1878.] 
AME LUCAN AG-RICULTU FUST, 
261 
The Canada Violet ( Viola Canadensis.). 
The few of our native species of Violet which 
have any perfume, possess it in so slight a degree, 
that we cannot commend auy of them for cultiva¬ 
tion for this quality alone. If we look for perfume, 
we must take some variety of the European Violet 
( Viola odorata), and accept our own for the beauty 
of their flowers only. In former volumes we have 
figured the beautiful Birds-foot Violet ( Viola pedata), 
beautiful in its ordinary form, and especially so in 
its white and two-colored varieties ; these plants, 
notwithstanding their lack of odor, are, on account 
of the abundance, large size, and long duration of 
stem or two, and all we can hope to do, is to show 
the shape of the leaves and flowers, and give an 
idea of the details of the plant. It forms a dense 
mass of such stems as these, from a foot to two 
feet high, and produces a great profusiou of flowers, 
which last a long time. The flowers are mostly white 
on the inside, the side-petals bearded, and the upper 
ones tinged with purple on the outer surface. Some 
variations from the usual form have been noticed, 
and it is very likely that careful observers will find 
that this is quite as much disposed to sport, as are 
the other species. Our California friends will find 
in their rocky woods, a species which is much like 
the Canada Violet. Indeed, when we first came 
those who do not know Kerria, one in making* 
his selection passes this by, and the nurseryman 
concludes that there is no demand for good things. 
It is a fact, and we may as well accept it, that peo¬ 
ple in general do not take to botanical names. 
However unreasonable this may be, and however 
we may show that some botanical names, such as 
Magnolia, Geranium, and others, are in common use, 
the fact remains that if we would popularize a 
plant, we must give it—unless its botanical name 
happens to be one like Golem, which every one can 
remember—a name that will take. For this reason, 
in calling attention to a useful and showy Japan¬ 
ese shrub, Rhodolypos, we have been at some pains 
CANADA violet —(Viola Canadensis.) 
jamabuki —(Rhodolypos kerrioides.) 
their flowers, in much esteem among European 
gardeners. Some of the forms of our commonest 
Blue, or Hooded Violet (H cucullata), some of which 
have pure white, and others variously blotched 
flowers, are finding their way into cultivation. Dur¬ 
ing the past season we have had several forms of 
this sent fora name, showing that it has obtained a 
foothold in various gardens. The two native violets 
we have named, the Birds-foot, and Hooded (the 
names referring to the form of the leaf), belong to 
the section of stemless violets; i. e., their leaves 
and flower-stalks all come diiectly out of the 
ground, having their origin from a subterranean 
stem. Besides these, we have a set of native vio¬ 
lets with branching stems, and of these perhaps 
the most conspicuous is that, which Linnaeus called 
Viola Canadensis, the Canada Violet, but which is by 
no means confined to Canada, as it is found in all the 
Northern States, and southward along the Alle¬ 
ghany Mountains. It is a native species more fre¬ 
quently found in cultivation in Europe than with 
us, yet we are sure that any one who saw it in mass¬ 
es, as it grew in our rock-work this spring, would 
admit that it was well worthy of cultivation. In 
giving an engraving, we are confined to a single 
upon it in that rich botanical region, around the 
mines of New Almaden, we hailed it as our old New 
England friend, but a closer inspection showed it 
to be the Western representative of our species, 
the Eyed-Violet ( Viola ocellata) of Torrey and Gray, 
60 called because each of the side-petals has a little 
purple spot or “ eye ” near its base. A very neat 
species it is, and we advise the many lovers of flow¬ 
ers on the Pacific coast to introduce it into their 
gardens, which they can readily do, when the dry 
summer puts this, as it does .their other lovely 
spring flowers to rest, and the roots are dormant. 
- m— - 
New Japanese Shrubs—The Jamabuki. 
Japan has greatly enriched our collections of 
hardy shrubs and herbaceous plants, and while a 
number of the shrubs from that country are well 
known and popular, we find that others, equally 
meritorious, are seldom seen in cultivation. If one 
takes up a catalogue, and finds “ Rhodolypos kerri¬ 
oides, a fine shrub from Japan, with the habit of 
Kerria, but large white flowers,” as there is nothing 
in the announcement to attract the attention of 
to hunt up its native name, and give our readers 
the choice between the botanical Rhodolypos, mean¬ 
ing “rose-form,” and the native Japanese name 
Jamabuki. There is but one species of Rhodotypos 
thus far known, and it has been named kerrioides, 
from the marked resemblance of the foliage of the 
shrub to that of Kerria Japonica, the old “ Japan 
Globe Flower ” of our gardens, which makes itself 
almost a weed, and which is still known in some 
catalogues by the incorrect name of Corchorus. The 
“Jamabuki,” or Rhodolypos, is a perfectly hardy 
shrub, flowering in April, its foliage being so much 
like that of Kerria, as to warrant its name ; hut the 
flowers, instead of the deep yellow of Kerria, and 
their flimsy texture, are of the purest white, and 
much larger and firmer. The engraving gives flow¬ 
ers and leaves of the natural size. The plant be¬ 
longs to the Rose Family, and, unlike most of the 
showy members of that, it has but four petals, the 
usual number being five. The fruit consists of 
(usually) four little stone fruits, like the grains of 
a blackberry, and according to Siebold and Zucca- 
rini, who first described it, become of a brilliant 
black color, and remain so until the middle of win¬ 
ter. We have had the plant in cultivation for sev- 
