1866.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
185 
this end. A neat bit of close anil well kept 
turf, is always pleasing, antl upon this, one or 
more evergreen shrubs, according to the size of 
the spot, will be in good taste, and give a cheer- 
ful look summer and winter. But to have even 
this, the soil must be looked to. Often the rub- 
bish left by the builders is just 
covered with soil, and the 
place fit for nothing but weeds. 
Among the shrubs suited for 
such places, the Norway- 
Spruce and Arbor Vitfes are 
the most readily attainable, and 
they stand rough treatment 
better than most others. 
Tliough they are naturally 
trees, they may be kept as 
slirubs. Select those well fur- 
nished to the base with brandi- 
es, and then keep lliem small 
and dense by the use of the 
knife. The Siberian, Golden, 
and other varieties of Arbor 
Vit£e, make beautiful speci- 
mens treated in this way. The 
Dwarf Pine, or some of tlie 
Junipers, may be planted with 
good effect. If the place is 
somewhat shaded, some of the 
broad-leaved Evergreen shrubs 
may be used. The Tree Box, 
Japan Euonymus, or even the 
Rhododendron, may be made 
to grow, though these are not 
recommended where the win- 
ters are severe. For such sit- 
uations the French use plants 
with ornamental foliage to an 
extent of which we have no 
conception. Some of their flor- 
ists publish especial catalogues 
of plants remarkaljle for llie 
elegance of their leaves, which 
comprise many species that it 
would be difficult to obtain 
in this country. A group of 
these plants, with fine leaves, 
can be made to produce a pleas- 
ing effect, and there are enough 
readily obtainable at our flor- 
ists, to allow those who wisli, 
to make the attempt. Our ar- 
tist has drawn a group of 
plants of this kind. The cen- 
ter of the bed is occupied by 
various species of Canna, 
around which is planted a row 
of Caladium esculeiitum, witli 
its enormous leaves, and outside of this a 
border of Centaurea candidmima, with cut 
leaves, of a very pale, almost white, color. A 
group of this kind has a very tropical look. 
Roots of the Canna and Caladium, from wliicli 
the foliage shoots up very rapidly, and plants 
of tlie Centaurea, are sold by the principal flor- 
ists at moderate prices. The Canna will grow 
about six feet, the Caladium about two or three, 
and the other not more than a foot higli. 
A very brilliant planting can be made witli 
Coleus Verschaffcltii in the center of the bed, 
with a border of Centaurea ; the deep purple of 
tlie Coleus contrasting strongly witli tlie Cen- 
taurea. The plants of Coleus may be put about 
a foot apart, and as they grow, shorten the 
branches to make a compact mass. 
Those who can wait for annuals can use the 
finer varieties of the Castor Oil Plant, the 
Striped Japanese Corn, Perilla, and others. 
Side-Saddle Flower. — (Sarracenia purpurea.) 
The engraving represents a curious plant, — 
not an exotic that can only live in the atmos- 
phere of the hot-house, but a hardy native of 
our own cold swamps. Though it la not rare, 
SIDE-SADDLE FLOWEIt 
the plant is not often seen, as its places of 
growtli, the peaty bogs and wet margins of 
ponds, are of a character not very tempting to 
others tlian botanists and anglers. Last sum- 
Fig. 3. 
mer we toolc a large specimen to a country hotel 
at which we were stopping, and found it to be an 
object of as great curiosity to the congregated 
villagers as a growing pineapple would have 
been, and Ihougii tlie plant grew in great abund- 
ance within a few miles of the place, no one ap- 
peared to liave ever before seen it. The plant 
is at any time sufficiently striking to arrest at- 
tention, and when in flower is quite conspicu- 
ous, if not elegant, and there are many exotics 
grown in our hot-liouscs with great care, tliat 
are less wonderful and less interesting than this 
singular and rather common native plant. The 
leaves are all produced in a cluster frequently a 
foot across, at the surKice or 
the ground; the engraving, 
which so well shows their 
shape, gives them in a position 
more erect than the natural 
one. In tlie living plant they 
are filled with water, and rest 
on the ground with the mouth 
and wing-like portion upper- 
most. The beauty of the leaves 
is mucli increased by conspicu- 
ous purple veins. Prom the 
shape of the leaves and the fact 
that tliey contain water, the 
plant bears Uio names of Pitch- 
er Plant, Huntsman's Cup, and 
Forefather's Cup, in some 
places. However these names 
may suggest the possible uses 
of the leaves, no one would be 
tempted to drink from them 
after seeing the number of dead 
insects, and oftentimes living 
larvK, tliat tlicy contain. The 
plant is one of those puzzles 
with wliicli we sometimes meet, 
and it is difilcuU to see wliat 
pui-pose is served by the pe- 
culiar shape of its leaves. As 
it a^iy grows in wet places, 
the plant apparently docs not 
need the water contained in 
their cavities, and it is not easy 
to see of what use the insects 
can be to the plant; yet it 
seems to be made for the ex- 
press purpose of trapping them, 
the lip-like portion of the leaf 
being furnished with stiff hairs 
pointing downward in a man- 
ner to effectually hinder an in- 
sect from crawling out. The 
flowers are produced singly up- 
on stems, a foot or more high, 
and are nodding; they are of 
a dark reddish brown color. 
Their general form is shown 
in the engraving, but it would 
need a dissected drawing to 
describe their structure clear- 
ly. The calyx is darker than 
the corolla, and the parts of the 
latter curve inward and cover a very large and 
umbrella-shaped stigma, two points of whicli 
are shown The name, Side-Saddlo flower, 
is said to be from the resemblance of the stigma 
in sliape to an old-(:ishioned pillion. Breclv, in 
his New Book of Flowers, states, that by taking 
the plants up with a hall of earth, they will 
grow if planted in a moist part of the garden. 
We liave grown them in the house by merely 
setting the plant in a bowl or vase with moss, 
and keeping it thoroughly wet. Treated in this 
waj' it will flourisli and make an attractive or- 
nament to the sitting room. The genus was 
named in honor of Doct. Sarrazin, a French 
Physician, wlio first sent specimens from Can- 
ada to Europe. It contains several other spe- 
cies besides the present one. Sarracema jlava 
is common at the South, where it is popularly 
called Trumpets, a name sugg^ted by its long, 
erect, trampet-like leaves, which are sometimes 
