



Among the blue-flowered kinds, N. Zanzibarensis appears 

 to yield the best results. Its clusters of foliage, which are not 

 so broad as those of N. rubra, are more compact, and the 

 leaves are greener in hue. Its handsome flowers remain open 

 only for a few hours every day. 



A hybrid between the last-mentioned species and N. rubra 

 was pointed out to me. This was still a young plant, but was 



commencing to flower. Its flowers are of a violet-rose color. 

 N. scutifolia does not flower so well as N. Zanzibarensis. A 

 variety named N. ccerulea odorata has quite a pleasing fra- 

 grance ; it is of vigorous growth and carries its flowers fully 

 sixteen inches above the water. N. Lotus has not as yet flow- 

 ered here, although it produces an abundance of its dentate 

 leaves, which are green underneath. 



These Nymphseas remain in the open air for about six 

 months. Toward the month of October the water in the ba- 

 sins is let off into the river Spree, and the rhizomes of the 

 plants are taken up, washed, drained dry and wrapped up in 

 dry moss, after which they are stored under the shelves in a 

 temperate house, where they remain dormant and in good 

 condition during the winter. In the following March a little 

 water is given to them, and they are removed to a house 

 which is slightly heated, where they soon put forth new leaves 

 and later on fresh roots. About the end of April or early in 

 May they are replanted in the basins, each rhizome having a 

 quantity of rich soil or compost placed around it. The warm 

 water is then let into the basins, and these very soon afterward 

 resume the imposing aspect of a river in the tropics. — Maurice 

 L, de Vilmorin, in Revue Horticole, translated in The Garden. 



The Weeds of California — III. 



OF the great Leguminous family only four members can be 

 said to be generally obnoxious to farmers — namely, the 

 Bur Clover (Medicago denticulate!) , the Sweet Clover {Melilotus 

 Indica), the Sand Lupin (L. formosus, Greene) and the native 

 Licorice (Glycirrhizalepidota). It is true that some of the many 

 native Clovers (Trifolium), though mostly annual, do persist for 

 a while among the grain ; but they soon disappear from culti- 

 vated fields, and only remain in pasture-grounds, where they 

 are all welcome. 



But the Bur Clover, apparently one of the earliest European 

 importations, is of a very different temper. Although an an- 

 nual, its long, wiry, deep-going roots enable it to survive 

 repeated croppings even unto another season. Under the in- 

 fluence of somewhat generous spring rains, its usually 

 decumbent stems will become assurgent and clothed with 

 luxuriant foliage, forming on the ground a heavy, dense mat, 

 six to ten inches thick, and apparently a most inviting pasture. 

 But its inherent bitter taste prevents any serious damage being 

 done to it by pasturing cattle, which pick the early grasses by 

 preference. Thus the Bur Clover is allowed to mature its 

 coiled pods, armed with hooked bristles, and borne in such 

 abundance that they often form a layer over an inch thick, 

 where the plant, after the cessation of rains, has disappeared 

 before the summer " northers," only a few wiry stems remain- 

 ing. These burs form a highly important ingredient of the " dry 

 pasture" in the Coast ranges, where cattle get fat on ground 

 that looks to the new-comer as barren as a burnt prairie on the 

 plains. Sheep, of course, also thrive on the pods, but the 

 damage done to the value of their fleece by the inextricable 

 burs is so great that Bur Clover pastures are sedulously 

 avoided by the sheep men. 



But during the summer drought this plant changes its nature 

 to suit the altered conditions, and where the -ground is culti- 

 vated the seed of the same season soon germinates, and a 

 second crop comes up to worry the cultivator. It does not 

 take the insidious little plant long to develop into wheel-shaped 

 mats of all sizes, lying flat on the ground, with minute leaves 

 only, and soon covering themselves with closely packed burs 

 in great profusion. At this time the stems are wiry and tough, 

 and only a very sharp hoe will cut either root or stem. But 

 the seeds acquire germinating. power so early that, unless eter- 

 nal vigilance is exercised, a close mat of young plants will be 

 found in spring where an apparently wretchedly depauperated 

 specimen seemed hardly to maintain life the previous sum- 

 mer. It appears as though the Bur Clover had found in Cali- 

 fornia conditions more favorable to it than anywhere else in 

 the world. 



The yellow Melilot also appears to find a most congenial 

 home in all the richer soils where moisture is not too deficient. 

 Thus it grows not only on the banks of brooks and ditches in 

 the Coast ranges as well as in the great valley, but is also 

 found on roadsides and in the cereal fields, completing its 

 growth and fruiting, like the latter, in spring or early summer. 

 Hence, when the cereals are cut for hay the Melilot goes in as 

 a flavoring ingredient to an extent which renders the hay dis- 

 tasteful to horses at least. Worse than this, it is harvested with 

 Wheat, and if left even in the sheaf for any length of time so 

 flavors the grain that the flour made therefrom has a distinct 

 "gingerbread" flavor that is strenuously objected to by millers 



