1876.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
261 
abundant southward; the genus is mostly South 
American, this, and perhaps two others, being 
found within our borders. 'Westchester, Pa., 
the home of the late Doct. Darlington, is one 
of the principal localities for the Talinum, 
and perhaps some of our fondness for it is 
tali found the same plant in Arkansas, and find¬ 
ing that it did not agree with Ixia, gave it a 
new name, Nemastylis, from the Greek, mean¬ 
ing thread and style ; as “ Threadystyle ” would 
not be very pleasant or descriptive, we think 
that “ Nemastyle ” will be a good enough name 
stigmas are much longer and the seeds rounder 
than in the other. The flowers in both are 
quite unlike those of the Iris, being nearly 
equally 6-parted; there are three distinct sta¬ 
mens, and the style has each of its three lobes 
parted into two long and thread-like stigmas. 
the twin-flowered NEMASTYi.E.— {Kcma-stylis gcminiflora.) 
due to the enthusiasm and real love with which 
that great good man regarded this one of his 
favorite plants. In Westchester it is always 
found upon serpentine rocks, but it makes itself 
quite at home, in cultivation, upon sandstone. 
The origin of the name Talinum, is not made 
out, and as it has not any known meaning can¬ 
not be translated ; but as it is round and smooth 
to speak, and not difficult to remember, it will 
answer for a common name quite as well as 
Magnolia, Geranium, or Rhododendron. 
The Twin-flowered Nemastyle. 
Those who are fortunate enough to possess 
that quaint old work, William Bartram’s 
“ Travels through North and South Carolina, 
Georgia, East and West Florida, etc.”—travels 
commenced in 1773, and the account published 
in Dublin, 1793, will find facing p. 153, an en¬ 
graving of a plant, which he calls Ixia cceledi- 
na, with a brief description engraven on the 
copper plate. Beyond this he gives no account 
of the plant, as he appeared to think more of 
fine writing—at the present day we should call 
it “ hifalutin ’’—than of accurate description, 
and all that he has to say about it is, “ behold 
the azure fields of Cerulean Ixia!”—Later, Nut- 
for the plants, when they get to be better j 
known, as we are quite sure they will be. The 
specific name, coslestina , may be translated in 
various ways, and it will answer to render it as 
“splendid.” This species, the Splendid Ne- 
mastyle, is found in pine barrens from South 
Carolina to Florida and westward; the writer 
has seen it in abundance in Texas, forming 
broad patches of the richest blue. Nuttall dis¬ 
covered another species, common in Arkansas, 
the Indian Territory, and other parts of the 
West, to which he gave the name W. gemird- 
jlora , or the “ Twin-flowered Nemastyle,” which 
is the species here figured. The plants belong 
to the Iris Family, and their general appearance 
is shown in the engraving, which is of the 
natural size. Florists would class them in that 
miscellaneous collection called “ bulbs,” as they 
have solid bulbs or conns, about the size and 
shape of an onion “ set.” Their sword-shaped 
sheathing leaves are plaited, and much like 
those of Tigridia. The stem, from one to two 
feet high, bears a few smaller leaves, is branch¬ 
ed above; at the ends of the branches is a two¬ 
leaved sheath, from which proceed in N. ccelesti- 
na one, and in N. geminiflora , two flowers, like 
that shown in the engraving. The chief dif¬ 
ference between the two species being in the 
number of flowers, and in the last named the 
We had the bulbs of the Twin-flowered spe¬ 
cies in the open ground last winter, and the 
plants came up all right this spring, but as 
last winter was an exceptional one, we do 
not regard this as a proper test as to its hardi¬ 
ness. At all events, whether it proves hardy or 
not, it is a capital bulb for pots. We potted 
some bulbs in February, and the plants came 
into bloom in April, flowering, as they do in the 
wild state, for about two months. Though the 
individual flowers do not last long, they are 
produced in succession, and a pot well filled 
with the bulbs will be a pleasing object for a 
long time. We have not tried the Nemastyle 
as a house-plant, but have no doubt it will, like 
similar plants, do well in window culture. Our 
dealers should be on the look out for and 
procure the bulbs, which are quite abundant in 
some of the Southern and Southwestern States. 
•--- 
Tiie Roxbury Russet Apple. —We are 
eating in May the fruit of this old favorite va¬ 
riety of apple which was brought by the first 
settlers from Roxbury to Connecticut more 
than two hundred years ago. In the eastern 
part of the State it is called the Prentice Rus¬ 
set, probably from the name of the first settler 
who brought it out, and cultivated it. For 
