264 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
Half-hardy Passion-flowers. 
The most beautiful species of Passion-flower 
( Passifiora ) can only be grown in the green¬ 
house; but there are two which 
can, with a little care, be kept 
in the ground through the 
winter, and though not so 
showy as the more tender ones, 
are sufficiently beautiful and 
interesting to repay the little 
trouble they require. The spe¬ 
cies referred to are the Blue 
Passion - flower (P. ccerulea), 
from Brazil, and the Flesh- 
colored (P. incarnata), which 
is native from Virginia south¬ 
ward. These are vines, climb¬ 
ing twenty feet or more by 
means of tendrils, and produc¬ 
ing lobed leaves and pretty 
flowers that are remarkable in 
structure. The one figured is 
the Blue Passion-flower, and 
shows the general characters 
of the flower in all the species. 
There are five petals and as 
many divisions of the calyx, 
which last are colored on the 
inside and give the flower the 
appearance of being composed 
of ten petals. Within the pe¬ 
tals is a conspicuous crown of 
rays, or thread-like bodies, 
which adds much to the show¬ 
iness of the flowers, as it is 
usually more strikingly colored 
than the petals. Then we 
have five stamens and one 
pistil, which bears three styles 
with large button-like stigmas 
at their extremities. The showy 
crown, which is composed of 
one or more rows of slender 
threads, has been a puzzle to 
botanists. Some regard the rays 
as modified stamens, and it is stated that anthers 
have been produced upon them. The fruit is a 
large berry with a tough rind, containing nu¬ 
merous seeds imbedded in a pulp. The fruit of 
many species is edible; that of our native Flesh- 
colored one is known as “ Maypops,” and that 
of a South-American species is the much es¬ 
teemed Granadilla. 
The name Passion¬ 
flower was given by 
the early South- 
American mission¬ 
aries who saw in 
different parts of the 
plant symbols of the 
crucifixion. The 
three styles were to 
them the three nails, 
two for the hands 
and one for the feet; 
the five stamens were 
the five wounds; the 
rays the crown of 
thorns; the ten parts 
of the calyx and co¬ 
rolla the Apostles; 
Peter who denied 
and Judas who be¬ 
trayed, being absent; the tendrils represented the 
scourges, and the lobed leaves the hands of the 
persecutors. It does not need any such exercise 
of the imagination to make the Passion-flower 
beautiful; and it deserves to be classed with our 
most desirable climbers. Plants of the Blue spe¬ 
cies are to be had of the florists; it may be kept 
as a green-house plant, or, planted out to orna¬ 
ment a veranda or trellis. The stem is killed by 
the frost, but if the root lias a good covering of 
leaves over it, it may be preserved through the 
winter. In warmer countries it is hardy, and 
forms a trunk as large as one’s wrist. The native 
species is rarely seen in cultivation, probably 
for the reason that it, like many other native 
plants, is more difficult to procure than the exotic 
ones. It is, however, well worthy of a place 
in the garden. Another native species, found 
as far north as Pennsylvania, is the Yellow 
Passion-flower (Passifiora luted), which has 
greenish-yellow flowers about an inch broad. 
Pot-layered Strawberries. 
The propagation of Strawberries by striking 
their runners in pots has already been recom¬ 
mended in these columns, but 
another season’s experience 
has so impressed us with the 
superiority of this method, that 
we desire to call attention to 
it with more emphasis. It is 
not a process that commends 
itself to those who grow straw¬ 
berries by the acre, but for the 
amateur it is of the greatest 
convenience; as it not only 
renders him independent of 
the season, but saves him a 
year’s time. Let us suppose a 
runner roots at the present 
time in the soil of the bed. If 
taken up and planted out in 
the fall, it may bear a few ber¬ 
ries next year, but not a full 
crop until the spring of 1872. 
If put out in the spring of ’71, 
it will not bear until the spring- 
following. If the same layer 
be rooted in a pot, and as soon 
as it is fairly established, it is 
turned out of the pot, say in 
July, it will make a strong 
plant before winter, and bear 
well the next season. One 
great advantage in using pot- 
layers is, that the roots are 
undisturbed, and the planting- 
may be done in the hottest 
weather.—-The operation of 
pot-layering is a very simple 
one. Prepare a compost of 
good garden soil, and well-de¬ 
composed manure, letting it be 
light, rich, and fine. With 
this fill small pots ; some use 
them as large as 4 inches 
across, but the size known in 
the trade as verbena pots are sufficiently large. 
These may be had at the potteries at about a 
cent a piece, if many are taken. The pots of 
compost are sunk in the soil of the bed under a 
runner, before it has taken root and become 
fixed in the bed. The pots are plunged quite 
down to their rims. It will be found neces¬ 
sary. to lay a small 
stone or clod on the 
runner to keep the 
wind from moving 
it out of place, or to 
fix the runner by 
pressing it into the 
soil of the pot.— 
Roots will be forrn- 
ed rapidly in the rich 
SY- vsr- compost in the pots, 
and when the plant 
has become well 
rooted, it may be 
separated from the 
mother plant, and 
set in the bed where 
it is to fruit. The 
illustration shows 
the manner in which 
the pots are placed. 
After a runner takes root, it will throw off 
another, and this another, and so on. When 
but few plants are wanted, it is well to pinch 
off the secondary runners, and allow only 
those from the mother plant to take root. 
BLUE passion-floweu—( Passifiora ccerulea.) 
STRIKING STRAWBERRY RUNNERS IN TOTS. 
