528 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS Achillea 



now become so mixed up that the craze 

 for naming mere colour variations seems 

 to have happily ceased. 



Culture <tc. as above. 



G. pulchella. — A charming annual 

 2-3 ft. high, with lance-shaped coarsely 

 and sparsely toothed leaves, and crimson 

 flowers, tipped with golden-yellow. 



Culture dc. as above. Increased by 

 seeds sown in cold frames in autumn or 

 gentle heat in spring. 



ACTINELLA. — A small genus of 

 more or less downy or hairy perennial or 

 annual herbs, with alternate entire or 

 pinnately lobed leaves. Flower-heads 

 yellow. Receptacle hemispherical or 



conical. Ray florets spreading 3-toothed 

 or cleft. 



A. grandiflora {Pigmy Sunflower). — A 

 pretty perennial 6-9 in. high, native of the 

 Colorado Mountains. During the summer 

 months it produces yellow flower-heads 

 about 3 in. across, and looks effective 

 grown in masses. There are a few other 

 species to be met with in botanic gardens, 

 but they are not well known. 



Culture and Propagation. — This 

 species flourishes in light sandy soil in 

 sunny parts of the flower border. It may 

 be increased by division in spring, or by 

 seeds, if ripened, sown in cold frames 

 when ripe, or in spring. 



Tribe VII. Anthemidb^. — Herbs or shrubs often emitting a fragrant odour. 

 Leaves usually alternate and much divided or cut. Disc florets usually yeUow, rarely 

 purple, 4-5-cleft. Ray florets strap-shaped, entire or toothed, or shortly tubular. 

 Involucre with bracts in many series. Receptacle naked or furnished with chaffy scales. 



ACHILLEA (Milfoil; Yareow). — 

 A large genus of herbaceous and alpine 

 plants having ternate, simple and finely 

 cut leaves, and small flowers in corymbs. 

 Bracts of the involucre oblong, often 

 shrivelled looking. Receptacle with chaffy 

 scales. Ray florets few, comparatively 

 large and showy. Pappus none. 



Culture and Propagation. — Achilleas 

 grow freely — sometimes too fi:eely — in 

 ordinary garden soil. The larger growing 

 kinds are effective in groups in the 

 border, while the dwarfer kinds may be 

 used in the rock garden. They may be 

 increased by dividing the roots in spring ; 

 by cuttings of the young shoots inserted 

 in light soil in a cold frame at the same 

 period or during the summer months ; or 

 by seeds sown in cold frames when ripe ; 

 in the open border in April and May ; or 

 in gentle heat in March. The seedlings 

 should be pricked out when the seeds are 

 sown under glass, and may be transferred 

 to the open ground in spring or autumn, 

 according to the period of sowing the 

 seed. When sown out of doors the seed- 

 lings need only be thinned out, leaving 

 the others to bloom where the seed was 



A. aegyptiaca {Egyptian Yarrow). — 

 A silvery plant 12-18 in. high, native of 

 Egypt and Greece, with pinnate leaves 

 having bluntly lance-shaped toothed leaf- 

 lets, and fine yellow flowers in terminal 

 corjrmbs in summer. Best in sunny 

 places. 



Culture Sc. as above. EasUy increased 

 by division in spring. 



A. Ageratum {Sweet Maudlin). — A 

 pretty compact alpine native of Greece. 

 Leaves narrow with beautifully crisped 

 edges, and arranged in dense silvery 

 rosettes. Flowers in summer, large pure 

 white, borne singly on stalks 6-8 in. high. 



Culture dc. as above. 



A. asplenifolia. — A pretty N. American 

 plant about 18 in. high. Lower leaves 

 stalked, pinnately cut with pinnate lobes ; 

 upper ones pinnate. Flowers in summer 

 and autumn, golden-rosy, small, in com- 

 pound corymbs. 



CiMure dc. as above. 



A. atrata. — A handsome Austrian 

 alpine, with deep shining green leaves in 

 rosettes. Flowers in August, white. 



Culture dc. as above. 



A. Clavennse. — A pretty tufted hoary 

 Austrian species 6-10 in. high, with 

 leaves twice pinnately cut into linear 

 obtuse segments. Flowers in spring and 

 summer, white, in compact heads. 



Culture dc. as above. Easily m- 

 creased by division of the tufts in early 

 autumn or spring. 



A. Eupatorium {A. filipendula). — A 

 handsome Caucasian species 4-5 ft. high, 

 with rough hairy pinnate leaves, lobed 

 and serrated. Flowers from June to Sept- 

 ember, bright yellow in dense rounded 

 heads, often 5 in. across, and lasting a 

 long time. 



Culture dc. as above. 



