14:4= 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
The Rock Tunica— (Tunica Saxifraga.) 
In forming a collection of herbaceous peren¬ 
nial plants with a view to determine their 
adaptability to our climate as well as their or¬ 
namental value, we have in the course of sev¬ 
eral years cultivated hundreds of species and 
varieties. Some of these die out of themselves, 
others after a fair trial are thrown out, while 
the garden. It keeps on blooming for several 
months. The engraving was made with a view 
to show the size and shape of the leaves and 
flowers rather than the habit of the plant, 
which is not here represented. The delicacy 
and lightness of the flowers render them espe¬ 
cially useful in bouquets for vases and the like, 
as they give a grace that is often wanting in such 
bouquets. If we wished, we could easily pro¬ 
plant does not belong to the family of the 
clover and pea. The flowers are yellow, with 
four petals and six stamens; the pistil is curi¬ 
ously raised upon a stalk, a character which 
with others shows the shrub to belong to the 
caper family. The pod is more than an inch 
long, and contains several seeds the size of a 
small pea. Nuttall first described this shrub, 
and called it Isomeris arborea. Isomeris means 
kook tunica. — (Tunica Saxifraga.) 
the California isomeris. —(Isomeris arborea.) 
there remain a select few which we not only 
keep for their excellence but propagate for the 
purpose of exchanging with our friends. One 
of the plants we would not willingly part with 
is the Rock Tunica, Tunica Saxfraga, which 
though not at all showy has many good qual¬ 
ities to commend it. The plant is a native of 
the Alps and Pyrenees, but, unlike most truly 
Alpine things, it makes itself at home in almost 
any situation. We have it in the very light 
sandy soil of an open border, where it is not in 
the least injured by the heat of summer or the 
cold of winter. The habit of the plant is ex¬ 
ceedingly neat; it has small, linear, bristle¬ 
like, stiff leaves of the size and shape of those 
shown in the engraving; its stems are prostrate 
and branching, and it forms cushion like tufts 
of foliage a foot or more across and but a few 
inches high. Prom among the tufts of leaves 
arise the slender, much branched flower-stalks, 
which are about nine inches high, and bear a 
profusion of pinkish flowers of the size shown 
in the engraving. The individual flowers are 
in themselves not showy, but they are produced 
in such abundance upon flower-stalks that are 
so slender and thread-like that the flowers al¬ 
most seem to be floating above the plant, and 
thus make it a noticeable and pleasing object in 
pagate the plant by division, but it multiplies 
itself so freely by self-sown seeds that there is 
no need of taking the trouble. Late in summer 
or in early autumn seedlings will be found 
springing up around the plants by thousands, 
and we have only to prevent them from being 
hoed up as weeds to have as large a supply as 
we wish. The name Tunica , which means a 
coat, has reference to the small bracts which 
form an involucre around the calyx; the spe¬ 
cific name Saxifraga indicates its resemblance 
in habit to some saxifrages. It belongs to the 
Pink Family. 
A California Shrub—Isomeris. 
Those who have visited the southern portion 
of California can not have failed to see a large 
shrub or small tree quite unlike anything they 
have known in the eastern states. It has a 
peculiarly sad-looking foliage of that grayish 
green color so common to plants in arid coun¬ 
tries. The leaves being three-foliate would 
lead one to suppose that he had come across 
some relative of the clover, an idea that would 
be borne out by the pea-like pods. But an ex¬ 
amination of the flowers would show that the 
equal parts, and it was probably given for the 
reason that the stamens and petals are equal in 
length, while in related plants they are un¬ 
equal. The leaves and all parts of the plant 
have a singularly heavy and unpleasant odor. 
The stem, which is often as large as one’s arm, 
is yellow within, and the wood quite hard. 
Our correspondent, A. M. Gass, Esq., of San 
Diego Co., Cal., sent us some seeds last spring; 
these germinated readily, anti during the sea¬ 
son the plants reached the height of about two 
feet, and were flowering freely when the frost 
put a stop to them. Although this is a botan- 
ically interesting plant, and noticeable in its 
native localities, we can not commend it for 
cultivation as its other qualities do not com¬ 
pensate for its disagreeable odor. We figure 
it because of the frequency with which it 
has been sent from California for a name. 
Saucer Propagation. —We have explained 
this several times, but correspondents still ask 
about it; one has some grape cuttings and 
wishes to know if he can start them by saucer 
propagation. No. This is only suited to very 
young, soft wood. A saucer of sand, kept 
constantly wet , has the cuttings of young shoots 
stuck in the sand and exposed to full sunlight. 
