THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



21 



By pruning off the lower joints as the plant grows, the 

 prickly pear may be trained into the form of a small tree, and 

 is thus occasionally treated in the gardens O'f our Southwest. 

 The plant as found growing wild on old Mission lands is some- 

 times procumbent as well as upright. Old plants are wonder- 

 fully prolific of fruit. I have counted thirty-four ''pears" on a 

 single joint. The Burbank spineless varieties in cultivation are 

 similar to this naturalized child of Franciscan days in Cali- 

 fornia, but of course the absence of spines and spicules makes 

 the cultivated fruit more convenient to handle. The Mission 

 Fathers introduced this species and another with red fruit, 

 Opuntia tuna, both for hedge purposes and as a food item for 

 their dusky proteges. 



THE FLOWERS OF JAPAN 



/^NE may safely assert that no garden, large or small, in the 

 United States of America is without its something '' japon- 

 ica". True, not all the plants bearing the name are strictly 

 native of Japan, for the ignorance of botanists and. others has 

 resulted in many plant names being misnomers, — but that is 

 another story. To the horticulturalist of this country, Japan 

 is of peculiar interest, for not only has it furnished our gardens 

 and greenhouses with a host of invaluable plants, but it is the 

 only country of which the first fruits, horticulturally speaking, 

 came direct to the United States. The gardens of this country 

 secured the plants of most lands through Europe, and not only 

 exotic plants, but a large number of North American native 

 plants also. With Japanese plants, the case is different, thanks 

 to Dr. G. R. Hall. It is well that garden lovers of this country 

 should treasure the name of this gentleman for the plants he 

 introduced, — Lonicera Halleana, Magnolia steUata, Malus 

 Halleana, and others — are indispensibles. It was in March, 

 1862, that Dr. Hall returned from Japan and handed over his 



