600 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS 



GALAX 



pure white, solitary, thrown well above 

 the cushions of green foliage. 



Culture cmd Propagation. — This 

 pretty little plant may he grown in exposed 

 parts of the rookery in deep sandy peat 

 with plenty of moisture during hot dry 

 summers. It is increased by careful 

 division in spring. 



SHORTIA. — A genus containing 2 

 species of very smooth scapigerous herbs 

 with a perennial stem. Leaves all radical, 

 long-stalked, round or heart-shaped, 

 toothed or serrate, persistent. Flowers in 

 terminal scapes, solitary, large, nodding. 

 Calyx 5-parted. Corolla bell-shaped, with 

 5 wavy crenate lobes. Stamens 5. Stami- 

 nodes 5. 



S. galacifolia. — A beautiful tufted 

 plant 2-S in. high, native of the moun- 

 tains of N. Carolina. All the leaves are 

 radical, or in other words, spring from the 

 i-oot. They are broadly elliptic or round- 

 ish with crenate edges and long stalks, and 

 assume a beautiful purple-red tint on the 

 approach of autumn and winter. The 

 charming funnel-shaped flowers, about an 

 inch across the mouth, appear in March 

 and April, and are white in colour, shading 

 off into pale rose with age. As a rule only 

 one blossom is borne on a slender scape, 

 but occasionally two are seen. 



In recent years another species — 8. 

 uniflora — has been introduced from Japan, 

 but it appears to differ little if at all from 

 the North American plant. And it is 

 possible that the same species grows wild 

 in both the Old and the New World. 



It may be as well to mention here that 

 a plant which has been distributed within 

 the last few years under the name of 

 Shortia caUfornioa is really not a 

 Shortia at all. It belongs to the Composite 

 order, and is properly known as Bceria 

 coronaria, which see, p. 524. 



Culture and Propagation. — Shortias 

 flourish in sandy peat or sandy loam in 

 sunny situations better than in shady 

 spots as often recommended, but they 

 must not want for water during the 

 summer months. They may be increased 

 by imported seeds, or by carefully dividing 

 well-established clumps in early autumn, 

 with the runners. 



SCHIZOCODON.— A genus with 1 or 

 2 species of smooth tufted herbs, having 

 radical long-stalked ovate roundish 

 leathery persistent leaves, heart-shaped 

 at the base. Mowers few at the top of 

 a scape, nodding. Calyx 5-parted ; with 

 linear oblong segments. Corolla bell- 

 shaped, 5-lobed. Stamens 5, aflBixed to 

 the tube of the corolla at the base. 

 Staminodes linear, hairy above the sta- 

 mens. Ovary ovoid roundish, S-celled. 



S. soldanelloides. — A beautiful tufted 

 Japanese plant 2-3 in. high, with 

 roundish sparsely toothed leaves having 

 a somewhat wrinkled surface. Flowers 

 in March, broadly funnel-shaped, deep 

 rose, the edges deeply cut into spreading 

 or recurved whitish thread-like fringe. 

 The first plant to flower in cultivation 

 was shown in London, March 28, 1893, 

 by Capt. Torrens, Boston Manor, Hayes, 

 Kent, the introducer, and had eleven 

 flowers, drooping or horizontal at the top 

 of the scape. 



Culture and Propagation. — It seems 

 to flourish in peat and sand, and wiU pro- 

 bably be at home in the rock garden if 

 planted in warm sheltered positions. It 

 is still very rare and little can be said 

 about it, but when well established it may 

 possibly be increased by carefully dividing 

 the tufts in spring. 



GALAX (Wand Plant). — This genus 

 contains but one species : — 



G. aphylla. — A charming little rook 

 plant 3-6 in. high, native of N. America. 

 Leaves all radical kidney-shaped or 

 roundish heart-shaped, crenate-toothed 

 with radiating veins, and slender stalks 

 sheathing at the base. Flowers in July, 

 white, small, numerous, at the top of a 

 slender scape in a dense raceme. Calyx 

 5-parted. Corolla deeply S-parted with 

 obovate spoon-shaped entire segments. 

 Stamens 5, united at the base of the 

 corolla tube with an equal number of 

 staminodes. Ovary ovoid 3-ceIled. 



Culture and Propagation. — This 

 species flourishes in moist peaty soil or 

 leaf mould in cool damp or boggy places. 

 It may be increased by seeds, or by care- 

 ful division of established clumps in 

 autumn or spring. 



LXVII. PLUMBAGINE^— Thrift Order 



A natural order with 8 genera and about 200 species of smooth or downy 

 perennial herbs or rarely shrubs. Leaves sometimes clustered or in rosettes, 



