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PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS impatiens 



Culture (to. as above. Increased by 

 division. 



O. tetraphylla (0. Deppei).—k very 

 handsome Mexican species, with large 

 scaly, bulb-like rootstocks, and 4-lobed 

 hairy leaves like a Maltese Cross, glau- 

 cous beneath. Flowers in summer, lurid 

 red or purplish-violet, many on a stalk. 



Culture dc. as above. Increased by 

 division. The young leaves of this species 

 may be eaten as a salad. The fleshy 

 white roots are tender and juicy but 

 somewhat tasteless. 



O. valdiviensis. — A charming Chilian 

 annual 6-8 in. high, with 3-]obed leaves, 

 and deep yellow flowers, streaked with 

 red, especially outside. 



Culture dc. as above. 



O. variabilis. — A native of the Cape 

 with a large bulbous rootstock from which 

 springs a tuft of shortly stalked leaves 

 with 3 roimdish dark green and usually 

 hairy leaflets. The cup-like flowers are 

 fully 2 in. across when fully open, and 

 are borne singly on erect stalks about 3 in. 

 high. The colour varies from purple to 

 rosy-lilac, white, or white and yellow. 



Culture dc. as above. Increased by 

 division. 



O. violacea. — A N. American species 

 3 in. high, with black spindle-shaped 

 bulbs. Leaflets 3, obcordate, smooth, 

 reddish underneath. Flowers from spring 

 to autumn, pink, 8-9 on a stalk. 



Cultu/re dc. as above. 



IMPATIENS (Touch-Me-Not).— A 

 somewhat large genus of herbs, some- 

 times shrubs, usually smooth, rarely 

 downy or hairy. Leaves alternate, oppo- 

 site or radical, serrate or toothed, with- 

 out stipules, often with glands at the 

 base of the stalks. Peduncles axillary, 

 solitary, or clustered, one- to many- 

 flowered, the upper ones forming a ter- 

 minal panicle. Flowers irregular. Sepals 

 3, very rarely 6, coloured, imbricated, 2 

 side ones flat, 2 front ones, when present, 

 small, the upper one produced into a 

 hollow spur. Petals 3, the front one 

 outside concave, the side ones 2-cleft 

 (formed of 2 petals united), the upper lobe 

 exterior. Disc glands none. Stamens 5. 

 Capsule 5-celled, the valves open suddenly 

 and with elasticity. 



Culture and Propagation. — The 

 hardy species of Impatiens thrive in any 

 garden soil and reproduce themselves 



annually without trouble, degenerating 

 into vigorous weeds unless checked. They 

 are scarcely suitable for the choice flower 

 border, but may be utilised in the wilder 

 parts of the garden or waste places. The 

 cultivation of the Balsam — I. Balsamina 

 — is specially noticed. 



The British Yellow Balsam, I. noli- 

 ■me-tamgere,isiovxi.di in moist, mountainous 

 situations, and is a somewhat pretty 

 plant. /. tricornis is an Indian annual, 

 also with yellow flowers. It makes a 

 bushy plant 3-5 ft. high, having purplish 

 stems and oval oblong toothed leaves. 



I. amphorata. — A Himalayan annual 

 3-6 ft. high, with succulent branching 

 stems. Leaves bright green, often with 

 pink edges and midrib, 3-6 in. long, 

 broadly lance-shaped, pointed, finely 

 crenate-serrate. Flowers in late summer, 

 pale purple, suffused and speckled with 

 rosy -red ; racemes 2-5 in. long, many- 

 flowered. 



Culture dc. as above. Increased by 

 seeds. 



I. Balsamina {Balsamina Jiortensis). 

 Common Balsam. — The wUd species is a 

 native of tropical Asia, 1-2 ft. high, with 

 lance-shaped, serrated leaves. Flowers in 

 summer, rosy-red. 



This is the parent of the well-known 

 Garden Balsam, at one time grown in 

 immense quantities. The double-flowered 

 varieties, such as the Camellia-flowered, 

 Bose-flowered, Solferino, Kermesina, 

 alba, rosea, violacea &c., variously striped 

 and coloured, are chiefly grown, and when 

 done well, are exceedingly handsome. 



Culture and Propagation. — The seeds 

 should be sown thinly in slight heat 

 about the end of March in sandy, but not 

 too rich, soil. "When the seedlings are 

 about 2 in. high, they should be put 

 singly into 3-inch pots in fairly rich soil, 

 with the roundish seed leaves close to the 

 surface. By the end of May or begin- 

 ning of June the plants wiU be ready for 

 planting out in beds by themselves or in 

 clumps in borders in warm, sunny posi- 

 tions, where they should receive plenty of 

 water during the summer. They absorb 

 water greedily, and are very sensitive to 

 its absence. It is astonishing, however, 

 to see the way in which plants which are 

 almost shrivelled up for want of water 

 will revive with a good soaking, and the 

 tenacity of life in such a soft and juicy 

 plant is really marvellous. 



