FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
171 
name was given me provisionally by the 
Missouri Botanic Garden from specimens 
which did not reach them in very good 
condition. These four species are all 
hardy, are vigorous growers and bear a 
profusion of beautiful flowers in the 
spring. When I say that they are hardy, 
I mean throughout the orange belt; they 
will not stand an indefinite amount of 
cold, but have not been killed on my place 
for several years. 
A m p e 1 o p s i s tricuspidata, the A. 
Veitchi of the catalogues, and commonly 
called Boston Ivy or Japanese Ivy, is per¬ 
fectly hardy, but not evergreen. This 
vine has every desirable feature for a 
screen, except that it sheds its leaves in 
winter. In some situations this is not a 
drawback and for such places no better 
plant can be found. The north-east end 
of my house is covered from the ground 
up to the roof by this vine, except parts 
of two windows which it is difficult to 
keep clear enough to allow the light to 
enter. The light green leaves are so* 
close, lapping like shingles, that no rain 
can reach the siding during the summer. 
When the wind blows strong, from either 
side, the foliage moves up and down like 
waves of water. 
Another climbing plant which I have 
tested quite thoroughly, deserves to be 
more generally cultivated. I refer to 
Gloriosa superba, the climbing Lily, this 
plant is a member of the true Lily family, 
and is so gloriously beautiful that it well 
deserves the name Gloriosa. The flowers 
are perfect Lilies in form and when fully 
developed are a rich scarlet in color. The 
opening buds are a greenish yellow, 
which changes to pure yellow and then 
to scarlet. No lady who has ever seen 
it on my place has failed to express great 
delight at its wonderful beauty. The 
plant is an herbaceous perennial, the bulbs 
live over in the open ground without any 
protection, coming up year after year. 
One caution is necessary; when growth 
starts be careful that the tip of a shoot 
is not broken off, for if it is, then all 
growth stops. Most plants will sprout 
from the axil of a leaf, if the end is 
broken off, but the Gloriosa never does. 
My subject is a fascinating one, and 
when I begin I hardly know where to 
stop. There are so many plants worthy 
of cultivation which are but little known, 
that it is difficult to know what to men¬ 
tion and what to leave out. Probably the 
best plan will be to stop right here and 
tell you to study the uncultivated lands 
around you; you will be surprised to find 
how many beautiful things are growing 
there which are unknown to you. 
