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PRACTICAL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS dabcecia 



Flowers greenish, roundish, in long one- 

 sided racemes. 



Culture dc. as above. 



E. Tetralix (Gross-lea/i'ed Heath ; Bell 

 Heather). — A beatitifal British and Irish 

 plant 6-12 in. high, with a greyish appear- 

 ance. Leaves linear obtuse, 4 in a whorl, 

 downy. Flowers from July to September, 

 rosy-red, drooping, ovoid, in umbel- 

 like clusters at the ends of the branches. 

 There is a white-flowered variety called 

 alba, and a red one called rubra. 



E. viaiveana is closely related to E. 

 Tetralix. It grows 12-18 in. high, 

 making nice bushy plants, and produces 

 its purple-crimson flowers in autumn. 



Culture (Be. as above. 



E. vagans (Cornish Heath). — A native 

 of Cornwall, S. France, and parts of 

 Ireland, 6 in. to 2 ft. high. Leaves 

 linear, recurved, 3-4 in a whorl. Flowers 

 from July to September, pink or purple, 

 bell-shaped, long-stalked, in dense axillary 

 racemes. There is a white variety, alba ; 

 also one called gra/ncUflora and rubra. 



Culture do. as above. 



LOISELEURIA. — A genus contain- 

 ing only one species : — 



L. procumbens [Azalea procumhens). 

 A distinct wiry trailing evergreen shrub 

 native of the Scottish Alps and Alpine 

 Europe. It forms flat patches with 

 deep green glossy leaves about ^ in. 

 long, deeply channelled above, densely 

 downy beneath, stiff, leathery, recurved, 

 linear obtuse. Flowers in May and Jtme, 

 pink, small, 1-5 at the tips of the branches, 

 on red stalks. Calyx 5-parted. CoroUa 

 broadly bell-shaped, 5-lobed. Stamens 5, 

 slightly adnate to the corolla. Ovary 

 roundish, 2-3-celled. 



Culture and Propagation. — This is 

 a natural rock plant, and delights in peaty 

 soil. It may be increased by seeds care- 

 fully sown under glass in autumn or 

 spring, or by layering the branches in 

 autumn and severing them the following 

 spring or early autumn, according as they 

 are more or less well rooted. As it takes 

 a long time to obtain plants from seeds, 

 layering on the whole is the better and 

 quicker process. This plant is found in 

 great abundance on the Swiss Alps, and 

 plant-hunters often imagine that good 

 clumps can bo successfully transplanted. 

 But such is not the case, as adult plants 

 almost always die. Seedlings are best 

 obtained, and when they have recovered 



the shock of removal may be given as ruucli 

 light and air as possible in the warmest 

 and sunniest parts of the rockery. 



BRYANTHUS.— A genus with 3-4 

 species of smooth or downy Heath-like 

 evergreen shrubs or bushes with flowers 

 in terminal racemes or clusters. Calyx 

 4-6-lobed or parted. Corolla bell-shaped 

 with 4-6-short recurved lobes. Stamens 

 8-10-12. Ovary roundish, 4-5-celled, 

 Capsules erect. 



Culture and Propagation. — These 

 plants grow we.'', in moist sandy or peaty 

 soil, and are cniefly suitable for the' rock 

 garden. They may be increased by seeds 

 carefully sown on the surface of sandy 

 soil in spring or autumn ; by layering the 

 branches in alitumn; by cuttings under 

 a bell-glass, or by carefully dividing the 

 plants in early autumn or spring. 



B. Breweri. — A recently introduced 

 Californian dwarf evergreen shrub with 

 clusters of narrow linear leaves, and 

 short racemes of purple-red flowers in 

 summer. 



Culture Sc. as above. 



B. empetriformis (Menziesia empetri- 

 formia). — A native of N.W. America, 

 about 6 in. high, with crowded linear 

 leaves and clusters of reddish-purple 

 flowers near the ends of the branches. 



Culture dc. as above. 



B. erectus. — A Siberian trailing bush 

 about 1 ft. high, with bluntly linear, 

 obscurely serrated leaves, and pretty pink 

 bell-shaped flowers in summer. 



Culture dc. as above. 



B. Gmelini. — A native of Kamtschatka 

 2-3 in. high, with small denticulate leaves, 

 and clusters of red flowers in summer. 



Culture dc. as above. 



DABCECIA (St. Dabeoc's Heath; 

 Irish Heath). — A genus with only one 

 species : — 



D. polifolia {Menziesia poUfoUa). — A 

 beautiftil Heath-like shrub 1-2 ft. high, 

 common on the boggy heaths of Con- 

 naught. Leaves alternate, evergreen, 

 about i in. long, elliptic, glossy above, 

 white and dovmy beneath. Flowers from 

 June to September, crimson-purple, droop- 

 ing, in loose terminal racemes. Sepals 4. 

 Corolla ovoid, inflated, shortly 4-lobed. 

 Stamens 8. Ovary ovoid, 4-celled. 



There is a white-flowered variety, 

 alba, and a deeper purple one called 

 atropurpiirea, both very pretty. There 



