300 
AMERICAN AGRIC CJLTURIST. 
[August, 
Virgin’s Bower—Leather Flowers—Cle¬ 
matis. 
Among- the horticultural achievements of re¬ 
cent years, there are few finer than the improve¬ 
ments that have been made in the genus Cle¬ 
matis. The fine hybrids 
that have been added 
to our gardens, especial¬ 
ly by the labors of the 
Messrs. Jackman, are 
among the most beauti¬ 
ful of flowers, and 
though the newer sorts 
are rather expensive, 
there are a plenty of 
good older sorts that 
may be had at prices 
within the reach of all. 
For low climbers there 
is nothing so showy. 
Referring to the cata¬ 
logues for these choice 
garden varieties, we 
would call attention to 
our native species, of 
which, take the country 
through, there are per¬ 
haps about 20. These 
vary a good deal in their 
habit. There are sev¬ 
eral erect herbaceous 
species -which do not 
climb at all, but the ma¬ 
jority are climbers, at¬ 
taching themselves to 
bushes or other supports 
by twining their leaf¬ 
stalks around a twig or 
whatever else may be at hand, and afford inter¬ 
esting illustrations of this way of climbing. 
The most showy of our native species is C. ver- 
ticillaris (formerly called Atragene Americana), 
a somewhat rare plant, found on rocky hills as 
far south as Virginia. This, which was figured 
in April, 1867, has solitary large bright purplish 
blue flowers two or three inches across, appear¬ 
ing in May. Those who are fortunate enough 
to meet with this plant, will be well repaid for 
the trouble of transferring it to the garden. 
The best known, as it is the most common spe¬ 
cies, and found all the way from Canada to the 
Gulf of Mexico, is C. Virginiana, the common 
“ Virgin’s Bower,” a name given to a related 
species in England, which is also called “ Trav¬ 
eller’s Joy” and “ Old Man’s Beard,” names in 
some localities also given to our plant, the last 
mentioned referring to the hairy tails to the 
fruit which make the plant quite conspicuous 
in autumn. This was described in November, 
1868, where will be found an excellent engrav¬ 
ing. Its pleasing dark-green, cut or lobed 
leaves, the great abundance of its white flowers 
in July and August, when flowers are scarce, 
and the great woolly tufts it presents when in 
fruit, all make it a desirable climber, and being 
so common is within the reach of every one. 
When transferred to the grounds, where it is 
not obliged to struggle with other plants, it 
grows most luxuriantly, and when established, 
will climb to the liight of 15 to 20 feet or more 
in a season ; a large portion of this growth dies 
down each winter, as only the lower part of the 
stem is woody. The flowers, though individ¬ 
ually small, are in large clusters from the axils 
of the leaves, and clothe the whole with a sheet 
of white. As a covering for arbors or screens 
it is an admirable plant. Some have found it 
difficult to move from its wild localities; most 
wild shrubs are poorly furnished with fibrous 
roots, being crowded by other plants, their 
roots run to a great distance and throw out but 
few fibers; in removing all shrubs from the 
woods and copses, they should be cut back 
very severely to insure success. This grows 
very readily from seeds, which, if sown as soon 
as ripe, will give an abundant crop of young- 
plants which are much more manageable than 
the wild ones. Still another group of our na¬ 
tive climbing species of Clematis, have rather 
large bell-shaped nodding flowers, each solitary 
upon a long stalk in the axils of the leaves. 
These, wdiile not so showy as either of the fore¬ 
going, are interesting plants, and worthy of a 
place in a collection. The calyx (for in these 
plants the showy part is not the corolla, but the 
calyx), in this division is remarkably thick and 
leathery, on which account the most common 
species, C. Viovna, is called “Leather flower.” 
The engraving shows a southern species of this 
group, 0. crispa, which we may call the 
“ Crisped Leather-flower,” the margins of the 
thick divisions of the flower being wavy or 
crisped. This species is found from Virginia 
southward, but proved quite hardy with us in 
the severe winter of 1874-5. The stem does 
not reach higher than 5 or 6 feet; the flowers 
are about an inch and a 
half long and of a del¬ 
icate lilac-purple color. 
The Leather-flower, C. 
Viovna , already alluded 
to, has a similar habit of 
growth; it is found as 
far north as Pennsyl¬ 
vania and Ohio, and has 
rather large dark red¬ 
dish - purple flowers. 
“Pitcher’s Leather-flow- _ |j 
er” (C. Pitcheri), grow¬ 
ing from Illinois south¬ 
ward, has a similar 
appearance, with its 
purplish flowers smaller 
than the one figured. It 
would be well for some 
pains-taking florist to 
try what careful cultiva¬ 
tion and selection would 
do with this “ Leather- 
flower” group of Cle¬ 
matis; one of them 
sometimes produces two 
or three flowers to the 
stalk in the wild state,, 
which shows a ten¬ 
dency to vary, and if 
the flowers could be 
increased in both num¬ 
ber and size, the cultiva¬ 
tor would be well rewarded for his trouble. 
The Large-flowered Pentstemon. 
The genus Pentstemon , belongs to the same 
family—the Fig-worts, with the Fox-glove, 
Mimulus, Snapdragon, and other well-known 
plants. One species is found from New Eng¬ 
land westward, but most of them belong be¬ 
yond the Mississippi, and extend to the Pacific, 
there being some 70 species belonging to our 
territory. The florist’s Pentstemons are hybrids 
obtained from P. Hartwegi, P. campanulatus, 
and other Mexican species, and are very beau¬ 
tiful and showy plants; new varieties of these 
