November, 19 11 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



109 



•Japanese Anemone" chrysanthemum Garza, as a "specimen plant' 

 exhibition. Careful tying and training all the season is necessary 



for 



Another form of "specimen plant" and a "Japanese" variety. The perfection of 

 form, even distribution of flowers and their uniform condition are points of merit 



of these are so sturdy that they require 

 no support in a climate where rain has 

 rarely to be considered. 



If aphis troubles the plants — and in 

 the East is their greatest pest — some of 

 the special solutions offered in the seed 



stores will control it, and even hosing will 

 do much to keep the lice off the new 

 growths, or you can use the standard 

 kerosene emulsion. 



In California I have found the diabrotica, 

 a green bug with black spots on its back, 



very destructive of the buds and flowers, 

 the only parts it feeds on. Even the 

 experiment stations suggest no remedy 

 other than picking them off and throwing 

 them into coal oil. This is best done in 

 the morning. 



The Umbrella-Bearers, A Worthy Family - By wilheim Miller, 



New- 

 York 



A TYPE OF BEAUTY THAT SHOULD BE REPRESENTED IN EVERY GARDEN — SOME HAVE TROPICAL LUXURI- 

 ANCE, OTHERS FERN-LIKE DELICACY; SOME ARCHITECTURAL QUALITY, AND ALL HAVE NATIVE DIGNITY 



(Editors' Note. — The "Fun of Collecting" series is designed for beginners uho zcould like to become experts. It renounces the pedantic and useless icay of 

 describing plants in alphabetical order and tries to tell their human interest, what they are good for, and how best to use them.) 



\ TiTHAT a jolt that phrase will give some 

 * * of my botanical friends — the ''um- 

 brella bearers! " How some botanists hate 

 imagination! One of my old teachers, 

 who has never read Tyndall ''On the 

 Scientific Use of the Imagination" would 

 call this "yellow journalism." He cannot 

 deny that the language of botany is full 

 of imagery, but it is discreetly swathed in 

 Latin. "Umbel" means umbrella, but 

 to call the Umbelliferse "umbrella bearers" 

 is unforgivable, like the nude in art. Only 

 one thing could be worse, viz. "Curious 

 Cousins of the Carrot." 



No one has ever invented a good English 

 name for the vast family of Umbelliferas 

 — the fascinating group which contains 

 those humble denizens of the kitchen 

 garden — carrot, parsnip, celery and pars- 

 ley — and those herbs of Biblical allusion 

 and fragrant memory — anise, caraway, 

 coriander, cumin, fennel, dill, and lovage. 

 Yet all these favorites of our grand- 

 mother's garden have one trait in common; 

 they bear flat clusters of small flowers, 

 usually white or yellow, with stems radiat- 

 ing from a common point like the ribs of 

 an umbrella. Doubtless this is not abso- 

 lutely true, for every family has its imi- 



1. Hydrocotyle repanda, showins the curious, 

 shield-shaped leaves which are so unlike the ordinary 

 habit of an umbel-bearer 



tators and black sheep — individuals who 

 persist in wearing parasols or even turbans. 

 But, humanly speaking, the umbrella is 

 the coat of arms of a mighty interesting 

 family — a type of beauty that should 

 be represented in every garden. 



One may fancy the umbel a token of 

 sweetness and light, for it holds up each 

 flower to a fair share of sunshine. The 

 seven-branched candlestick of the Hebrews 

 was an umbel; and the papyrus of the 

 Egyptian was crowned by an umbel, 

 though that plant belongs to the sedge 

 family. As to sweetness, are not the umbel- 

 bearers famous for the aromatic flavors of 

 their stems — witness celery, fennel, lovage, 

 sweet cicely and those aromatic seeds used 

 in confectionery and bakery, to wit, cara- 

 way, coriander, and celery? 



Certain it is that the umbel has made a 

 considerable impress upon art. Xew deco- 

 rative motives never charm like those 

 which are thousands of years old. The 

 meaning of the old symbols may be known 

 only to scholars, but eyen the most ignorant 

 experience strange stirrings of the sub- 

 consciousness at the sight of the swastika, 

 the reed-bound axe that stands for power, 

 and the lamp that symbolizes learning. 



