1881 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
365 
The Bell-Flowers—Tenore’s, 
Our cultivators of flowers, as a general 
thing, strive to grow the greatest possible 
variety, and are always on the look out for 
novelties. This is all very well for those who 
find pleasure in it. But we think it would 
better suit the taste of many flower-lovers to 
take up as a specialty, a genus or a family of 
plants, and endeavor to become proficient in 
variety of shades of blue, some having the 
most beautiful tints of this color, and in 
some cases there are white flowers. In the 
collection referred to, was a Bell-flower new 
to us, Tenore’s Bell-flower (Campanula Te- 
noreana), in which the small, deep-blue 
flowers were produced in the greatest profu¬ 
sion. The engraving shows a branch from 
a plant about 18 inches high. The individual 
flowers are quite deeply-lobed, with very 
two or three wild species of Corydalis, but 
they do not seem to be well enough known 
to have received any popular name. There 
are one or two species in England, which are 
no better off as to common names than ours, 
and an English botanist has tried to popular¬ 
ize the botanical name, Corydalis, by altering 
it to “ Corydal.” Our native species are bien¬ 
nials, but there are in other countries peren¬ 
nial species, a few of which have found their 
tenoke s bell-flower (Campanula Tenoreana), 
the pale corydalis {Corydalispallida). 
these. Take the Lilies for example ; in the 
cultivation of these, Elwes in England, and 
Hanson in this country, have each a world¬ 
wide reputation, as special growers of Lilies. 
We do not advise every one to grow these, 
as there are many other plants that can be 
cultivated with as much satisfaction, and 
less expense. The Chrysanthemum, for ex¬ 
ample, is a capital plant for a specialty ; in 
England its cultivation is carried to such 
an extent that there are several Chrysanthe¬ 
mum Societies for the encouragement of the 
culture of this plant. We were led to sug¬ 
gest the satisfaction that may come from 
this kind of culture, by visiting, not long ago, 
a garden in which a specialty was made of 
the Campanula, or Bell-flower. Those who 
have never seen a collection of these plants 
can have little idea of the great variety and 
beauty they present. The Bell-flowers in¬ 
clude both biennials and perennials, and 
plants varying from six inches to three or 
four feet in hight. The delicate and most 
graceful Harebell, makes a strong contrast 
to the stately Canterbury Bells, and other 
tall growing kinds. They present a great 
acute divisions. In marked contrast with 
this was the Great Bell-flower (C. grandiflora) 
and many others, among them some curious¬ 
ly doubled varieties. We cite this collection 
of Bell-flowers as an example of what may 
be done with many other plants. Those who 
have the taste for it will find greater pleasure 
in devoting their chief attention to some 
specialty, which they may do without alto¬ 
gether neglecting the growing of other plants. 
The Pale Corydalis. 
The Fumitory Family is not a large one, 
but it furnishes several valued ornamental 
plants, among which is, perhaps, the most 
popular of all our perennials, the “Bleeding 
Heart” (Dicentra formosa). We have native 
species of Dicentra, but none so showy as this 
from Northern China. The name, Dicentra, 
refers to the two spurs which each flower has 
at its base. A related genus is Corydalis, the 
name being an ancient Greek one for a plant 
of the family. The flowers in Corydalis have 
only one spur at the base, and thus appear to 
be one-sided. We have in the Northern States 
way into our gardens. The “ Noble Cory— 
dalis” (C. Nobilis), from Siberia, is a very in¬ 
teresting and showy plant, and remarkable 
for its short duration. It appears in early 
spring, flowers, and completes its career in a 
few weeks, and then dies down, nothing 
being seen of it until the next spring. Quite 
different in its manner of growth is the Pale 
Corydalis (Corydalis pallida), from the north 
of China, wliicl: is one of those satisfactory 
plants that bloom early, and continue in 
flower all summer long. In the engraving 
we can only show single stems, with the 
shape of the leaves and flowers, which are 
here given about the natural size. To get a 
proper idea of the plant, one must imagine a 
clump a foot or more across, made up of a 
great number of such stems. The hand¬ 
somely cut foliage is of a pleasing pale green, 
and the flowers, which are borne in great 
profusion, are of an exceedingly delicate pale 
yellow. While there is nothing very striking 
about the plant, it is a very useful one in the 
garden, on account of its continuous bloom. 
In this respect it resembles its relative, the 
“American Bleeding Heart” (Dicentra ex— 
