1880 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
513 
The Sensitive Brier. 
Southern readers of the American Agriculturist 
frequently send specimens of a plant with sensitive 
leaves, asking if it is the true Sensitive Plant, and if 
it is not, to give them the common as well as the bo¬ 
tanical name. This is. not the real Sensitive Plant, 
JMimosa pudica , but closely related to it, and is 
known as the Sensitive Brier, Schrankia uncinata. 
proved hardy, and though quite late in starting, 
has never failed to give an abundance of flowers. 
To those readers, who desire to grow this really 
beautiful trailer, it is suggested that they try the 
method of giving it a spot raised above the 
general level where water will not settle around 
the root and cause it to rot. A “ rockery ” or rock- 
work is one of the least expensive methods of suc¬ 
cessfully propagating many of our wild plants; in 
L. Chapmani, (a), and L. punctata, (fi). The former 
grows to a hight of two or three feet, forming a spike 
of beautiful pinkish-purple flowers two feet long. 
The flower stem is slender and graceful, and there 
is a neat and handsome look to the whole plant, 
which at once attracts the lover of beautiful flow¬ 
ers. A bed of this species commenced to bloom 
in September, and is still very fine at this date (Oct. 
22). There is, however, one drawback to their eul- 
the sensitive brier ( Schrankia uncinata')'. two blazing stars (J^iatris Chapmani, (a), and L. punctata, ( b ). 
The true Sensitive Plant is an annual, about two 
feethigh,with compound leaves, the leaflets of which 
close upon the slightest touch. This is now quite 
common in cultivation, being grown simply as a cu¬ 
riosity, and not for its flowers, which are not partic¬ 
ularly attractive. The plant illustrated above is 
like the true Sensitive Plant, in having sensitive 
foliage. It is a perennial, found in sandy soil from 
Virginia southward; and is a long trailing vine, 
with prickly stems and very fine handsome foliage. 
The flowers come from the base of the leaves, and 
are in little balls about half an inch in diameter, 
of a pretty rose color, and appear abundantly 
throughout the summer and autumn months. For 
some time we had attempted to grow the plant in 
the garden, but every winter it was lost; in spring 
the root would be found completely rotted, and we 
began to think the climate was too severe to grow 
it successfully. Finally, a friend sent a root of it 
from Texas, and as a last resort, it was planted in 
an elevated portion of a little roekwork then 
just built. The plant grew finely the first season, 
and gave an abundance of flowers. The next win¬ 
ter proved a severe one. and in the spring we anx¬ 
iously looked for the appearance of the Sensitive 
Brier. Nothing of it was seen, however, and it was 
supposed that the last attempt had resulted in a 
failure. But about the middle of May we one day 
saw a little shoot coming from the spot where the 
■plant was put, and it soon started into a vigorous 
growth. For the last three years this plant has 
fact, it makes a wild garden, when filled with an 
assortment of plants from the woods, that is high¬ 
ly pleasing fo every lover of native flowers. For 
the cultivation of the shy, early blooming, and del¬ 
icate plants, there is nothing that quite equals a pile 
of rocks with “pockets ” of earth here and there. 
Blazing Stars—Liatris. 
The increasing taste for the cultivation of Hardy 
Perennials has brought into notice many of our 
choicest of native flowers. There are no more 
beautiful wild flowers in any country thau can be 
found in different portions of this broad land, and 
the American Agriculturist has been foremost in 
bringing into notice many of the most desirable 
kinds. That wild plants are extensively sought for 
in Europe, shows they have merit, which many of 
our own people fail to observe until they see them 
in the gardens, and learn that they are easily culti¬ 
vated, and are as showy as many of the choicer and 
high-priced novelties. It is a lamentable fact that 
most of the native plants of the United States have 
been introduced through the medium of foreign 
seedsmen and florists. The genus Liatris contains 
several of the most beautiful of our wild flowers. 
There are about twenty species ;one half of this num¬ 
ber being natives of the Northern, and the remain¬ 
der of the Southern States. We have had thirteen 
species under cultivation at different times, but none 
more showy than the two given in our engraving, 
tivation, which may discourage somefrom attempt¬ 
ing to grow it in the Northern States; it is not hardy 
enough to withstand our winters. The roots, like 
most species of Liatris, are tuberous, and before 
freezing weather sets in, they may be lifted and 
stored perfectly well in dry leaf-mould in the cel¬ 
lar. L. Chapmani is only found, as far as we are a- 
ware, in Florida. It was named in honor of Dr. 
A. W. Chapman, the zealous botanist of the South¬ 
ern States, who has done so much to increase our 
knowledge of the plants of the State of Florida. 
The other species, L. punctata , is found in Arkan¬ 
sas and Texas, and is so called from the punctate 
or dotted leaves. The root is tuberous, and con¬ 
siderably larger than in L. Chapmani , the leaves are 
long and narrow, very stiff and sharp pointed. 
The stems grow to a hight of two to three feet, and 
the flowering portion is often a foot and a half in 
length, densely covered with beautiful reddish-pur¬ 
ple flowers. These flowers open about the middle 
of September, and last until the middle of Novem¬ 
ber, the frost having no effect upon them. A row of 
these plants, nearly 200 feet long, is now in its 
prime, and it certainly is an interesting and beauti¬ 
ful sight to see these plants blooming while nearly 
all other flowers have entirely disappeared. This 
species, though a native of Texas, is entirely hardy 
in this vicinity, and withstands our severest winters 
without protection. Among other species of Lia¬ 
tris, which are worthy of cultivation, is L. spirata 
the earliest flowering species, blooming in July 
