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Vol. XLI. No. 1667.} NEW YOKK, JAN. 7, 1882. 
__ [Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1881, by the Rural New-Yorker, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
PRICE FIVE CENT 3 
$2.00 PER YEAR 
__ florintlim-qi,_ 
THE ALABAMA SNOW-WREATH. 
Neviusia Alabamensis. 
WILLIAM FALCONER. 
This beautiful shrub is one of the rarest of 
American plants, and, strange to say, it has 
no more relatives here. Its next of kin are 
natives of Japan. It was first discovered in 
1857 by Dr. R. D. Nevius, who, unable to 
“make it out” himself, submitted it to Dr. Asa 
Gray for his opinion. Dr. Gray pronounced 
it not only a new plant, but distinct from auy 
other genus of plants; therefore, for it, he 
made a new genus which he called Neviusia 
in compliment to its dicoverer; and as a spe¬ 
cies, Alabamensis, after the State in which it 
was found. 
It belongs to the rose family of plants, 
throws up root-sprouts like some spiraeas and in 
manner of growth is not much unlike its not 
distant relatives, Rhodotypos and Kerria, the 
last-named a very common garden shrub. But 
it differs from all its allies in not having any 
petals to its flowers: they are conspicuous as a 
thicket of pure white stamens tipped with yel¬ 
low anthei’s, and so abundantly are the flow¬ 
ers produced along the twigs as to present an 
appearance of soft, white fleecy sprays. In 
bright, dry weather they are lovely; wet 
weather spoils them sadly. In its native State 
this shrub blossoms in February and March; 
here in May and at the same time as Exochor¬ 
da grandiflora, a little later than the double, 
flowering almonds and somewhat earlier than 
the Bridal-wreath Spiraea, On tirat appear¬ 
ance the flowers are greenish, but with age 
they become pure white; they are not fra¬ 
grant. 1 have grown it for several years 
and it has not shown any signs of being hurt 
by our Winters; our coldest weather is 10° be¬ 
low zero. The position it grows in is shel¬ 
tered; beyond a slight mulching around its 
base it gets no further protectiou. It thrives 
best and blooms freest in a sunny exposure in 
a warm, sheltered place and in thoroughly 
drained soil. 
Although this shrub was discovered more 
than twenty years ago, and from vbe first was 
known to be of sterli ug merit, and is so easily 
propagated, it is strange how scarce it is. It 
is not mentioned in any nurseryman’s cata¬ 
logue that I have got (of course, there are 
many catalogues that I have not), but 1 know 
some nurserymen, as Saul, of Washington, 
have it in quantity. Meehan must have it, so 
must Parsons, the Rochester folks, and others 
who make a specialty of shrubber *. 
Neviusia Alabamensis. 
This pretty, hardy shrub is a native of Ala¬ 
bama. I have grown it several years, and 
have found it perfectly hardy. During May 
it is a perfect sheet of white bloom and one of 
the loveliest shrubs imaginable. It will grow 
in auy soil, but prefers a sunny situation. 
Dr. Nevius writes to me as follows: “Nev¬ 
iusia was found by me in 1857, uear Tusca¬ 
loosa, Alabama, it occurred in thickets under 
a long escarpment of rock, aud when in full 
bloom looked like a suow wreath. Dr. Gray 
has written to me during the past year, say¬ 
ing that it has not been reported by any other 
collectors, aud is not known to him as occur¬ 
ring in any other place. I found roots of it 
on the south side of Lhe river, with a northern 
exposure aud ia the shade, w here it hardly 
bloomed at all. In its native place it had a 
southern exposure at the base of a high cliff, 
and at an edevation above the tops of the trees 
below. At that place I have seen virgate 
wreaths of it three feet long covered with 
bloom.” John Saol. 
Nevidsia Alabamensis. — It was Mr. 
Saul, of Washington, to whom we are in¬ 
debted for the specimen in the Rural Grounds, 
from which our drawing was made. It has 
proven entirely hardy there, and its leaves 
now (Nov. 20) are quite green, notwithstand¬ 
ing we have had several sharp frosts, a fact 
worthy of note. 
The American Yew or Ground Hemlock is 
one of the best shrubs I know of to grow in 
shady places, as under trees. I have it here 
upon a hai'd, dry bank and also in a moist and 
shady place beneath old pine trees, and a 
lively, pretty bush it makes in both cases, and 
beneath its spreading arms blood-root, trill- 
iums, adder’s-tongue and some other little 
plants delight to grow. On one of the hottest 
days of last July friend Allan and I descended 
Mount Willey (in the White Mountains) aud 
before the sun bad set ascended Mount Web¬ 
ster. In the valley between those mountains 
and on the Webster side of the river this yew 
grows in vast quantity and that, too, in very 
dense woods. By the way, that Webster 
climb was the hardest work I ever undertook. 
The exceptipnally excessive heat of that day, 
no path to follow, the myriads of black flies 
and mosquitoes that bit us every moment of 
the time, the steep and rugged course we took, 
parched with thirst aud not a drop of water 
to be found from the bottom to the top; a 
week’s provisions, a portfolio for specimens, 
our rubber clothes and bedding on our backs, 
gave us a five hours’ climb I never hope to 
try again. 
* * 
Almost every one knows the Coliseum Ivy 
or Ivy-leaved Toad-flax or Kenilworth Ivy; for 
it is commonly known by all these names, and 
what a good little house plant it is for baskets, 
brackets, to droop over pots and the like. But 
far less common is the variegated form of it, 
which is as applicable for window decoration 
as the typical species. The variegation is 
very-white, deep and well defined. I saw a 
lot of it at the Cincinnati Floral Company’s 
greenhouses at College Hill. 
* * 
On the occassiou of the meeting of the 
Pomological Society at Boston last September, 
William Saunders of Washington, another 
friend and myself were having a walk in the 
suburbs of the “ Hub ” when our notice was 
attracted by a bright red border surrounding 
a grass lawn in front of a villa. It was the 
newredalternanthera (paronychioides major). 
About three feet from the outer edge of the 
lawn a 10-inch-wide strip had been cut out in 
the grass aud so well filled with the alternan- 
thera that the bright red met the green, and 
no earth at all was visible. Mr. Saunders de¬ 
clared it was “ a real pretty idea,” and, like 
Captain Cuttle, made a note of it. Only those 
having greenhouses or who can afford to buy 
the aitemanthera every year can imitate it, 
but 1 should recommend it to those who are in 
a position to afford it. 
* * 
1 was at Marshall, Michigan, some weeks 
ago, and friend Rowers drove me all around 
the city and for miles through the neighbor¬ 
ing couutry, and a lovely agricultural country 
it is, too, I assure you. We halted in front of 
a suburban residence with a large yard con¬ 
taining a good many evergreen trees, as 
spruces, which were ‘trimmed up in,good 
shape” into solid bushes. This was pointed 
out to me as the most noteworthy garden at 
Marshall and the trimmed trees were its forte. 
But I didn't think so. A spruce in its full de¬ 
velopment is a handsome, noble-looking tree, 
but robbed of its natural inclination, sym¬ 
metry aud order, it becomes an aonormal ab¬ 
surdity. You can obtain more enjoyment 
from the possession of one leally well-de¬ 
veloped, handsome tree than from ninety and 
nine that have been clipped to deiormity. 
* * 
Henry Cannell, of Swanley, England, is 
u very progressive florist and as go-a-head as 
a Yankee in business. He issues an annual 
catalogue full of notes and pictures of flowers 
ami flower-beds; his 1881 edition contains 266 
pages. Now it was very amusing to me when 
1 visited some big gardens last Summer to see 
the flower beds cut out and planted in strict 
conformity to CanneU’s pictures and descrip¬ 
tions, and commented ou to me with as much 
egotism as if they ware the designs of those 
gardeners themselves and not of the trans- 
Atlantic Englishman. 
★ * 
W hat a common thing it is for country 
folks to go to town in Bpring to get some 
flower seeds for their gardens. They don’t 
know exactly what they want, but they want 
something pretty aud that will grow freely, 
bloom copiously, last a while in flower, do to 
cut for bouquets and if possible be fragrant. 
And the store-keeper—maybe the village 
grocer who sells for Ferry but perhaps never 
himself grew a plant—treats them all alike to 
sweet alyssum, stocks, asters, zinnias, balsams 
and mignonette, just as my poor old mother 
used to treat me to castor-oil for headache, 
toothache, stomachache, or any other ill a 
child is heir to. What an easy matter ib 
would be for florists, seedsmen aud storekeep¬ 
ers to have flower-albums, that Is, dried speci¬ 
mens of the flowers of the plants they sell the 
seeds of, nicely mounted in a folio like a 
scrap-book, so that customers might examine 
the same and choose for themselves. Pictures 
are so often overdrawn that they do not invite 
the public confidence and descriptions are a 
weary road to tra rel anyway, but specimens 
of the plants, dried so as to retain their 
natural colors, are facts—“ duels that winna 
ding an’ canna be disputed,” and make con¬ 
fidence imperative. 
* * 
Bloomington, Illinois, is a pretentious 
city, a busy and a prosperous place, sur¬ 
rounded by a fertile farming country, and 
has a seat of learning—Normal—at its elbow. 
Nevertheless, I do not know where I should 
go to find a place Of equal size where homes 
have less exterior decoration, more untidy 
yards and fewer flowers. And this is inex¬ 
cusable, as the Phoenix Nurseries, 600 acres in 
extent, and wherein are grown ail maimer 
