344 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
A Native Woody Climber. 
( Celastrus scandens.) 
For covering screens and trellises, and for 
shading verandahs, the wood}' climbers are par- 
ticularly valuable, inasmuch as their foliage is 
produced early in the season, and they are avail- 
able for these purposes much sooner than the 
herbaceous or annual ones. Every one must 
have noticed in autumn the beautiful clusters of 
leaflet and orange fruit which hang from the 
.rees and fence rows, and which are commonly 
Known as the fruit of the Wax Work or Climb- 
ing Bittersweet, (botanically called Celastrus scan- 
dens,) — one of the finest woody climbers of this 
or any country. It is a very free growing 
plant, and in its wild state attains the hight of 
twenty feet or more, and is found in abundance 
in woods and thickets, twining around trees 
with such force as to seriously interfere with 
their growth. It is not unusual to find its stem 
half imbedded in the substance of the trunk. On 
account of the pertinacity with which it en- 
twines trees and the mischief which it does, the 
Germans call it the " tree strangler." This peculi- 
arity however, only adapts it all the more to or- 
namental purposes, as it clings to supports with- 
out any aid. The leaves, the form of which is 
well shown in the engraving, are of a fine lively 
green. One of the flower clusters is also shown. 
The stamens and pistils are in separate flowers, 
either on the same plant or on distinct plants. 
A magnified staminate flower is shown separ- 
ately. The flowers are of a pale, yellowish 
green, and not at all conspicuous, but their lack 
of beauty is more than compensated for by the 
showy fruit clusters in autumn. Three of the 
pods are shown in the figure ; they are of a fine 
orange color, and they split into three parts and 
expose the seeds which arc enveloped in a rich 
scarlet pulp which shows off finely against the 
light orange of the pod. We know of a place 
near Boston where the ample verandah has 
rough cedar posts which are completely sur- 
rounded by this plant, forming beautiful pillars 
of verdure in summer, and are in a blaze of 
scarlet and orange in autumn. Plants taken 
from their wild localities grow readily, or they 
may be propagated from seeds or layers. In 
its wild state the Celastrus is found growing most 
luxuriantly in moist and shaded situations, but 
it adapts itself to any garden soil ; a sandy spot 
should be enriched with leaf mould or muck. 
■ i ^mo^^ * * 
Two Troublesome Weeds. 
Illustrations are here given of two small an- 
noyances to the farmer and gardener, which 
seem to many to exist merely to try one's pati- 
ence, though we believe that they are of great use 
in showing that the soil needs stirring. Fig. 1 is 
the Carpet-weed, showing a young plant of the 
consist of a five-parted calyx, three stamens, and 
a pistil, having three stigmas, which ripen,into 
a many-seeded, three-valved pod. The botanic- 
al name is Mollugo verticillata ; the first name 
being supposed to be derived from Mollis, soft, 
and the second having reference to the whorled 
or verticillate appearance of the leaves. This 
plant is found mostly in rather sandy soils, 
appearing very small at first, but from its pe- 
culiar manner of growth soon covers the sur- 
face, if neglected. In moist soils it is replaced 
by the chick-weed, a member of the same fam- 
ily. Both weeds are annuals, and are never 
to be found but in neglected grounds, and 
in lands subject to annual overflow. Fig. 
3 shows a small branch of the everywhere 
abundant Purslane, which though so common all 
through the country is believed to have been 
introduced from Europe. We have however a 
wild species west of the Mississippi which is 
undoubtedly a native. The reddish, fleshy stems 
and the thick green leaves of the purslane are 
striking, and were the plant not so common, it 
would be considered beautiful. The flowers 
are small and yellow, but as they open only in 
sunshine and remain expanded but a short time 
they are likely to escape general notice. The 
pod opens when ripe by a sort of cover, and ex- 
poses numerous little kidney-shaped seeds 
which when examined by a magnifier are found 
to have the surface beautifully marked with 
little depressions. There is something worth 
observing even about so common a weed as 
this. The name purslane comes from an old 
French name for the plant, pourcellaine ; its bo- 
tanical name is Poriulaca oleracea. The deri- 
vation of the generic name, Poriulaca, is not 
known, but the specific one, oleracea, comes from 
the Latin olus, a pot-herb, and indicates that 
purslane has been used as food. Indeed its 
■use as a pot-herb dates back through '^ all anti- 
quity," It is now used to some extent, especial- 
ly by old fashioned people, who have not found 
out that there are better things, and several new 
Fig. 1.— carpet-weed {Mollugo verticillata.) 
natural size. It at first appears as a small cluster 
of leaves, which throws out slender branches 
in every direction, these soon fork and form 
two other branches, producing a rosette of leaves 
at the point of subdivision. 'The branching goes 
on in this manner, the whole keeping near the 
surface of the ground and covering it so com- 
pletely as to render the name of Carpet-weed 
particularly appropriate. The flowers, which are 
produced in the axils of the leaves, are so in- 
conspicuous as to be almost microscopic. They 
and improved varieties are named in the Euro- 
pean seed catalogues. When used for "greens" 
the plants should be taken when six inches 
high. We have lived where cultivated veg- ' 
etables were not to be had, and found that a 
mess of purslane was not to be despised as an 
addition to a continuous diet of salt meat. The 
Portulacas cultivated in the flower garden, are 
from South America ; they have much larger 
flowers of various colors, and cylindrical leaves. 
All of this genus have a wonderful vitality. We 
