NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Pinus Lambertiana, etc., page g. — Although in the 

 California Sierras this noble tree attains a height of 

 between 200 and 300 feet, and a diameter of trunk of 10 

 to 20 feet, here in the the east it betrays no sign of the 

 vast proportions it assumes in its western mountain 

 home. "We have some nice young trees of it, and they 

 are healthy and look well, but they display no inclination 

 whatever to quick growth, in fact, rather the contrary. 

 Evidently they are unhappy here. 



Pinus Jlcxilis v/e have got and it gets along nicely, but 

 has more of an inclination to spread horizontally than 

 rise perpendicularly. But probably your correspondent 

 refers to the true P. albiiauUs (P. Jlexilis var. albicaulis, 

 Bot. Cal. II. 124), which we have not got. 



Pinus monophylla is probably the " Fremont's Nut 

 Pine" referred to. We have it, but it is unhappy, that 

 is, it makes very little growth. And as I saw it in the 

 gardens of G. W. Childs, at Bryn Mawr, Philadelphia, 

 it is no better. On the other hand, Andrew S. Fuller, 

 of Ridgewood, N. J., tells me it grows quite vigorously 

 in his grounds. 



A New Japanese Fruit, page 40. — I am unacquainted 

 with the Myiica referred to, but let me call your atten- 

 tion to another ' ' new " Japanese fruit; namely, Elaagnus 

 longipes. True, it isn't new by any means ; at the same 

 time it is almost unknown in general cultivation. It is 

 a thrifty shrub, of comely form and appearance, and in 

 midsummer bears the utmost profusion of red berry- 

 like fruit, and two-year old plants fruit freely. The 

 fruit is cooked and used as a sauce with meat, especially 

 chicken, and it is one of the most delicious sauces that 

 ever tickled the human palate. We are planting this 

 shrub in quantity for its fruit, as we are currant bushes. 



A prominent florist was here last summer when it was 

 in full fruit, and was so favorably impressed with it that 

 he at once saw a bonanza in it as a " novelty. " ' ' Where 

 can I get stock of it?" he asked. "How many plants 

 would you need ?" I enquired. " Thirty thousand," he 

 replied ! " Not on the face of this earth," I answered. 



When I was at Ellwanger & Barry's last August I 



wished to get some more plants of it, for I noticed they 

 offered it in their catalogue under the name of E. edulis, 

 but I found they had only one plant on their place, and 

 that was their stock plant. But after a while I found a 

 quantity of it in Vermont. Since then I find it at Cam- 

 bridge, Germantown and elsewhere. It is not costly, 

 and it is well worth growing either as an ornamental or 

 fruit-bearing shrub, and it is perfectly hardy. 



Sphaeralcea Emoryi, page 16. — I grew and flowered 

 this plant a dozen years ago. It is a herbaceous per- 

 ennial, indigenous to the eastern slopes of the Sierra 

 Nevada, perfectly hardy here, and a good grower and 

 profuse and continuous bloomer, and it takes kindly to 

 cultivation in our gardens. Like the perennial gypso- 

 philas, fraxinella and Etipliorbia coroiia/a, when once es- 

 tablished it lives forever. It bore seeds with me in 

 limited quantity, but these grew readily. Its flowers are 

 dull scarlet, but not showy or large. Altogether 

 it is a brighter and better plant than the now very 

 common Malvastriim Mimroanuiii , its near relative. 



Your note on " Good old Cosmos," page 16. reminds 

 me that in this plant we have one of the most desirable 

 garden plants for fall use that we grow. But there is 

 something very curious about its time of blooming. I 

 find that it matters very little whether I sow the seed in 

 March or July, or whether the plants are large or small; 

 they all begin to bloom about the end of September. I 

 get a nice crop of flowers from them in June, by sowing 

 in March or April, growing on the seedlings in pots and 

 plantmg them out in May. The buds they "set" when 

 in the pots are advanced into blossoms, but then there 

 is a halt, and rank growth sets in, and we get no more 

 flowers till the cool nights of fall come upon us, when 

 we reap a gorgeous crop. By confining the plants in 

 pots we can have blossoms at most any time. It is only 

 fitted for outdoor cultivation in mild localities where 

 early fall frosts do not occur, but as an indoor plant it 

 is lovely. 



Wm. Falconer. 



Queens Co., A'. Y. 



FLORAL NOTES. 



A Pretty Climber. — Lovers of rapid, graceful and 

 fragrant climbers should not be without Pilogyne siiavis. 

 I find it one of the most satisfactory plants for summer 

 and winter. A lady in Bristol, R. I., placed a small 

 slip at the base of a monument last spring, and it 

 covered the base and sides entirely in a short time, 

 forming a living wreath. It was admired by everyone 

 who saw it, and now pilogyne is a Bristol favorite. The 

 slips grow easily in water or earth, and anyone can suc- 

 ceed with it. — Salis. 



Flowering of Seaforthia elegans. — In the grounds 

 of Eugene S. Shefield at Santa Barbara stands a hand- 

 some seaforthia. At 8 inches from the ground the cir- 

 cumference was 33 inches, and at the flower spike, 3^2 

 feet from the ground, the girth is 23^^ inches. It has 



twelve fine healthy leaves, every new leaf larger than 

 the preceding. It is in robust health, as shown by the 

 deep green color. It has come into flower at a bad time, 

 this being the rainy season, with short days and long 

 cool nights. Whether it will set seed I cannot say, as 

 it was not forward enough when I saw it. Being the 

 first, the flower spike is small, but as it will continue 

 flowering now, the spikes will get larger as the plant in- 

 creases in size. From the ground to the top of the 

 leaves the plant is about 15 feet high, and Mr. Shefield 

 may well be proud of his Seaforthia elegans, or as some 

 will have it, Ptychospernia Cunninghaiiiii. Is not this 

 the first seaforthia to flower in any of the southern or 

 western states in the open air ? — A. Meston, Ca/i- 

 fornia, Dec. 11, iSSq. 



