1869 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
T55 
A Beautiful Green-house Climber.— {Myr¬ 
siphyllum asparagoides.) 
For some years the florists around Boston 
have cultivated a delicate vine which is exten¬ 
sively used in floral decorations. We first met 
with it a few years ago in the hands of a New 
York florist, who knew it only as Boston Srai- 
lax, and it is by some called Boston vine. The 
name Myrsiphyllum, means Myrtle leaf, and 
asparagoides , resembling asparagus, a likeness 
which, while it is apparent to the botanist, is not 
very manifest at first sight. The roots are 
fleshy; the stems, though small, are strong and 
elastic, and climb to the height of some twenty 
feet. The foliage is of a fresh, lively, shining 
green, if that can be called foliage which is not, 
properly speaking, leaves. The proper leaves 
are small, colorless scales upon the stem, from 
the axils of which spring the apparent leaves, 
but which, structurally considered, are modi¬ 
fied branches, which take the place of leaves. 
The flowers are small and white, appearing 
two or three together, and are followed by a 
globular berry. The plant is grown in ordi¬ 
nary green-house culture, and is trained upon 
strings. It will grow well in window culture, 
especially if it can have an abundance of light, 
and when trained over a support of some kind 
soon covers it with luxuriant green. It may be 
propagated by dividing the root, but our florists 
generally raise it from the seed, which is freely 
produced by old plants. This matures in July, 
and is sown as soon as ripe. It is a native of 
the Cape of Good Hope. The engraving gives 
some reduced branches and a portion of the 
plant of the natural size. The delicacy and 
beauty of the Myrsiphyllum especially adapt it 
for use in floral decorations, and it has an addi¬ 
tional good quality—it does not readily wilt. 
For making up floral wreaths for the hair it is 
superior to all other green, and large quantities 
are used for this 
purpose alone. 
It is sometimes 
used with fine 
effect to trim a 
white dress; be 
ing obtainable in 
long pieces, it 
readily forms a 
graceful tracery 
far superior to 
any embroidery. 
We think that 
the cultivation of 
this plant for 
ornamental pur¬ 
poses must be 
peculiar to this 
country, as we 
do not find it in 
any of the Euro¬ 
pean plant cata¬ 
logues, or in the 
foreign works on 
floriculture. Lat¬ 
terly the florists 
near New York 
have engaged in 
the culture of 
this plant, some 
of them devot¬ 
ing whole houses 
entirely to it. 
The Myrsiphyl¬ 
lum bears cut¬ 
ting well, as new 
shoots spring up 
in great abun¬ 
dance after each 
cutting back. 
We had a speci¬ 
men planted out in a somewhat protected 
place during the summer, which flourished 
luxuriantly. Judging from this it will not be 
necessary to keep it housed all the year around. 
* < aa^Can— -• 
The Prickly Fruited Gherkin.— {Gucumis 
Anguria.) 
There are a number of plants which were 
first introduced for ornamental purposes that 
were afterwards found to be eatable, and have 
become more or less common articles of food. 
The tomato is a notable instance of this, and in 
a lesser degree the Martynia, Nasturtium, and 
others, have been promoted or degraded, as we 
choose to view it, from the flower garden to the 
kitchen garden. The Cueumis Anguria is found 
in the seedsmen’s catalogues (sometimes under 
the name of G. Arada ), among the ornamental 
climbing plants. It has a pleasing foliage, and 
the fruit attracts attention from its singular 
form and yellow color when ripe. The fruit is 
of the size of a small egg, and attached to the 
vine by a very long stalk ; its surface is rough¬ 
ened with numerous spiny projections, and is 
yellow, or sometimes pale green. The best 
succcess is had by starting the seeds in pots, 
and turning the plants out when the weather 
is warm. As a kitchen garden product the 
fruit is taken before its skin becomes hard. Its 
smell and taste resemble the common cucum¬ 
ber. Its main use is in pickling. In April, 
1868, we inadvertently applied the name of the 
present plant to the Egyptian or Hairy Cucum¬ 
ber, Gucumis Chafe, which is similar in shape 
and uses to the present one, but has the 
fruit very thickly clothed with coarse hairs. 
The Ailanthus as a Timber Tree. 
The Agriculturist has been one of the few 
friends that the Ailanthus tree has had in this 
country, and we were glad to see, in looking 
over a recent “ Journal de VAgriculture'' that a 
French writer has made a strong appeal in its 
favor. Its rapid growth, utility of its timber, 
its hardiness, and the readiness with which it 
adapts itself to unpromising soils and localities 
are points which should strongly recommend it 
to planters. We are well aware of the ob¬ 
jection that is, and with reason, made to it—its 
unpleasant odor when in flower. This disa¬ 
greeable odor is given out by the staminate or 
the male tree only. A writer in the Horticul¬ 
turist singularly enough considers the two 
trees as distinct, and says: “ I cannot but be¬ 
lieve that the common Ailanthus was introduced 
by mistake, and that those who brought it to 
this country intended to have introduced the 
tree which I have described ”—referring to the 
fertile sex. If this writer should plant some of 
the seeds of the tree he so much praises, he 
would find that a large proportion of the re¬ 
sulting trees would be the offensive males, and 
that there was no “mistake” about its introduc¬ 
tion. Where large trees are required in situa¬ 
tions where the odor would be objectionable, they 
can be grown from cuttings of the roots of the 
pistillate or female ones. For small posts, stakes, 
or other uses for which trees too young to have 
prickly-FRUIted GHERKIN.—( Cueumis Anguria.) 
