440 



H> INDFA LLS. 



Venus' Paint Brush (HicTaft-uin (iiiran/iaitiin, L.) are 

 the common and botanical names of an interesting little 

 perennial belonging to the compositas family, which has 

 been introduced into cultivation in flower gardens from 

 Europe. Its leaves are radical, somewhat oblong or 

 oblong-ovate in outline, an inch or more in length, and 

 lie in tufts close to the ground. The almost naked stalk 

 varies in height from a few inches to two feet or more, 

 and bears numerous small heads of dark orange or scar- 

 let flowers, which are quite pretty. I find the seed of 

 this plant offered by a large German grower in his Eng- 

 lish trade list of iSgo and 1891 at ten shillings (about 

 $2.50) per ounce. 



The plant has two ways of propagation — one by 

 means of numerous short stolons, extending in various 

 directions around the plants, and the other by means of 

 its seed. Each seed is provided with numerous delicate 

 bristles, somewhat like the pappus of the dandelion or 

 the thistle, which are, I suppose, nature's provision for 

 the dissemination of their seed, and by means of which 

 the seeds are often carried long distances in the wind. 

 Either of these two ways of propagation would be suffi- 

 cient to make the plant a dangerous enemy to the far- 

 mer ; but when they are combined, as in this case, only 

 experience with the plant can thoroughly convince one 

 of the difficulty of getting rid of it, when once it gafns a 

 foothold. It does not ripen its seed at one time, or 

 nearly so, as some plants do, but the season for this is 

 prolonged over a considerable period. As soon as a 

 head becomes ripe, it is soon scattered. 



In many places it has escaped from gardens, and has 

 already become a great trouble to farmers. In some 

 localities around Bristol Pond, Vt., and South Monkton, 

 it already has possession of whole fields. In parts of 

 Shelburne and Charlotte, Vt., it has gained considerable 

 foothold. A new name has been given to it, namely, 

 Devil's Paint Brush, which seems to suit the farmers 

 who have had it to contend with, better than the first. 



Perhaps to relate the experience of one farmer in 

 Charlotte with the plant, will be all that is necessary to 

 show how rapidly it spreads, and how difficult it is to 

 get rid of it. About four years ago George E. Prindle, 

 of East Charlotte, Vt., discovered in his pasture about 

 half a rod well covered with the paint brush. He did 

 not then know its nature, but expected to root it out 

 when an opportunity offered. By the second and third 

 years, it had spread so that he fully realized the danger 

 from it, and went at it determined to root it out. It was, 

 by this time, quite thick on about four acres of the pas- 

 ture, and scattered more or less over 200 acres in all. 

 He carefully plowed the thickest, using care that none 

 of it was left above ground, and planted it ; but it was a 

 moist season, and by the time he had finished haying it 

 was again so thick that in some places nothing else could 

 grow. Dry weather now set in, and he gave the piece a 

 series of thorough harrowing with a wheel harrow, and 

 went over his farm in other places with potato hooks, 

 taking up every plant he could find. In this way, and 

 by first collecting and burning every head that had 



nearly ripened its seed, he has nearly mastered it. But 

 the thickest piece was thoroughly summer-fallowed the 

 fourth year, and every portion of his farm searched. In 

 a pasture a mile from the principal farm he found a 

 thick patch of it, which had been carried there by the 

 cattle. In some of his heaviest hay, on the richest soil, 

 it grew over two feet high, and taller than the best 

 timothy. Mr. Prindle says that I5 would have taken it 

 all out when first discovered. He has expended $85 al- 

 already on it, and will have to go over his ground for 

 several years yet before it is entirely gone. 



It is a plant that would thrive on almost any soil not 

 too wet for it, but a clay loam seems to be the most nat- 

 ural, — F. H. HoRSFORD, Sout/rcuick, Mass. 



Desmodium and Lespedeza. — There appears to be 

 some confusion in nurserymen's minds and in catalogues 

 with regard to Desmodittni pendiilijloriim (or racenwsuni) 

 and D. Japoniciiin, and Lcspedeza bicolor, for one has been 

 received for the other and descriptions and names are not 

 rarely misapplied. They are, however, quite distinct. 

 The desmodiums are strongly rooted, herbaceous plants 

 about four feet high, with numerous slender stems grow- 

 ing up then curving out and gracefully drooping at the 

 tips, the whole well covered with foliage, and in Septem- 

 ber bearing i n t h e greatest profusion small racemes 

 of pea-shaped flowers. In Desmodiiuii pendidi flomm 

 they are violet and purple and in D. Japonicum white, 

 the last is probably a variety of the first, but it does not 

 appear to be as hardy as the purple ; occasionally early 

 frosts injure the flowers of the purple before they are 

 fully developed 



They can be used to advantage on the edge of a mass 

 of shrubs or as a single plant or in groups in the lawn 

 near shrub plantations. The character of the roots 

 leads one to believe that they would do well in a rocky 

 soil, or in the crevasses of a ledge, and one season's trial 

 m such a situation has indicated that they are of value 

 under these conditions. 



Lespedeza bicolor is a shrub with slender, light brown 

 branches, pinnate leaves with rounded leaflets and abun- 

 dant flowers produced at the same season; and in other 

 ways very like those of Dcsinodiiin pendnlijloriim . 



The shrub has a grace and lightness about it that is 

 quite charming, and it appears to be quite hardy. The 

 leaves turn a uniform and very bright yellow. This 

 shrub is worthy of considerable attention, and promises 

 to be a valuable addition to the few autumn flowering 

 kinds. — Warren H. Manning, Mass. 



Tigridias — There are few flowers more quaintly 

 pretty, really beautiful, or more deserving of general 

 cultivation than the varieties of the genus tigridia, popu- 

 larly called the tiger flower, from its peculiar markings, 

 or again, shell-flower, from its odd shape. They are 

 Mexican bulbs, and like others of that class are rather 

 tender. They should not be planted out until the 

 weather is warm and settled. In the fall, they should 

 be carefully lifted, and stored over through the winter 

 in a warm dry cellar or closet, where frost cannot touch 

 them. A box filled with dry sand or sawdust is excel- 



