1879.1 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
507 
The Yellow Clematis. 
Those who only know the Clematis from the 
magnificent Japanese and Chinese hybrids, which, 
with their enormous flowers 4 to 6 inches or more 
across, may be regarded as among the triumphs of 
modern Horticulture, can hardly be aware of the 
great variety the genus presents. Not all the Cle¬ 
matises are climbers, as there are some herbaceous 
species valued as border plants. Among the 
which are themselves cut or lobed. The flowers 
are solitary, of only four spreading sepals, and are 
about an inch and a half across; their color is a 
pale lemon-yellow. This plant, coming from the 
higher mountains of Chinese Tartary, is a compar¬ 
atively recent introduction. As may be inferred 
from its origin, it has proved perfectly hardy in the 
severe climate of New England, and this, together 
with its delicate habit, its very free growth, and 
the unusual color of its abundant flowers, will 
looks more like the head-piece of some suits of ar¬ 
mor than it does like any article of modern head- 
wear, the name Skullcap was probably given h* 
those days when men wore iron-pots on their heads 
when they did battle. This genus, comprising 
nearly a hundred species, has representatives in nil 
parts of the world, our own country having over 20. 
They are all perennial herbs, mostly with blue flow¬ 
ers, and are without any of the aromatic qualities 
so generally found in the Mint Family, but have bit- 
climbers, besides the grand hybrids already men¬ 
tioned, are others so strikingly unlike these, that 
one would not at first sight take them to belong to 
the same genus. Some of these we have figured 
from time to time, notably the Scarlet Clematis ((7. 
coccinea); this represents a group, the flowers of 
which do not spread open, but the sepals form a 
sort of uni-shaped flower. Then there is a group 
with quite small flowers in large clusters, and pro¬ 
ducing a profusion of bloom ; of this group there 
is none better than our native Virgin’s Bower or 
Traveller’s Joy ( Clematis Virginium), which pos¬ 
sesses so many good qualities as a climber that 
we wonder why we see it so seldom in cultivation. 
Resembling this in appearance is C. Flammula , of 
Europe, the Sweet : scented Virgin’s Bower, a name 
it well deserves ; it is not quite so vigorous a 
climber as ours, but its delightful fragrance com¬ 
mends it for general use. In still another group, 
we find flowers of medium size, and solitary, upon 
long stems, in the axils of the leaves. To this 
group belongs Clematis graveolens, the flowers of 
which, something remarkable among these plants, 
are yellow. The plant is rather slender and deli¬ 
cate, having less robust stems than the other climb¬ 
ers ; we do not know how high it will reach, our 
own vine being where it can not go above 8 or 10 
feet. The foliage, of a fresh and pleasing green, is 
more finely cut than in the other species, each leaf 
consisting of three to five sharp-pointed leaflets 
make it very popular when it becomes better 
known. It blooms in late summer, and its flowers 
are soon succeeded by globular clusters of fruits, 
the long feathery tails to which are of a very pale 
green, and about as showy as the flowers. The spe¬ 
cific name, graveolens , means “ heavy-scented,” the 
applicability of which is not readily seen (or rather 
smelt), as we have not been able to discover a per¬ 
ceptible odor, heavy or otherwise. “ Heavy-seent- 
ed Clematis,” sometimes given as a common name, 
is not a very pleasing one, besides it is quite too 
long, while “ Yellow Clematis ” is preferable in 
several respects, and it is moreover descriptive. 
The Skullcaps—Wild and Garden. 
It sometimes happens that plants receive their 
large botanical names from very small peculiarities. 
The Skullcaps belong to the great Mint Family, in 
which the corolla is more or less two-lipped, and 
the calyx is frequently so. In the Skullcaps the 
calyx is not only two-lipped, but the upper lip has 
a curious appendage which, when the flower has 
fallen, shuts down over the lower lip, thus convert¬ 
ing the calyx into a little box, within which the fruit 
or seeds mature. This appendage, or cover, being 
6 haped somewhat like a little dish, the Latin name 
for which is scutella, and Linnaeus made from this 
Scutellaria , the botannical name for the Skullcaps. 
The shape of the calyx gives the common name ; it 
ter foliage. Our most common species, and als® 
the smallest flowered and least showy, Scutellaria 
lateriflora, the Side-flowered Skullcap, is one of the 
very long list of plants claimed to cure that incura¬ 
ble disease—hydrophobia, and is known in many 
places as Mad-dog Skullcap, though all belief in its 
virtues has died out. Several exotic species are in 
cultivation in gardens. The most showy of these 
is the Large-flowered Skullcap, ( Scutellaria ma- 
crantha), from Siberia. Having been so much 
pleased with this in the garden the past summer, 
we here give an engraving of it. It forms tufts 
about nine inches high ; the shape of the leaves and 
flowers is shown in the engraving, which gives them 
of the natural size. The abundant flowers arc of 
a beautiful blue, a color of which we are not likely 
to have too much ; they appear in mid-summer. 
The Common White Mildews. 
In mid-summer and later, the leaves of several of 
our common plants are covered with a white sub¬ 
stance, which makes them look as if they had been 
dusted with flour. Such is the case with the Dan¬ 
delion, as many have noticed, and may have thought 
it due to the dust from the street. The Dogwoods 
and Elders, Oaks- and Maples, but more especially 
the Willows and Lilacs, are attacked by various, 
but closely related, species or White Mildews. The 
European grape mildew is caused by a member of 
