1864 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
The Alder-leaved Clethra, or Sweet 
Pepperbush. —(Clethra alnifolia.) 
Among the many wild plants which should 
be generally cultivated, few are more deserving 
of attention than the Alder-leaved Clethra. It 
has two strong claims upon our regard: it blos¬ 
soms during the heats of August, when most 
shrubs are out of bloom, and it loads the air 
with a delightful fragrance. The shrub rises 
from three to eight feet high, and is found grow¬ 
ing in clumps in swamps, and along streams in 
all the Eastern States, from Maine southward. 
The leaves are shaped something like those of 
the Alder, from which fact the plant gets both 
its generic and specific botanical name: Clethra 
is the Greek name for Alder; alnifolia is from 
the Latin, and means Alder-leaved. The flow¬ 
ers are borne in a long, narrow spike, and as 
they are produced in abundance, the bush is 
quite showy when in bloom. The individual 
flowers are small, five-parted, white and very 
fragrant; indeed some consider their odor too 
powerful. The flowers are succeeded by small 
capsules containing many small seeds. Though 
growing naturally in wet places, the Clethra 
flourishes in any good soil, and flowers more 
profusely than in the wild state. It may readily 
be removed from its native localities, and prop¬ 
agates easily from cuttings and by layers. The 
engraving represents the flowers and leaves of 
the natural size, of a specimen from New Jersey. 
317 
Clethra acuminata is found in Virginia and south¬ 
ward, but it is perfectly hardy around New 
York City'. It grows taller, has more pointed 
leaves, and the flower-spikes are drooping. 
---—KS»--- 
Something about the Names of Plants- 
A correspondent asks: “ Can you recom¬ 
mend a .book upon plants which is not filled 
with jaw-breaking Latin, and other foreign 
names?” This impression—that the names of 
little known plants, insects, etc., are usually 
difficult to recollect—is quite common, but 
there is very little foundation for it. It is the 
novelty, rather than any real difficulty which 
the name, presents to the memory, that strikes 
one. If we have any real interest in an object, 
the name is easily enough remembered. Let a 
battle take place at Chickamauga or Chattanoo¬ 
ga, and every one remembers the names with¬ 
out any especial effort, yet they are much more 
uncouth than most scientific names. Indeed 
we very frequently use “ botanical names,” with¬ 
out knowing it. Hyacinth, Crocus, Magnolia, 
Lobelia and many other plants have their scien¬ 
tific and popular names the same. Those who 
complain of the difficulty of “Latin and other 
foreign names,” remind us of an old gentleman 
of our acquaintance, who went to hear a college 
literary oration. Upon being asked his opinion 
of the performance he replied: “It was all 
very good but I do not like so many Latin 
quotations. For my part bona fide English is 
good enough for me.” Dock R. A. C. Pryor, of 
London, has published a work upon the origin 
of the popular names of British plants,-in which 
it is shown that many of our commonest names 
of plants are either slightly changed from very 
“ foreign ” languages, or are adopted from those 
tongues without any modification whatever. 
Thus: Beet is from the Greek, Beta; Fumi¬ 
tory is slightly changed frog* 1farms terrce, the 
Latin for earth-smoke; Spinach, is the Italian, 
spinace; Mullein is the French Molein, and 
the common Dandelion is a slight corruption 
of dent de leon, the French for Lion’s tooth. If 
all names of foreign origin were discarded from 
English books, our plants would be poorly off. 
Heeling-in — Method and Advantages. 
The heeling-in of plants, or as it is sometimes 
called “laying in by the heels,” is frequently 
convenient, often necessary. It is simply placing 
trees, shrubs, etc., in a trench and covering.the 
roots with earth; but it should be done careful¬ 
ly, or the whole stock may be lost. A dry, pro¬ 
tected situation being selected, a trench is dug, 
wide and deep enough to receive the roots of 
the plants, and of any convenient length. The 
earth should be thrown out all upon one side so 
as to make a bank next to the trench. The 
plants are then set close together in the trench, 
in a sloping manner with the tops leaning 
against the bank of soil. When one trench is 
filled, commence another as near as may be, 
using the earth from the second trench to cover 
the roots in the first one. Put in the earth 
gradually, so as to fill all the spaces around the 
roots. Smooth off the surface so as to shed 
rain, and dig a drain around the whole to carry 
off surface water. Hardy trees, shrubs and 
vines, will pass the winter thus in perfect 
safety, and in cold locations it is better to treat 
them in this way than to plant in autumn. 
Nursery stock may be purchased in the fall, and 
be at hand ready for spring planting. If grape 
vines are heeled-in, it is best to cover the tops 
as well as the roots, and the same with roses. 
The tops are better not covered with soil until 
there is danger of the ground becoming frozen. 
Fine Garden Ornament. —(Tritoma Uvaria.) 
The Tritoma is a fine herbaceous plant, from 
the Cape of Good Hope. It belongs to the 
Lily family; it does not, like the true lilies, form 
a bulb, but grows from a thick root-stock. It 
was formerly grown exclusively as a green¬ 
house plant, but it is found to be at least half 
hardy, and with care may be wintered out of 
doors. One great merit of the plant is its late 
TRITOMA UVARIA. 
blooming—it begins to flower in August and 
lasts into October. The leaves are long and 
flag-like, and have a sharp keel so that they are 
in a measure three edged. The name Tritoma 
comes from the Greek word meaning three, and, 
to cut, referring to the three sharp edges which 
the leaves present. The flower stalks are three 
feet or more tall, and bear upon their summit a 
cluster, over a foot long, of tubular, pendent 
flowers. The flowers are very densely crowded 
in the cluster, and before opening are of a dark, 
orange red, while the open ones are of a lively 
yellow. As the flowering commences at the 
lower part of the cluster, it presents a pleasing 
gradation from yellow to deep orange. It is al¬ 
together a showy and stalely plant, and nothing 
