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PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS houttuynia 



The Pepper of commerce yielded by Piper nigrum is an important 

 economic plant requiring hothouse treatment. Many species of the genus 

 Piper are pretty foliage plants, all requiring to be grown in heat. 



SAURURUS (Lizard's Tail). — A 

 genus of aquatic perennial herbs ^i-ith 

 alternate broad heart-shaped leaves having 

 membranous stipules adnate to the stalk. 

 Flowers hermaphrodite, small, numerous, 

 in terminal racemes, each with a small 

 bract. Perianth none. Stamens 6 or 8, 

 or fewer by abortion. Carpels 3 or 4, 

 distinct or cohering at the base. 



Culture amd Propagation. — Curious 

 plants suitable for the bog garden or the 

 edges of ponds or lakes in sandy loam. 

 They may be increased by seeds sown in 

 spring in swampy soil in pots half 

 plunged in water, or by dividing the tufts 

 at the same period. 



S. cernuus {American Swamp Lily). 

 A North American bog plant 1-2 ft. high, 

 with heart-shaped taper-pointed leaves 

 without distinct stipules. Flowers from 

 June to August, white, in a dense spike 

 4-6 in. long, nodding at the top, bracts 

 lance-shaped, filaments long and capillary. 



Culture lie. as above. 



S. Loureiri. — A native of Japan and 

 the Philippine Islands, closely related to 

 8. cernuus, from which it may be distin- 

 guished by its angular stems, short fila- 

 ments, and spikes of flowers. S. chinensis 

 is a variety scarcely distinguishable by its 

 smaller and narrower leaves. 



Culture Sc. as above. Tliis species 

 is not so hardy as the preceding one, and 

 may require a covering in severe winters 

 over the crowns. 



HOUTTUYNIA.— A genus with 2 or 

 3 species of perennial herbs with alternate 

 broad or oblong leaves often cordate at 

 the baise. Stipules large, membranous, 



adnate to the base of the leaf-stalk or 

 united into one. Flowers hermaphrodite, 

 in dense terminal spikes, sessile between 

 the sessile bracts. Perianth none. Stamens 

 6, rarely 8, or fewer by abortion. Ovary 

 consisting of 3 or 4 united l-ceUed carpels. 

 Culture and Propagation. — These 

 may be grovni as bog plants like the 

 Saururus and are rather attractive in 

 appearance. They wUl floxirish in swampy 

 sandy peaty soil and may be increased by 

 seeds and division, the latter operation 

 being best performed in spring. 



H. calif omica (Anemiopsis caUfornica). 

 A Oalifornian perennial with hairy 

 stems and long-stalked somewhat bluntly 

 heart-shaped leaves, nearly all radical. 

 Flowers from June to August in erect 

 conical spikes subtended by an involucre 

 of about 6 oblong spreading white bracts, 

 the inner 3 of which are spotted with red. 



Culture Sc. as above. 



H. cordata (Oynvnotheca chmensis). 

 A distinct and interesting bog plant 

 3-9 inches high, with erect herbaceous 

 purplish stalks. Leaves broadly heart- 

 shaped, pointed, deep green, assuming a 

 bronzy-purple hue with age, and strongly 

 nerved beneath, the stalks furnished with 

 2 green oblong stipules. Flowers in July 

 almost at the tips of the branches in erect 

 cyhndrioal spikes, J-l in. high, with con- 

 spicuous golden stamens ; at the base of 

 the spike are 4 white oblong obovate 

 petal-like bracts which by the uninitiated 

 are likely to be regarded as the flowers 

 proper. 



Culture dc. as above. When in full 

 blossom this is a pretty plant and looks 

 well by the side of water. 



XCVIII. LAURINEiE— Bay Laurel Order 



An order of more or less aromatic trees or shrubs with alternate or scattered, 

 rarely opposite, leathery and evergreen, usually entire leaves ; often dotted 

 with pellucid glands. Stipules none. Flowers regular, hermaphrodite or poly- 

 gamous or dioecious by abortion, arranged in sessile clusters, or in umbels or 

 panicles. Perianth inferior, or rarely half superior and attached to the 

 ovary, spreading bell-shaped, ovoid, or rarely oblong, normally 6-lobed, rarely 



