190 
THE ADENOCARPUS. 
Like other plants of this character, the 
Ledums grow most freely in a soil consisting 
principally of peat or heath-soil ; the situa- 
tion, moreover, should be moist and cool, 
though not subject to an excess or stagnation 
of water during the winter. Under such con- 
ditions of culture they grow freely ; and as 
they bloom profusely, they are very orna- 
mental. Theyare readily propagated by layers. 
The following are the names of the species 
which are cultivated in British gardens : — 
Ledum canadense, (the Canadian Ledum,) 
is a small, evergreen, shrubby plant, growing 
from three to six inches in height ; the leaves 
are ovate, whitish beneath ; the flowers are 
white, large for the size of the plant, and dis- 
posed in terminal umbellate corymbs of con- 
siderable size ; they consist of five small 
petals, forming a star-shaped flower, with the 
stamens standing out on filaments as long as 
the petals. It flowers in April and May. 
Native of swamps in Canada. 
Ledum latifolium, (the broad-leaved Ledum, 
or Labrador-tea,) is a small evergreen shrub, 
growing from two to four feet high ; the leaves 
are linear-oblong, with the margins folded 
back, and clothed with a rusty downiness 
beneath ; the flowers are large, white, in com- 
pact round heads, and very showy; they bloom in 
April and May. It is a native of mossy swamps 
in Canada ; and of Greenland, Labrador, 
Newfoundland, and other parts of Northern 
America. The leaves are said to be used in 
Labrador as a substitute for tea, and bees are 
very fond of the blossoms, which are extremely 
ornamental. It is called L. greenlandieum. 
Ledum palustre, (the marsh Ledum,) is an 
evergreen shrub, growing two feet high, with 
linear leaves, which are rusty beneath, and 
have their margins rolled back ; the flowers 
are white, similar to the preceding, but smaller; 
and the plant is smaller in all its parts. It 
flowers in April and May. Native of swampy 
places, both in the north of Europe and in 
North America. There is a variety called 
decumbens, which has a decumbent habit. 
Closely allied to these, and indeed so nearly 
related as to be formerly united with them, 
are two diminutive evergreen shrubs, of con- 
siderable beauty, which it will be desirable to 
notice in this place ; these are the following : — 
Ammyrsme,ov.Leio})hylluvithymifollum,{Xlie 
thyme-leaved Ammyrsine, ) is an erect-growing 
dense evergreen tuft, of from six inches to afoot 
high, with small, nearly oval, smooth leaves, 
and terminal heads of minute white flowers, 
produced in May and June. It is a mountain 
plant, growing in New Jersey, and in Caro- 
lina, particularly on the higher summits of the 
Catawba range. It has also the several names 
of Ledum buxifolium, L. thymifolium, L. 
serpyllyfolium, and Ammyrsine buxifolia ; 
and is by some regarded as Leiophyllum, as 
already noticed, 
Ammyrsine prostrata, (the prostrate Am- 
myrsine,) is a small plant resembling the pre- 
ceding, but the leaves are oval and the 
branches more spreading. It bears white 
flowers in June. 
From the small size, neat habit, and abund- 
ant flowering of the Ledums, they are parti- 
cularly adapted for forcing into bloom in the 
winter months, a course of treatment to which 
they readily submit. For this purpose, plants 
are taken up and potted in the early part of 
autumn, and are set by, usually, beneath the 
shelter of a north wall, until the bad weather 
comes on ; they ought then to be placed under 
temporary shelter, such as a cold frame, be- 
fore they are taken to the forcing-house. 
Plants are taken in, in succession, to keep up 
a supply of bloom, as may be required. Those 
are usually selected for potting which are neat 
and well-formed plants, and furnished pretty 
well with bloom-buds. After they have done 
blooming, they should be gradually hardened 
from the high temperature in which they have 
been grown, and finally planted out in the 
open beds during the spring ; Jhe same plants 
do not usuallv flower well tne second season 
when kept in pots ; a better display of bloom 
is secured by potting fresh plants every j'ear. 
It is part of the business of the nurserymen 
who grow these American plants, to provide 
a supply of small, compact, well-formed plants, 
abundantly furnished with flower-buds, for this 
purpose. 
THE ADENOCARPUS. 
The species of Adenocarpus constitute a 
small group of plants nearly related to, and 
possessing the general characteristics of, the 
hardy species of Cytisus, with which they aiso 
agree in their culture. The name Adeno- 
carpus seems to have been applied by De 
Candolle, in allusion to certain glandular hairs 
which beset the seed-pods, and is compounded 
from the words aden, a gland, and karpos, fruit . 
Adenocarpus boissieri, (Boissier's Adeno- 
carpus,) is an arborescent shrub, growing from 
fifteen to twenty feet high, with trifoliolate 
leaves, the leaflets of which are linear. The 
flowers are reddish yellow, and fragrant, often 
produced in spikes of a foot in length. It is 
a beautiful species when in bloom, but of a 
gloomy ashy hue not in flower ; it blooms in 
June and July. Found in Spain in warm 
valleys 4,500 to 5,000 feet above the sea. 
Adenocarpus hispanicus, (the Spanish Ade- 
nocarpus,) is an upright shrub, from three to 
four feet high, with trifoliolate leaves, and ter- 
minal racemes of yellow flowers, which are pro- 
duced in June and July. It is a native of 
shady and moist places in Spain and Portugal. 
