J^loricnltttral, 
ABUM  DBAOUNCULUS, 
The  Anim  Dracntnculus,  of  which  our  sketch 
is  from  life,  has  never  received  an  extravagant 
amount  of  praise  either  for  its  beauty  which  is 
of  the  monstrous  sort,  or  for  the  odor  which  it 
possesses  in  an  eminent  degi-ce  and  which  it  is 
pleasanter  to  describe  by  telling  what  it  is  not 
than  by  wimt  it  is.  Many  naturalists  sup)X}se 
that  it  is  tiie  fragrance  of  dowers  as  well  as  their 
bright  colors  that  attracts  the  insects  necessary 
to  their  fertilisation.  In  the  instance  of  the 
Anira,  tl»e  velvety-purple  of  Its  spathe  may 
alone  suiUce,  else  it  must  be  supposed  that  odors 
that  are  offensive  to  tlie  human  olfactory  are 
agreeable  to  that  of  the  Insect— a  supjiosition 
that  is  not,  however,  hnprobable  when  we  con¬ 
sider  how  variously  the  same  odor  atfeots  differ¬ 
ent  persons. 
We  find  in  the  experimental  grounds  which 
are  now  devoted  to  the  Rmiai,  New-Yorkeb 
wliere  tlie  Arum  is  now  blooming,  that  the  gob¬ 
let-shaped  bottom  of  the  spatho  which  surrounds 
the  stamens  and  pistils  of  the  spadix,  is  partly 
dUed  witli  various  insects  which  feed  upon  the 
pollen.  The  nut-like  piatils  are  crowded  about 
the  base  extending  an  inch  or  more  upwards 
wh^rc  they  meet  the  stamens.  It  is  very  easy 
for  the  insects  to  creep  up  the  rough  smface  of 
the  pistils  and  feed  upon  the  pollen ;  but  above 
the  stamens,  the  spadix  is  naked  and  slippery  so 
that  they  And  it  a  troublesome  if  not  an  impos¬ 
sible  matter  to  escape  in  this  way.  Equally  dif- 
Acult  is  it  for  them  to  creep  up  the  indexed  sides 
of  the  swollen  part  of  the  spathe.  After  an 
inch  or  so  of  progress,  they  lose  footing  and  fall 
to  the  bottom  where  they  exist  in  numbers  suffi¬ 
cient  to  cruah  or  smother  one  another.  As  the 
spathe  of  this  Arum  consists  of  a  leaf,  the  edges 
of  which  ai'e  not  jomed  together,  the  swollen 
bottom  allows  water  to  escape,  otherwise  In  this 
plant  as  la  the  pitcher  and  other  so-called  carniv¬ 
orous  plants,  the  insects  would  he  drowned  and 
an  opportunity  afforded  to  our  Infinitesimal 
botanists  to  investigate  whether  in  this,  as  in 
those,  the  putrid  animal  bodies  were  not  “dis¬ 
solved  by  this  subtle  fiuid  and  converted  into 
plant-food.” 
Syrnplocarpus  foetidus  or  Skunk  Cabbage— 
Aritaf/iia  Iriphyllum,  Jaok-in-the-pulpit,  Indian 
T^arnip-Feltandi-ia  Virginica,  the  Arrow  Arum 
—Oalla  palu^lria,  the  Water  Arum— Oronlium 
aquatiouin,  Golden  Club— and  Accyrua  oalamua 
or  Sweet  Flag  are  all  hardy  natives  and  well 
suited  to  seml-aquatio  or  wild  gardens.  The 
Skunk  Cabbage  is  something  to  laugh  at  when 
mentioned  as  a  garden  ornament,  yet  we  see 
leaves  no  bigger,  no  more  vigorous,  no  prettier, 
that  grace  “sub-tropical”  beds  that  are  taken 
up  every  fall  and  carefully  looked  after  until  an¬ 
other  spring.  Shame  upon  the  fellow  who,  re¬ 
gardless  of  “What’s  in  a  name”  and,  looking 
through  his  nose  instead  of  through  bla  eyes, 
should  have  dubbed  this  plant  both  specifically 
and  geuerloally  with  names  so  far  removed  from 
the  romance  of  flowers  as  to  have  condemned  it 
“  forever  and  a  day  "  to  the  meadow  and  swamp. 
Speaking  of  the  Wild  Garden — ^it  is  with  real 
pleasure  that  we  are  enabled  soon  to  present  our 
readers  with  a  long  and  interesting  original  ar¬ 
ticle  upon  this  subject  from  the  pen  of  the 
Editor  and  Founder  of  the  London  Garden,  Mr. 
William  Robinson— a  gentleman  who,  through 
many  years  of  devotion  to  horticulture,  has  never 
wearied  of  reminding  his  readers  “how  far  Na¬ 
ture's  ways  of  displaying  the  beauty  of  vegeta¬ 
tion  have  been  diverged  from  in  the  adoption  of 
a  tew  varieties  of  plants  for  culture  on  a  vast 
9ual«,  to  the  exclusion  of  interest  and  variety  and 
too  often  of  beauty  and  taste.”* 
*  Gardens  of  Paris  by  Wm.  Boblnson. 
But  to  return  to  our  deserted  Anmi  Draonn- 
nduB.  It  averages  two  feet  in  bight  and  con¬ 
sists  of  6  or  8  curly  leaves  pedately  or  bastately 
parted,  on  loug  petioles  which  are  spotted  like  a 
leopard-skio  with  dull  brown.  The  spathe  is  one 
j  foot  or  more  in  length,  of  a  vivid,  glossy,  red- 
I  dish-purple  inside,  deeply  veined  and  green  out¬ 
side  excejit  the  edges  which  are  also  pnqile. 
The  CaJadium,  Calla  Lily  and  many  of  our 
finest  hot-hottso  plants  are  sisters  of  the  Arum. 
One  of  tlie  showiest  is  the  brilliant  Anthurium, 
elegant  specimens  of  which  may  now  be  seen  in 
Horticultural  Hall  of  the  Centennial  Exhibition. 
- - 
CINNAMON  VINE.  INDIGO  PLANT. 
In  your  notes  in  Horticultural  column  of 
Rubal  you  think  it  probable  that  the  “  Cinna¬ 
mon  Vine”  is  the  same  as  the  well-known  I 
“Madeira  Vine.”  Since  malting  my  inquiry  of 
you  I  have  received  a  few  words  from  a  friend 
which  I  think  clearly  make  a  distinction  between 
the  two  Vines.  Below  is  what  my  friend  has  to 
say  about  it: — “It  will  certainly  prove  a  great 
favorite  when  better  known.  It  hails  from 
Japan  as  many  of  our  best  plants  and  shrubs  do. 
The  Vine  grows  from  a  tuberous  root  which  in¬ 
creases  in  size  from  year  to  year,  some  of  them 
attaining  the  weight  of  several  pounds,  and  as 
the  roots  increase  the  vine  is  much  larger  and 
stronger  and  of  v&vy  rapid  growth.  It  is  perfectl^v 
hardy  in  centi-al  New  York,  farther  north  I  do 
not  know  anything  about  it.  I  would  say  it  is 
easily  propagated  from  the  little  spherical  tubers 
which  form  upon  the  vine.  A  well  grown  speci¬ 
men  will  grow  about  26  feet  in  a  season.  The 
blooms  are  most  deliciously  fragrant  filling  the 
air  for  some  distance  around  with  a  spicy  fra- 
'THE:  >VRT71M  3DR.A.CUIsrCXJIL.TJS. 
giiiuuo  wmen  suggests  the  name  of  Cinnamon 
Vino.  It  can  also  be  cultivated  within  tho  house 
with  tho  greatest  of  ease  and  will  no  doubt  be  a 
groat  acquisition  to  our  climbing  class  of  plants. 
The  vine  has  no  tendrils  with  which  to  cling  to 
its  snpijori  but  like  tlio  Madeira  Vine  will 
twine  around  any  object  for  support  such  as  a 
pole,  cord  or  trellis.  Pragraiwe,  hardiness  and 
ease  of  culture  are  its  most  desirable  qualities.  Do 
not  know  of  any  roots  for  sale  at  present,  but  I 
presume  sonic  llorists  have  them.”  Perhaps  you 
may  get  some  Information  from  tho  above — at 
least,  I  hope  you  will.  I  will  still  endeavor  to 
get  ono  of  the  vines,  and  then  we  will  see. 
You  seem  to  be  well  pleased  with  wild  plants. 
W©  havo  a  few  in  our  section  that  would  attract 
your  attention  if  you  wore  here.  Near  my  home 
are  several  plants  of  liapHsia,  or  as  some  prefer 
to  call  them  Indigo  plants,  which  are  well  worthy 
a  place  upon  any  lloi-al  grounds,  but  f  presume  if 
China  or  Japan  wero  named  as  it.s  native 
home,  Ihcy  would  be  sought  as  a  great  novelty, 
providing  a  round  price  wore  placed  upon  them. 
Perhaps  tho  most  noticeable  one  of  tho  class  is 
Baptisia  UnicatUha— it  is  really  grand  in  appear¬ 
ance  at  present  time,  having  attained  a  bight  of 
four  feet  and  bearing  an  erect  raceme  of  large, 
pure  white  flowers.  The  flowers  are  iu  form 
like  tho  common  pea  but  somewhat  laager. 
But  the  ^st  uotlC'iablc  part  is  Uio  immense 
raceme ;  bnly  think,  .10  laches  in  longtJi— tins  the 
central  one — the  others  are  of  various  lengths, 
the  uuniber  of  buds  and  flowers  being  about  120. 
The  plant  is  a  strong  grower  of  dark-green  color 
which  tiu'iis  a  little  black  iu  drying.  Tho  seed- 
pods  are  all  inflated  and  are  somewhat  of  a 
curiosity  to  many.  We  have  one  or  two  more  of 
the  Baptiaia  in  our  section,  but  this  ono  B. 
leucanltia  is  most  conspicuous.  Who  Is  there 
that  cultivates  this  grand  native  plant?  I  in¬ 
tend  to  save  seeds  from  several  plants  for  the 
Rural  Brigade  if  any  should  desire  them.  I 
would  like  to  see  them  iu  the  possession  of  all 
who  have  a  taste  for  our  native  plants. 
Oregon,  MO,  j.  w.  Mafle. 
[Send  us  a  leaf,  flower  or  root — or  all,  if  you 
can,  of  what  you  call  the  Cinnamou  Vine. — Ed.] 
- . V  »  »  ,  ,  -  ■  .  , 
SEEDLING  DAHLIAS. 
Mb.  Maple  of  Oregon,  Mo.,  writes  us  that  ho 
has  just  finished  transplanting  Seedling  Dahlias 
and  expects  to  have  some  new  and  disUnot  kinds 
of  his  own  as  the  result.  “The  seeds  were  sown 
in  hot-bed  on  lat  of  April,  and  I  look  for  nine- 
tenths  of  them  to  bloom  this  season.  I  prefer 
growing  Dahlias  from  seed  to  many  of  the 
coarse-growing  annuals,  such  as  Zinnia,  Ac.  I 
have  been  at  a  loss  to  know  why  the  growing  of 
the  Dahlia  has  not  been  more  strongly  recom¬ 
mended  by  the  Old  Rural  and  other  floricnltural 
papers ; — yes,  and  why  some  of  our  seodamen 
who  persist  In  saying  they  will  not  bloom  until 
the  aecond  year  should  not  give  them  a  trial  and 
become  convinced  of  the  error  of  their  way.  I 
give  my  Dahlias  the  same  care  that  I  do  early 
cabbage  plants ;  and  who  is  it  that  cannot  raise 
cabbage  plants  ?  No  one,  I  hope. 
“  To  get  the  heat  aeed  has  been  a  gieat  trouble 
to  me.  I  always  select  the  very  ohoiceat  mixed, 
and  the  result  is  vailable  in  the  extreme— about 
one-half  prove  double,  though  many  have  an 
objectionable  color.  Will  report  this  fall  of  my 
success.'" 
[We  are  always  glad  to  get  the  results  of  actual 
experience.- Eds.] 
•  ■■  '-♦♦♦ - 
Stbixino  Pinks  in  Wateb.— A.  D.,  in  Garden, 
says  it  has  recently  been  foiuid  that  Pink  pipings 
strike  freely  tied  up  in  smaU  bundles  and  placed 
in  water'.  When  tho  ix>ols  are  well  developed, 
the  pipings  should  be  pricked  out  into  a  frame  or 
under  hand-lights  until  they  are  strong  enough 
for  moving  into  pots  or  borders. 
[Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congresa,  In  the  year  1876,  by  the  Rural  Publishing  Company,  in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  OonprreBS  iit  Wauhlnaton.! 
PRICK  SXDC  CENTS. 
»a.65  PER  YEAR. 
VOL.  XXXIV.  No.  3.  I 
WHOLE  No.  1381.  i 
NEW  YORK  CITY,  JULY  15,  1876. 
