PARK AND CEMETERY. 
274 
GARDEN PLANTS— THEIR GEOGRAPHY, XXVI. 
UMBELLALES. 
THE HYDROCOTYLE, ARABIA, AND CORNUS 
ALLIANCE. 
This is an extensive alliance of trees, shrubs, 
climbers and herbs, the latter generally coarse look- 
ing, although a few are admitted to gardens as or- 
namental plants. They are evergreen in the milder 
climates, mostly deciduous in colder regions and 
sparsely represented in the drier ones. 
The umbel of flowers is a common characteristic, 
not confined to the alliance, however. The herb 
tribes known as “Umbelliferere” are especially 
abundant in the Northern Hemisphere, often in 
moist, or even wet places. Several are the most 
active vegetable poisons known. The “water hem- 
locks,” of which there 
are several, have four 
or five forms in the 
United States, Cicuta 
maculata being one of 
the most widely dis- 
tributed and danger- 
ous, claiming its vic- 
tims from among the 
children who mistake 
it for “Sweet Cicely.” 
Emetics, such as mus- 
tard or olive oil, should 
be resorted to imme- 
diately by those who 
are thus unfortunate, 
for it kills — sometimes 
in half an hour. All 
the wild plants of these 
tribes should be treated with suspicion, because 
they resemble several culinary plants of the alli- 
ance, and are often mistaken for them. The 
Parsley, Celery, Parsnip, Cicely, etc., are all closely 
“mimicked” by extremely dangerous species. 
Those who possess the older botanical books will 
sometimes find the “dogwoods” grouped with the 
“honeysuckles,” and not with the Umbellales, and 
there is by no means an end to the arbitrary group- 
ing of the doctors. The only help for the gardener 
is to refuse the doses. The framework of classifica- 
tion at any rate seems ample for all needs, and 
whimsical changes should be discouraged. Practi- 
cal people want uniformity and consistency of mean- 
ing and expression, and such agreement in the 
plans of gardens devoted to instruction as will ren- 
der confusion difficult, if not impossible. 
Moreover, gardens are not established for the 
growth of weeds. A gardener’s garden aims to il- 
lustrate botany, not by trash plants, but by all the 
most elegant, thrifty and beautiful forms that can be 
secured. These may or may not be grouped lineally 
in agreement with the most approved scientific sys- 
tem, but whether they are or not, the utmost grace- 
fulness of arrangement should be insisted upon. 
These papers were written to facilitate this, and 
render the selection of several distinct groups easy 
for gardeners — and botanists, too, if they choose. 
Any disposition may be made, but the gardener 
of wide culture and experience will select those 
forms which lend themselves most freely to the gar- 
denesque, and his training will tell him that the 
beauty of his garden will depend as much upon 
what he excludes as upon what he admits. The best 
planting is never that which includes the greatest 
number of unsuitable species. 
The alliance under consideration is the last of 
the Polypetalous division, and it is not too much to 
say, in passing, that its beauties have never been 
brought out in any adequate manner. 
The Ivies as a covering for the ground, or as 
climbers, are difficult to surpass. Yet, where can 
they be found represented in anything like perfec- 
tion? I believe a group of them with the common 
green form as a groundwork, and studded with the 
best variegated varieties, would surprise 999 gar- 
deners out'of a thousand in any country, but the 
variety of form and subtlety of coloring is by no 
means confined to the Ivies. Nearly all the genera 
mentioned below contains forms which are remark- 
able for fine foliage effects, and in the hands of any- 
one skilled in grouping are capable of rich and nat- 
uralistic treatment, for the Ivies and dogwoods are 
commonly found in the shade of larger growths — 
supplied in this alliance by the very beautiful 
“tupelos.” The Aralias are not easily surpassed, 
either for beautiful foliage or extraordinary pani- 
cles of bloom. The Fatsias, where they thrive, are 
hard to beat, and the variegated forms of the va- 
rious species of dogwoods are among the best and 
most color-enduring in our climates. It is not a 
group eminent for its flowers; nevertheless, the in- 
volucral bracts of the dogwoods, ranging in color 
from yellow to white and pink, afford a fine display 
from spring to summer, and several Aralias, Eryn- 
giurns, etc., will continue until September. 
Hydrocotyle , “white rot,” as it is called in Eng- 
land, has sixty species distributed over the tem- 
perate regions. The British plant affords a curious 
example of the misapplication of common plant 
names. It grows in the Fens and marshes, and as 
the sheep pastured on the lands before they were 
as well drained as now, became diseased, the plant 
was stigmatized instead of the rank soil. The scien- 
tific name signifies a water cup, because the leaves 
often retain water. Chiefly grown in botanic gardens. 
CICUTA MACULATA. 
(“Poison Hemlock.”) 
