1374 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
301 
Succulents as Decorative Plants. 
BY CHARLES H. HOVEY, CAMBRIDGEPORT, MASS. 
SECOND ARTICLE. 
Among the succulents, the Sempervivums, 
next to the Echeverias, demand our attention 
as being the most useful—the hardy varieties 
for the garden, and the tender ones for both 
greenhouse and garden decoration. As indi¬ 
cated by the name sempervivum-—' always liv¬ 
ing. 1.— TliEE HOUSE-LEEK. 
ing ”—they are extremely tenacious of life, ap¬ 
pearing to stand equally well the hot and the 
cold, the wet and the dry weather, and increas¬ 
ing very rapidly. This genus is well known 
in the old House-leck, which, in Europe, was 
formerly grown by royal edict on the thatch¬ 
ed roofs of houses, on account of its supposed 
power to avert lightning. The succulent 
leaves of this common species were former¬ 
ly supposed to possess curative properties. 
There are very many species and varieties, 
hardy and tender; the hardy ones are all stem¬ 
less, and present a great contrast in habit of 
growth, as well as in the color of their leaves 
and flowers. Many are worthy of cultivation 
from the effectiveness of their flowers alone. 
For the edging of flower-beds, or figures, for 
lettering, or rock-work, and for edgings, the 
Sempervivums are in every way desirable. 
The tender .species differ greatly from each 
other in shape and style of growth, and are ex¬ 
ceedingly ornamental for the greenhouse, as 
well as indispensable for the garden in making 
a bed of succulents, or if scattered among a 
group of miscellaneous plants, they give a cer¬ 
tain novel and striking effect, which we find in 
no other class of plants. Most of them are 
Fig. 2. —TAELE-F0KJIE3 notfSE-LEEE. 
very symmetrical in their growth, and form 
fine single specimens for the greenhouse; they 
vary in bight from six inches to six feet. 
Of the tender kinds the following are 
enumerated as a few of the most desirable: 
Sempervivum arloreum .—This (figure 1) is 
one of the best known ; it has a regular tree¬ 
like growth, attaining the bight of five or six 
feet. The leaves, of a light green, grow in 
rosettes upon the extremities of the branches. 
S. arloreum rubrum is similar to the above 
in general appearance, except in the color 
of its leaves, which are deeply tinged with red. 
S. arloreum variegatum .—Similar to the two 
preceding, the leaves being broadly margined 
with bright yellow, and green in the center. 
One of the finest variegated-leaved plants. 
S. arloreum medio-luteum. —Another varie¬ 
gated form of S. arloreum, having the yellow 
variegation in the center of the leaf, upon 
each side of which is a margin of green. 
S. talulaforme. —This is the most distinct of 
the Sempervivums ; it is called the Table-shaped 
Sempervivum, on account of its manner of 
growth. It is of dwarf habit, with its top per¬ 
fectly flat, the leaves being as close together as 
if pressed. We have a specimen six inches 
high and ten inches in diameter, and as flat as 
a board, as in figure 2. A very desirable kind. 
S. Canariense. —Somewhat similar to S. talu- 
leeforrne in growtb, but with larger leaves than in 
that species, and the cluster is slightly concave. 
S. Haworthii. —A dwarf, free branching spe¬ 
cies, producing small clusters of leaves at the 
extremities of the branches, the plant form¬ 
ing one large round cluster of small tufts. 
8. Youngianum. — A tree-shaped variety, 
with very wide, fiat leaves, somewhat after 
the style of 8 . talulceforme. Yery distinct. 
8. decorum, 8. ciliare, 8. glutinosum, S. ru- 
licum, and S. cholochrysum, are all very good 
kinds, and worthy a place in any collection. 
Of the hardy Sempervivums, those which are 
most distinct and desirable, are the following: 
8. arachnoideum. —This, called the Cobweb 
Sempervivum, is one of the most curious spe¬ 
cies ; it has the peculiarity of being completely 
covered and interwoven from tip to tip of the 
leaves with filaments like a spider’s web. It 
grows in very compact clumps, as shown 
in figure 3, and gives a very striking effect. 
S. tomentosum, and 8. Laggerii, present the 
same peculiarity as 8. arachnoideum, though in 
a less marked degree. The leaves of both are 
green, but in S. tomentosum they change to 
a dull red in the spring; both are desirable. 
S. calcaratum, improperly known in collec¬ 
tions as 8. Californicum, is one of the best of 
all the hardy species; its leaves are bright- 
green, deeply tipped with red. Fine for bedding. 
S. sololiferum is called the “ ben and chick¬ 
ens,” for the reason that the young plants 
which it produces, are as regularly placed 
around the old rosette as if planted by hand. 
S. hirlum, shown in figure 4, as also 8. to¬ 
mentosum, present the same peculiar growth. 
S. tectorum. —This is the regular roof House- 
leek before alluded to. A large and remark¬ 
ably robust grower and a distinct species. 
S. umbilicum chrysanthum. — This is very 
dwarf and branching, producing a number of 
small, round heads, with the leaves incurved. 
Yery distinct. We may here mention 
8. acuminatum, S. Brauni, S. gloliferum, 8. 
FREE-FLOWEBIHG AKJ3K0MEDA. 
heierotrichum, S. montanum, S. Pittoni, 8. piio- 
sella, 8. Begince 'Amalia,, and 8. violaceum, as 
all distinct and good. There are some fifty 
more, all different and perfectly hardy, which 
present their peculiarities of growth and color 
more fully in the spring. The Sempervivums, 
as a whole, are very desirable. They are easily 
taken care of, requiring very little attention, 
especially the hardy ones, which, when once 
planted, arc quite able to take care of themselves. 
- —=0 B— «~<*- 
The Free-Dowering Andromeda. 
Andromeda is a beautiful name, which Lin¬ 
naeus gave to a genus of charming plants. La¬ 
ter botanists, for reasons which seemed satis¬ 
factory to themselves, split up the genus into 
several new genera, and while some place the 
beautiful Free-flowering Andromeda, A. flori- 
lunda, in one of these newer genera, Leucothoe, 
Fig. 4. —HAIRY HOOS'E-I.EEK. 
and others in another, Zenolia, we are glad that 
our best American botanists, like Gray and 
Chapman, retain this as an Andromeda. Some 
of the Andromedas are deciduous, hut this is 
an evergreen shrub, found from the mountains 
