‘ sees Hie ALBERT R MANN CORNELL UNIVERSITY Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http ://www.archive.org/details/cu31924051745978 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS FIGURED BY FP. EDWARD HULME, ¥.L5.. Fs.A. AND DESCRIBED BY SHIRLEY HIBBERD “ Amid my garden’s broider’d paths I trod, And there my mind soon caught her favoured clue ; I seem’d to stand amid the church of God, And flowers were preachers, and (still stranger) drew From their own life and course The love they would enforce ; And sound their doeting was, al every Breceny true. * Then cried the garden's ‘Host Ww. ith o one conse nt: Come, man, and see how, day by day, we shoot, For every hour of rain, and sunshine lent, Deepen our glowing ‘hues, and drive our root ; And, as our heads we lift, Record each added gift, And bear to God's high will, and man’s support, our Evans, cree Lecture. Third Series WITH COLOURED PLATES 4 OK OK CASSELL ann COMPANY, Limirep LONDON, PARIS & MELBOURNE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PREFACE. —+ + THis is the preface to the Third Series of this work, and it seems to be necessary to say something. And yet if you will just turn from this page and open the window and look at the garden, the flowers should speak with far better effect than the author could possibly hope to do. Thus, by going to the fountain- head—which, of course, is out of doors—you will get a better discourse than can be attempted here, whether as a prologue or epilogue. “The flowers have glad voices,” and the less we have to say, the more agreeably will their utterances be heard. Those who are deaf to their voices may be able to see their colours or inhale their fragrance, and they will have only themselves to blame if they fail to appreciate their innumerable beauties. DarwWin’s BARBERRY. GREEK VALERIAN. . LarGe-LEavep SAaXIFRAGE AVENS. DovuBsLE Prony . DovusLtE TRUMPET DArFoDIL Rock Rose. - ACHIMENES. 5 ‘ SYRINGA PotyantHus Narcissus SaLvia Z PULMONARIA LACHENALTA A Pontic AZALEA . SUNFLOWER SWALLOW-WORT GENTIAN . SPIDER-WORT . PELARGONIUM . ‘ , BuvuE NEMOPHILA MIMULUS . , ALMOND . . 5 i vi CONTENTS. BEGONIA HYDRANGEA AMERICAN CowsLip LILy OF 1HE VALLEY Rep AVENS WINGED Broom. Rosy CLARKIA GLOBE FLOWER . Fucusra HEPATICA Broad BELL-FLOWER Earty TuLip CAMELLIA Honesty TURBINATE BELL-F LOWER OXLIP . A GUELDER ROSE . YeLLow Heatu, CaTCHFLY SLNOPS IS, 29 In continuing the notes, care hus been taken to select subjects properly per- taining to the present volume by reason of the figures and descriptions it contains. Such a work as the present can never serve the purpose of a treatise on botany, and no pretence can be made thereto ; but these notes may often supply acceptable information on the genera and orders of the plants selected for illustration, and save the reader the trouble of travelling turther for it. BERBERIS is named from the Arabic berberys. N.O,, Berberidacee. Linnman: 6, Hevandria; 1, Monogynia.—The ‘ barberry ’’ in all its forms is easily recognisable, and is one of the most interesting of the many families of familiar plants our gardens afford the means of studying, The order comprises a few herbaceous plants, such as the epimedium, a peat plant of great beauty, but trees and shrubs prevail, for the most part hairless, but often very shin The leaves are compound, the flowers solitary, consisting of three to six sepals and petals systematically arranged. The fruit is a capsule or a berry, the more conspicuous species of berberis producing an abundance of handsome berries of a sharp, austere flavour, but wholesome, and adapted for making preserves and wines, The genus Lerberis is the most important, and is by some authors separated from J/«honia, the first comprising the kinds of which B. ridgaris is the type, the second those of which B. aquifolia is the type. The distinction serves no useful purpose, or at the best only marks the two ends of a system of gradations, As garden plants the shrubby kinds are of the highest importance, being hardy, various in aspect, handsome, and producing a gay show of yellow flowers in the spring of the year. The irritability of the stamens is a point of some interest : when touched at the base with the point of a pin they all spring forward and clasp the pistils. pe, VALERIAN is a name of uncertain origin, said to be derived from that of a physician named Valerius, who first used it in medicine. N.O., Talerianacee. Linnman: 3, Triandria ; 1, Monogynia,—'The Greek valerian or spikenard of Pliny is still occasionally used in medicine, but is not of high repute. Bentley and Redwood recognise in this way the common valerian (7. officinalis), which is described as iting the cerebro-spinal system, and to be denominated nervine and auti-spasmodie. There can be no doubt the root of the plant is capable of causing intoxication, and is, in effect, a peculiar narcotic. Our handsome garden plant Cenfranthus ruber is usually the very first plant of a showy nature that is seen in a new chalk-pit. When it has made a beginning by hanging its red beard on the weather-worn surfaces, other plants attach themselves, and thus in time a chalk-pit becomes a glorious flower garden. p. d. SAXIFRAGE.—See uote in synopsis. p. 9. AVENS. The name may be traced to arence, and thence to avantia or avencia, In ‘‘Ortis Sanitatis’’ it appears as avancia. But whatever its form or sound, it is impossible uow to say in what way the name and the plant are related. — For notes on ‘‘ Geum ”’ see synopsis. p. 18, vili FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. PAHONTA, the Peony, is named in honour of Peon, a physician, who first used it medicinally to cure Pluto of a wound inflicted by Hercules. The more ‘“ familiar’? name is Peony, a corruption that has the merit of a musical sound, N.O., Crowfoots, or Ranunculaceae. Linnean: 13, Polyandria ; 2, Digynia.—The peony belongs to the helleborus section of the crowfoot family, its nearest allies being the aconite, delphinium, aquilegia, hellebore, aud marsh marigold, or caltha. The leading characters of the order are conspicuously displayed in the peony. The coralline pzony is accounted a British plant, being found wild in several stations. Some grand species have been introduced to our gardens from Siberia, China, and Japan. The tree ponies, or ‘‘moutans,’’ are remarkable for the gorgeous flowers they pro- duce and their exceedingly hardy constitution. pat: DAFFODIL.—See under ‘“ Narcissus.”’ p. 21, HELIANTHEMUM, from helios, the sun, and anthemon, a flower. N.O., Cistacee, or Rock-roses. Linnman: 13, Polyandria ; 1, Monogynia.— A family of herbs and shrubs, often with gummy branches and a resinous juice. ‘The flowers are hermaphrodite, fugaceous, three or five divided, the truit a globular capsule. ‘The chief home of the cistus family is the southern shore of the Mediterranean and the warmer parts of Europe; there are few in America or Asia. The gum cistus (Cistus ladanifera) is a well-known garden shrub ; this and other species supply the resinous substance known in commerce as labdanum, an inflammable substance used in the manufacture of torches, also as a cosmetic, and occasionally as a stimulant in cases of catarrh and dysentery. p. 25. ACHIMENES, from cheimaino, sensitive to cold, in allusion to the tender constitution of this tribe of plants. N.O., Gesueracec. LINNEAN: 14, Didynamia; 2, Angiospermia,—A remarkable group of soft-textured, fleshy herbs or shrubs, occasionally climbing or creeping, but mostly compact in growth and springing from scaly tubers or fleshy root-stocks. The leaves are wrinkled or corrugated, the flowers showy and comprising all colours, the calyx five-parted, the corolla five-parted, irregular tubular, the stamens two or four, the fifth, needed to establish symmetry with the lobes of calyx and corolla, being traceable in a rudimentary state. These herbs come near to the bignoniads and the broom-rapes, but have no proper alliance with them. They are mostly tropical; though widely scattered, comparatively few are of any importance in the arts. p29. SYRINGA, or PHILADELPHUS. The first name is from Syrinx, the name of a nymph who was changed into a reed. The second name was applied by the Greeks to a tree that is now unknown. N.O., Philadelphace, ov Mock Oranges. Linnman: 10, Decandria » 2, Digynia, —The philadelphus is allied to the saxifrages and the roses much more closely than to the lilacs, as explained in the text. Hydrangea, Deutzia, and Philadelphus are genera that combine certain common characters, but the last named has sweet-scented flowers, which are unknown in the other two. They appear to be limited to the northern hemisphere and to prefer the temperate climes, but they do not range far northward, although in the English garden they are all hardy, or nearly so. The most fragrant of the genus under consideration is the mock orange (Philadelphus coronarius), a good thing enough in a mixed shrubbery, but a second-rate subject considered as a flowering tree. The finest species for a good position in’ the garden is Philadelphus Gordoniana, originally found by the celebrated Douglas on the banks of the Columbia river, and through him introduced to cultivation by the Horticultural Society, p. 33. SYNOPSIS, ix POLYANTHUS, or PRIMULA, from Greek polus, many, and «avthos, a flower; the flowers being in umbels on the summit of a common stem, as, distinguished from those of the primrose, which appear singly on separate stems. The generic name primula is from primulns, the beginning, referring to the early appearance of the flowers in spring. N.0., Lrimulacee. Linnean: 5, Pentandria; 1, Monogynia.—Annual or perennial herbs with radical leaves and regular flowers. Calyx usually with five divisions or lobes ; corolla in one piece, with usually five lobes ; stamens equal to the number of the lobes, and opposite to them; style and stigma simple; fruit one-celled, many-seeded. A comparatively unimportant family, best known for the beautiful flowers it contributes to our fields and gardens. p. 37. SALVIA, from salvo, to save, in allusion to the medicinal properties of the sage and other aromatic plants of the same genus. N.O., Lamiacee, or Lipworts. Liynman: 2, Diandria; 1, Monogynia.—This order has several distinctive characters. The stems are four-cornered, the leaves are opposite, replete with receptacles of aromatic oil; the flowers in whorls or opposite cymes, the corolla bilabiate, the upper lip overlapping the lower, which is larger and three-lobed ; the fruits are small nuts enclosed within the persistent calyx. As they come near to borageworts, note should be taken of their square stems and irregular flowers, for borageworts have round stems and regular flowers. The labiates are natives of temperate regions chiefly, and are very abundant. In the cooler parts of India there are over two hundred species; they love dry sunny places, as is the case generally with aromatic plauts. In the arts they are much used, as in the preparation of perfumes and sauces; a few are eatable, and many have valuable medicinal properties. The famous patchouli is a labiate ; lavender, mint, horehound, and rosemary are familiar labiates renowned for their several uses. As regards the rosemary, there can be no question of its power of encouraging the growth of hair, and thereby curing baldness; it is used also in the manufacture of Hungary water, and contributes in an_ especial degree to the pungent aroma of eau de Cologne. The famous Narbonne honey is derived from the flowers of rosemary, which abounds in that district of France, p. 41, PULMONARTA, from pulmonarius, in allusion to the spotted leaf and the ancient uses of the plant in medicine. N.O., Boraginiacee. Linnean: 5, Pentandria ; 1, Monogynia.—The mention of borage seems to take one into a homely garden, and thence to some homely supper-table. It is, indeed, a most homely plant, and the type of the group to which belongs the pulmonaria. The members of the order are herbs and shrubs with round stems, alternate leaves, and gyrate spikes of flowers, which are four or five divided. The plants of this order come near to labiates, from which they are distinguished by their regular corolla, their five fertile stamens, their round stems, the gyrate inflorescence, and the absence of resinous dots in-the foliage. Their properties are also of a different kind, being soft, emollient, and nitrous, borage especially being of a cool flavour, resembling that of the cucumber or burnet. _ Amongst the members of the order are the alkanet, forget-me-not, lithospernum, comfrey, and omphalodes. p. 4, LACHENALIA reveals its origin if spelt La Chenalia, M. Ds de la Chenal, the botanist, beng commemorated in the name. N, 3 Liliacee, p 49. x FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. AZALEA, from azaleos, dry, none of the species being met with in marshy ground, but most of them in dry and often barren situations. N.O., Ericacee. Linnman: 5, Pentandria; 1, Monogynia.—The azalea does not, to the casual eye, appear related to the heather, but a critical scrutiny reveals the family tie. All the heath-worts, or ericaceous plants, are trees or shrubs with hard wood, entire leaves, and hermaphrodite, regular, or slightly irregular flowers. The calyx and corolla are four or five-divided, the stamens being double the number, and inserted in the receptacle. The fruit is in a capsule containing many small seeds. It is a large order, comprising the heaths, arbutus, clethra, azalea, rhododendron, ledum, and many other shrubs that are prized for their beauty, but are of small importance in the arts, the majority of them being bitter and astringent, and producing inedible fruits. The arbutus is an exception, as it produces an edible fruit, and hence is known as the “strawberry-tree.’”’ The bear-berry (Arctostaphylos) is another example, for if the berries are rarely eaten by man, they are by various species of birds that are prized as food. The common heather (Calluna vulgaris) is a very serviceable plant, as ale is brewed from its young tops with an addition of malt; horses, cattle, and sheep feed on it, but they do not prosper without the aid of better food. As a honey plant it is of great value, differing in this respect from the beautiful azalea, the honey from which (perhaps) poisoned Xenophon’s soldiers. From Ledum (lati- foliwm is derived Labrador tea, and Gaultheria procumbens furnishes mountain tea, p. 53. SUNFLOWER, or HELIANTHAUS, the flower of the sun, is a glorious member of the great family of composites or asters. p. 7. GENTIANA. Named after Gentius, King of Illyria, who first discovered the hitter tonic properties of the gentian root. N.O., Gentianacee. Linnman: 5, Pentandria; 2, Digynia.—The members of the order are herbaceous plants, sometimes twining, with opposite or occasionally alternate entire leaves, regular flowers, which are generally five, but sometimes four, six, eight, or ten divided, with two stigmas, and an ovary of two carpels. They inhabit all parts of the world, and their flowers are of all colours, The gentians proper are mostly mountain plants with blue flowers ; in other words, they are representatives of polar vegetation, both in the arctic and antarctic regions. The gentiau root of commerce is derived from the yellow gentian ((, dutea), which is a common plant on the European Alps. Bil, TRADESCANTIA.—Named in honow of the Tradescants. N.O., Commelinacee, LInNnman: 6, MHerandria; 1, Monogynia.—These pretty flowers do not rank high with the gardener or the chemist, or the man whose taste for science is promoted only by the impulse of hunger. For the botanist, however, there is a point of interest in the midway place between sedges and lilies that is occupied by the spider-worts. Brown compares them with rushes, Lindley compares them with alismads; the amateur gardener will find his own comparisons when the pretty flowers are before him, and he cares more for their beauty than their place in any classification. p. 69, PELARGONIUM. from pelargos, a stork, in allusion to the beak- like seed-pod. N.O., Crane’s-bills, or Geraniacee, Linnean: 16, Mona- de'phia,; 4, Heptandria.—The great family of geraniums has but a small place in the arts, though a large place in the garden. They are herbs or shrubs, with tumid stems, leaves alternate or opposite, and flowers. white, red, or purple, rarely yellow. The flowers are tive-divided in senals and SYNOPSIS. xi petals, and the stamens are (hypothetically) in numerical harmony with the petals, being twice or thrice as many, except when some are abortive. The curious results of the non-development of parts required for the complete agreement of a species with the characters of the order are amusingly illus- trated by Endlicher’s pelargonium, which has but two petals, owing to the suppression of three, the rudiments of which are visible. ‘he one distinguish- ing character is what Dr. Lindley describes as ‘‘ the loug, beak-like torus, round which the carpels are arranged, and the presence of membranous stipules or joints which are usually tumid.’’ Plants that have not these peculiarities are not proper members of the Geraniaceze. Between pelargonium and geranium the difference is obvious to the casual observer, and needs but to be pointed out to be readily understood. In pelargoniums the petals are unequal, and it matters not how ‘‘highly-bred”’ the florist’s pelargoniums may be, the difference in size of the two lower petals is always discernible. In geranium the petals are all of one size and the flower is perfectly sym- metrical. There are many hardy geraniums, but there is only one hardy pelargonium, and that is 2. Lndlieherianum, referred to above as having an abnormal flower. p69. NEMOPHILA, from »nenos, a grove, and phileo, I love, the genus consisting of woodland flowers. N.O., Hydrophyllacee, Linnean: 5, Pen- tandria ; 1, Monogynia.—The order comprises smallish herbs and trees of comparatively little importance, as they have uo place in the arts, The leaves are often ten-lobed, the flowers in racemes or spikes, occasionally solitary and axillary; they are five-parted, as in the flower before us ; the fruit is a capsule, ‘They are nearly allied to the phloxes, to the primulus, and to the borageworts. The pretty eutoca, a favourite garden flower, is a member of this order. Bs 13s MIMULUS, from Lat. mimus, a mimic, an ape, in reference to the gaping mouth formed by the under petal ; hence the familiar name of monkey flower. N.O., Scrophulariacee, LiInnman: 14, Didynamia; 2, Angio- spermia.—The order consists of herbs or shrubs, with leaves usually opposite, sometimes alternate ; flowers hermaphrodite, irregular, in spikes or clusters ; the calyx is permanent, with four or five unequal divisions; the corolla is subject to great variation, but is usually four-divided and gaping ; stamens four ; ovary two-celled, many-ovuled ; style simple with two-lobed stigma ; fruit a two-celled capsule; seeds with a straight cylindrical embryo, A large and very natural order, comprising the calceolaria, verbascum, antir- rhinum, diplacus, digitalis, veronica, bartsia, rhinanthus, kc. The species are scattered all over the world, but are most abundant in the warmer temperate regions, Their properties are various, but few of them are available as food; many produce powerful drugs, and all are more or less suspicious. Dts AMYGDAULUS is of uncertain origin. By some it is derived from amysso, 1 allusion to the furrows in the stone of the fruit; by others from a Hebrew word that derives its meaning from the early appearance of almond flowers in spring. N.O., Draupacee. Lrynman: 12, Lcosandria ; 1, Mono- gynia.—tn a large classification the peach, almond, cherry, plum, and laurel belong to the N.O. Rosacee, or roses. But a large classification is often inconvenient, and the botanists feel the need of ‘‘ breaking it up.’’ This has been wisely accomplished in placing the stone fruits in a separate order, for not only do they differ from true roses in this particular feature, but in other respects, notably in the production of a poisonous principle that is prominent in the almond, and gives its peculiar flavour to the kernels of xii FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. peach and cherry stones. The pomes or appleworts constitute an. equally distinct group of rosaceous plants, and are classed as N.O. Pomacee. In this order or sub-order we have the apples, pears, quinces, cotoneasters, thorns, and photinias. The almondworts, which now concern us, are distinguished from the true roses and pomeworts by the pistil being a solitary, simple carpel, changing when ripe into a drupe, and in the general presence in bark, leaves, or fruit—sometimes in all three—of hydrocyanic acid. p. 81, BEGONTA, named after M. Begon, a French botanist. N.O., Begoniacea. LiInnwan: 21, Monecia; 9, Polyandria.—This small but in- teresting order is of little importance in the arts, but of great interest to the botanist and the gardener. It consists of herbs and undershrubs with alternate leaves, almost invariably divided ; the flowers are unisexual, and usually consist of four pieces. In the male flowers the stamens form a spherical head ; in the female flowers the stigmas are equally conspicuous, and resemble those of a melon or cucumber. It is singular that a four-parted flower should produce a three-lobed fruit, but such is the fact, and it is somewhat of an anomaly. The position of this order has been much dis- cussed, but appears to have been settled by Dr. Lindley in his ‘‘ Vegetable Kingdom.”’ He says, ‘‘ The real affinities appear to be with cucurbits, with which Begoniads accord in the unisexual flowers, peculiar stigmas, and even ternary number of the carpels. The discovery by Mr. Hartweg of Begoniads scrambling up trees and shrubs to the height of twenty-five feet renders the resemblance almost complete.’’ The begonias are in some places eaten as salads, the leaves and stems being agreeably flavoured with oxalic acid. The roots are bitter and astringent. p. 86. HYDRANGEA, from hudor or hydor, water, and aggeion, a cup, in allusion to the form of the seed-vessel. N.O., Hydrangeacee, LINN®AN: 10, Decandria; 2, Digynia.—The hydrangea is often called the Chinese guelder-rose, and not only is there warrant for the association in the general appearance of the bold heads of bloom, but they agree also in the peculiarity that in every head of flowers a certain number are infertile, and these give the special character to the display. As regards true affinities, however, the hydrangeas come nearest to the saxifrages, while the deutzias and phila- delphs are not far off. The plants of this order are all shrubs, with simple opposite leaves, and flowers in cymes; usually the fertile flowers are very small and crowded in the centre, while the flowers on the outer part of the cyme are barren and larger than the rest, and, in fact, the chief source of those attractive qualities that persuade us to cultivate them. The species are mostly natives of the temperate parts of Asia and America, about half of them belonging to China and Japan, and there are two that belong to the southern hemisphere. They delight in rich soil with much moisture, and some amount of shade. In a dry soil exposed to sun and wind they are most unhappy. One species known as Hydrangea Thunbergi furnishes from its leaves a tea that is greatly valued in Japan, where it is called Ama-tsja, the tea of heaven. The other species, so far as known, have only their beauty to recommend them to notice. * p. 89. DODECATHEON, an ancient name of a plant, the application of which in this case is by no means obvious. N.O,, Primulacea. LINN®AN: 5, Pentandria ; 1, Monogynia. p. 93. CONVALLARIA, from convallis, a valley, and rica, a mantle, in allusion to the leaves. N.O., Liliacee, Linnean: 6, Hevandria; 1, Monogynia, p97. SYNOPSIS, xiii AVENS.—For notes on ‘‘Geum”’ see synopsis. p. 101, GENISTA, from the Celtic ger, a small bush, or from the Latin gen, in allusion to the pliability of the branches. N.O., Fubacew, Legu- minous or Papilionaceous plants. Linnman: 16, Monadelphia ; 6, Decandria. —This grand order of plants, useful, poisonous, beautiful, various, occasionally wonderful, will always reward the student for a careful study of details, because of their constancy to the typical idea, and their curious variations in expressing it. They generally have compound, but some have simple, leaves, They have irregular hermaphrodite flowers, which are sometimes apparently so regular that it is impossible for the young student to quickly apprehend their morphological relationships. The corolla is likened to a butterfly in the term papilionaceous; usually it consists of five petals, one of which, being larger than the r and in a dominating position, is called the standard, two others on either side are called the wings, and two below, which are united, are called the keel. The reduction of these to equality, as in the mimosa, is a puzzling character. The fruit is always a pod, but it may be a pea or a bean or a drupe, in which case the differences are of some account. p. 105, CLARKTA, named after Captain Clarke, the traveller. N.O., Oncgracee. LINNBAN: 2, Diandria,; 1, Monogynia.—The Clarkias are related to the epilobiums and evening primroses. They are aunual plants, with linear or lanceolate leaves, and solitary or racemose flowers which are variously four divided. The capsule is linear, many seeded; seeds neither plumose nor winged. p. 109. TROLLIUS, from ¢ro/, the German for round, in allusion to the globular flowers. N.O., Ranunculacee, or Crowfoots. Lrynman: 13, Poly- andria; 6, Polygynia.—The globe flowers are closely allied to the hellebores ; they are all hardy, yellow-flowered, and partial to loamy moist soils. p. 113. FUCHSIA. Namedafter Leonard Fuchs, a German botanist. N.O., Onagraceé, LINNAN: 8, Octandria ; 1, Monogynia.—This small order consists of herbs or shrubs, with opposite or alternate leaves. It is a very natural order of polypetalous exogenous plants, which, in their more complete condition, are certainly known by their inferior ovary, and by all the parts of the flower being four, or a constant multiple of that number. Thus in Jussiaa grandifora there are four sepals, four petals, twice four stamens, four stigmas, four cells to the ovary, and the fruit when ripe bursts into four valves, The species characterised by this peculiarity are chiefly herbaceous plants, inbabiting the more temperate parts of the world, and have white, yellow, or red flowers, such, for example, as the great genus of cenotheras, or evening primroses, and the epilobiums, or willow-herbs, which are so common as wild plants. It is only in the fuchsia, which has a succulent fruit and forms an approach to Myrtacee, that a woody structure is met with. The enchanter’s nightshade (Circeq) is a member of this order, e.40i. HEPATICA. The name refers to the lobed leaves, which may be likened to the liver in outline. N.O., Ranuneulacee. Linnean: 18, Loly- andria ; 6, Polygynia.—Vhe hepaticas are closely related to the anemones, and conform to the conditions that suit those plants. p. 121. BELL-FLOWER, or CAMPANULA. N.O., Canpanulacee. Linnman: 5, Pentandria; 1, Monogynia,.—There appears to be always xiv FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS, occasion for suspecting plants that exude a milky juice, and the campanulas come into the suspicious category, for they are acrid and of but small importance in relation to the food of man. The rampion, that is valued in some degree as a salad plant, is a true campanula, and a few roots and fruits of campanulaceous plants are eaten in places where the natives are not particular about their salads and side-dishes. But the best we can get out of them is their beauty, which for the present appears to be sufficient to insure them abundant respect and universal cultivation. The campanulas are all herbs and undershrubs; there are no trees in the order. The flowers present a series of constant characteristics, so that when presenting considerable variation for our amusement they are still very much alike. They are bell- shaped or tazza-shaped ; they are blue, or purple, or white; they have each but one corolla piece, and that is cut into five lobes, the calyx also being five- lobed. The rarity of a yellow flower in this order need not be insisted on; even red flowers are scarce, and scarlet out of the question. De Candolle considers the campanulas and lobelias to be closely allied, but the first are distinguished by their regularity in form and symmetry in the number of parts. To the casual observer, the occurrence of brilliant scarlet flowers in the lobelia family places it far apart from the campanula family. p. 125. TULIP, from twlipan, Turkish for turban. N.O., Liliaceae. LInnman: 6, Hevandria ; 1, Monogynia,—See summary under “ Lilium.” p. 129. CAMELLIA. Named after Camellas, a Moravian missionary. N.O., Theads, Linnean: 16, Monadelphia ; 8, Polyandria.—The theads, or tea-plant family, are usually headed Zernstrimiacee, after M. Ternstrém, a Swedish botanist, but there appears to be more comfort in recognising them as the family that provides us with our tea. They are all trees or shrubs, with alternate, coriaceous leaves, usually undivided. The flowers are sym- metrical in there aspects, but unsymmetrical in the numbers of their several parts, as there are five to seven sepals and five to nine petals, and stamens of indefiuite number. The fruit is a capsule; in the camellia it is like a small apple, and contains many oily seeds. The tea-plant, Zea, is closely allied to the camellia, and as a matter of fact the leaves of our familiar favourite contain a certain quantity of thein and might be made available for tea. But the beauty of the camellia is sufficient for its fame. p. 133. HONESTY, or LUNARIA. The first name is commented on in the description ; the second refers to the moon-shaped seed-pods. N.O., Crucifers, or Brassicacee, LINNEAN: 15, Tetradynamia,—The brassicaceous plants have the merit of distinctness, being cruciferous or four-divided in their flowers, and they agree pretty closely in properties, being mostly wholesome, pungent, and highly charged with compounds of sulphur, a circumstance that accounts for the offensive odour they engender in the process of decay, They are all herbaceous or sub-shrubby; there are no trees in the order. The leaves are alternate, the flowers without bracts, the stamens six, sepals four, the petals four, stigmas two, the fruit a silicule or silique. It is a remarkably natural order, definitely circumscribed, and of great importance in its uses and relations. In the colouring of the flowers white and yellow predominate, but shades of red and purple occur as in stocks, honesty, candytufts, and aubrietias. The number of the stamens constitutes a curiosity in this family, and their disposition is equally curious. The symmetry that prevails so generally in the several organs of tructifica- tion is here strangely to be seen, for the stamens should number four or eight and be regularly disposed in relation to the sepals and petals, neither of which is the case. Lindley is inclined to account for the apparent SYVODSIS, xv departure from a symmetrical arrangement by supposing that the original number of stamens has been lessened by the non-development of such as are required to complete a hypothetical arrangement. p. 137, BELL-FLOWER, or CAMPANULA.—See under “ Cam- panula.”’ p. 141, OXLIP.—See under “ Primula.” p. 148, VIBURNUM owes its name to the ancient use of its flexible shoots, vieo meaning to tie with twigs or to hoop. N.O., Caprifoliacee, LINNmAN : 4, Pentandria; 8, Lrigynia.—The caprifoils include all the honeysuckles, Guelder roses, snowberries, and elders. The order comprises trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, with opposite leaves and corymbose flowers ; the fruit is dry or fleshy. Strange to say, these familiar plants are closely related to the cinchonads, and the designation of ‘‘ China (vuelder rose’’ for the hydrangea is in some degree justified by the very near approach of that plant to the true Guelder roses. The members of the order of caprifoils are mostly natives of the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America; many of them produce fragrant flowers, as, for example, the honeysuckles, while the berries of Lovicera cvrulea are a favourite food of the Kamtchadales, and the wine made from the elder-berries is sufficiently well kuown. It should be re- marked, however, that this is a suspicious family ; active qualities are not wanting amongst them, and even the favourite elder-berry is far less whole- some than popular opinion represents, and possibly would often prove mischievous were not the fermented juice ‘‘ qualified’? by the addition of a more potent liquor, p. 149. ERICA, from crico, to break, the wood being peculiarly brittle. N.O., Lricacee.—The heatherworts are a distinct group of plants having a few striking characters, though varying so much that it would be an advantage were they more definitely separated according to their several minor affinities. The major affinities comprise leaves entire and without stipules, flowers usually regular, but sometimes irregular, calyx with four or five divisions, corolla with four or five lobes, stamens eight or ten. The principal groups are severally represented by the arbutus, andromeda, erica, rhododendron, and ledum. Many of the members of the order produce berries that are eaten by birds, and a few of them supply tannin and aromatic essences, but generally speaking they do not rank high in respect of utility. p. 103. SILENE, from sialon, saliva, from the gummy exudation by which flies are entrapped, and which explains the familiar name ‘ Catchfly.”’ N.0., Caryophyllacce, or Cloveworts. Linnean: 10, Decandria,; 3, Trigynia. —The section of cloveworts to which the silenes belong may usefully remind the garden botanist that the pretty chickweed or the stellaria, the spurrey or spergula, the mouse-ear or cerastium, the soapwort or saponaria, the campion or agrostemma and coronaria, are all of the same family. That the carna- tions and pinks are of the kindred goes without saying; thay are the types of the order and among the most prized of garden flowers. The characters of this order are simple and easily comprehended, so that it affords a good subject for the study of a beginner. The stems usually have swollen joints, and therefore when the florists call the grass of a carnation ‘grass ”’ they are morphologically right, although technically wrong. The leaves are always simple and opposite; we do not call to mind any variation from this rule. The typical number of parts in the flower is five, but in this feature xvi FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS, variations occur: the stamens either agree in number with the petals or differ in a strictly arithmetical manner, but in the cultivated plants the number of stamens and pistils is a kind of lottery whatever the number ought to be. The silene is a catchfly because it is sticky ; but why it should delude the poor flies to their rum and make (as it appears) no use of them when entrapped is not yet clear to us, As a matter of practical importance it should be noted here that all the silenes are good plants for the table when rightly cooked. Of course when in flower they are useless, but when the young growth is advancing, the tender tops make a good substitute for asparagus, and if blanched they are the more delicate and equally whole- some. The shoots should not be more than two inches long when taken for cooking. The best plant for the purpose is the bladder catchfly (Silene inflata), Probably the tender tops of any catchfly might be used in salads. p. 187, “ Sweet is the rose, but grows upon a brere ; Sweet is the junipere, but sharpe his bough; ; Sweet is the eglantine, but pricketh nere ; veet is the firblome, but his branches rough ; Sweet is the cypress, but his rind is tough ; Sweet is the nut, but bitter is his pill ; Sweet is the brometiour, but yet sowre enough ; And sweet is moly, but his root is ill. So every sweet with soure is tempred still, That maketh it be coveted the more: For easie things that may be got at will Most sorts of men doe set but little store, Why then should I accompt of little paine, That endlesse pleasure shall unto me gaine?’”’ DARWIN'S BARBERRY, *AMILIAR yg GARDEN FLOWERS, aaa? Vanes DARWIN’S BARBERRY. Berberis Darwint. MONGST the many memorials we of the great Darwin that we find in books and museums and gardens, there is none that speaks more plainly of him than the plant before us. It takes us into the heart of that most delightful of all his books, the ‘Journal of Re- searches” during the voyage of the Beagle. Ags a garden shrub it stands almost alone for hardiness, elegance, bright- ness, and usefulness; for it is equally adapted to adorn the terrace garden, or to afford covert to game. As a plant of history, too, although it was certainly unknown to the ancients, if in a similar manner may be said to stand alone; for it was discovered by Mr. Darwin in that memorable voyage of his, which may be regarded as the second discovery of the great New World. In the entries of the “journal” for the year 1834, when Darwin explored Tierra del Fuego and the south- 20 2 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. west coast, he describes the forests and the vegetation as representing an equable climate, somewhat colder gene- rally than that of places corresponding in latitude in the northern hemisphere. He says: ‘“ In Chiloe (corresponding in latitude with the northern parts of Spain) the peach seldom, produces fruit, whilst strawberries and apples thrive to perfection. Even the crops of barley and wheat are often brought into the houses to be dried and ripened. At Valdivia (in the same latitude of 40° with Madrid) grapes and figs ripen, but are not common; olives seldom ripen even partially, and oranges not at all. . . Although the humid and equable climate of Chiloe, and of the coast north- ward and southward of it, is so unfavourable to our fruits, yet the native forests, from lat. 45° to 38°, almost rival in luxuriance those of the glowing inter-tropical regions.” From the foregoing extract it will be understood that Darwin’s barberry as a garden plant is particularly adapted for our western counties. Such is, indeed, the fact ; but, happily, it thrives to perfection in the near neighbourhood of London and far away northward, always best m a moist air, with shelter from east winds, and in a deep, moist, mellow soil, but whether this be of peat or loam seems of little consequence. One of the most enjoyable features of a garden we have ever worked out is our barberry plot, the plants being in beds of peat on a large half-shaded lawn, and comprising all the species and varieties of the genus Berberis that are known as sufficiently hardy for the climate of London; and amongst these the glistening Berderis Darwini is conspicuous for its beauty, although, as attrac- tive plants, the elegant B. stenophylla and the dwarf and distinct B. glumacea compete with it for praise, and are found to obtain.a share. DARWIN'S BARBERRY. 3 This barberry was introduced to our gardens by those eminent benefactors, the Messrs. Veitch, through their very suecessful collector, Mr. Lobb, whose name eves down to posterity with TZropeolum Lobhianum. As regards its hardiness, it appears in all the southern counties to have survived unhurt the two dreadful winters of 1879-80 and 1880-81. In its native forests it grows near the limit of the summer line of snow, but it is less hardy here than there, because here it has to con- tend with dry east winds in spring, and with bitter frosts suddenly succeeding sultry weather—circumstances un- known to it in its own humid, equable climate. But it is so hardy, so thrifty, so accommodating, that we will say no more of its peculiarities, lest it should appear to need much, when in truth it needs but little. The fruits of the earth do not obtain any special atten- tion in these pages, for they rarely present themselves as proper subjects. But we have now to say that Darwin’s barberry presents a most beautiful appearance when loaded with its grape-like fruits, and that these are much used in Devonshire in the preparation of a brisk flavoured conserve. A barberry garden has been mentioned above. The barberries may with advantage be scattered over a place, hut they are peculiarly well adapted for planting in groups. Ours are in a series of large circular beds of peat, on a moist, partially-shaded lawn near the house, where interesting evergreen shrubs are peculiarly suitable. The centres of the beds are oceupied with the noble B. japonica, B. Beals, and B. intermedia. Around them are such as B. dulcis, B. stenophylla, B. fascicularis, and B. Asiatica, The mar- ginal planting comprises B. Hookers, B. glumacea, B. repens, and a lovely variety of the common holly-leaved berberis, 4 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. the garden name of which is Berberis aquifolia undulata nana. The common form of B. aquifolia is not good enough for such a plantation as we are now describing, and we find the best use for it to be as a facing to a holly- hedge, where it shows its winter colours to great advantage. A remarkable species of barberry, named erseris trifoliata, may here be commended as a clothing for a warm dwarf wall. Its leaves are peculiarly rigid, thrice divided, of a curious shade of bronze or purple grecn colour. The flowers, like those of other species, are yellow. GREEK VALERIAN, GREEK VALERIAN Polemonium reptans. HAT is the Greek valerian? It appears that nobody knows. The ancients who wrote about plants were not at all troubled with scientific notions. Poor things! they did “addénm call their onions and their leeks,” for allinm was part of their vuloar tongue, or if it was not, if was vulgar enough for those old Romans who were not known as “ancients.” The phu ov valerian of the Greek writers was a plant of some sort, and Polemoninm cerulenm and Polemoniuim reptans have equally been mistaken for it ; ye but neither of these was the , Simon pure. As regards the plant before us, which may be called a chip from Jacob’s ladder, inasmuch as it is the brother or sister plant to Polemoninm cerulenm, the claims it has to be regarded as the Greek valerian disappear before the negative truth of its absolute usele:sness. Greek botany 6 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. was not founded on Pentandria monogynia nor on Polemo- niacew, Plants that were found useful in some way or other were cultivated and described, and plants that were not useful were entirely neglected. Even when supersti- tion or poetical fancy ruled, the theory was the same, for a supposed use is equivalent to a real use, so long as the supposition holds good ; and many of the plants that were of importance in ancient times owed their distinction to properties perceptible to the eyes of faith alone. Even then it was their usefulness that inspired and justified the study of them ; for to this hour utility is as much a matter of faith as of proof, or there would be no fortunes made by the sale of many articles, some of which are truly invaluable, while others “ perhaps ” are absolutely worth- less, or, worse than that, pernicious to health. Well, we can rest in the word faith, and throw utility overboard, and then where are we ? We are then in the presence of the true valerian, the history of which is not only important, but is in its way touching. Our common valerian offers us in its roots a camphor- ated and bitter principle. The partiality of cats for the plant is well known; but to mankind the plant is in these parts no administrator of esthetic pleasures. Now here is a strange truth illustrative of the tendencies of race, climate, and the resultant idiosyneracies, that in these Western parts of the world sweet mild odours, like those of mignonette, wallflower, wild thyme, and woodruff, are universally enjoyed, while cocoa-nut oil and the cheese- flavoured wormwood are universally disliked ; but these last are the very odours that give delight in the East, where our fragrant favourites are the least valued. GREEK VALERIAN. ig The valerian of the ancients was the spikenard, Nardostachys jatamans’, a figure of which will be found in the Gardeners’ Magazine, 1883, p. 33. This is a member of the valerian family, and a plant of great modern as well as ancient repute, on account of its powerful perfume. Some part of its reputation is, indeed, far from agreeable to Western notions of propriety and good living. But it has higher associations, and such as are dear to thousands. And it comes about in this way. It was a Roman custom for a guest at an enter- tainment to make a contribution to the feast—it might be of a measure of wine, or a box made of some precious stone and filled with spikenard. Now it was just such a gift that offended Judas when Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with ointment so precious that it might have been “sold for three hundred pence and given to the poor.” The Greek valerian was doubtless the same as the spike- nard of the East, but there was no other nearer home than Crete by Pliny. This has properties similar to the other, but is the Valeriana phu, or garden valerian, described not so strong, and is perhaps of more direct importance 14 respect of its medical uses. The plant before us is not in any way related to the Greek valerian. It is a member of the family of Phloxes, and may be roughly described as a creeping form of Jacoh’s ladder, running to six or more inches in length of stem, and producing blue or white flowers. It is a native of North America, perfectly hardy, and a proper plant for the open rockery. Any sandy soil will sutlice for its wants, and it may be increased by division and seed with facility. The nearly allied species or varieties known as P. pulcher- rimum and P. humilis are as good as the plant before us, 8 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. and may obtain attention as producing blue flowers. But they are not of great consequence, and the possessor of a small rockery may do very well without them. There are about a dozen species known, but P. ceruleum and P. reptans are sufficient for most gardens. LARGE-LEAVED SAXIFRAGE. LARGE-LEAVED SAXIFRAGE. Savifruga ligulata, , ARDY plants adapted for beds, borders, and rock- erles may be roughly thrown into two classes : those that are capable of taking care of themselves, and those that require to be constantly taken care of. This large-leaved saxi- frage belongs to the first class; it is one of the most thrifty and useful flower- ing plants in cultivation, aud it is scarcely possible to have too much of it inany garden, for it will =o NY thrive where many good : things would fade, and its pleasing flowers are produced in plenty in the spring season, when they are especially welcome. We have a group of large-leaved saxifrages that are very closely related. They are sometimes classed as Megu- seas, and it would be well were this generic distinction generally accepted, for they differ greatly from saxifrages 2? 10 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. in general, both in leaf and flower and love of shade, the small-leaved saxifrages being for the most part lovers of sunshine. The noble Sarifraga cordifolia, 8. crassifolia, and the plant before us, 8. diyudata, constitute a group having large leaves rising from a stout root-stock, and bearing panicles of rosy flowers on stiff fleshy stems in the months of April and May. The first has flowers of a clear light rose colour, which appear somewhat early ; the second has flowers of a rosy red, which appear later than those of the first kind; the third produces lighter-coloured flowers than the others, and flowers early. To these may be added a scarce hybrid, raised by Mr. Parker, of Tooting, called 8. atropurpurea, the flowers of which are of a deep rich purplish-rose colour, and exquisitely beautiful. All are handsome and useful; but if one only is wanted, S. crassifotia, the thick-leaved variety, should have the preference. These plants are hardy, and capable of taking care of themselves, but they do not prosper in any dry or exposed position. Damp, cold, and deep shade are alike hurtful to them ; but a moist ledge or bank, where trees will give partial shade in the heat of summer, is just the place where they may be expected to grow freely and flower bravely. In Paris they are much employed for mixing with other spring flowering plants in beds; but in this country they are not often so used, perhaps because when summer arrives they are found occupying ground which can be more ad. vantageously filled with plants that flower later and con- tinuously. We have had many plantations of these saxi- frages under various conditions, but one situation seemed especially favourable to the plants. This was a small sheltered fruit garden, consisting of rich, deep, and de- LARGE-LEAVED SAXIFRAGE. 11 eidedly moist, loamy soil. The saxifrages were planted on each side of the main walk, and were fully exposed to light and air (though sheltered from cold winds) during the winter and spring months ; but as summer advanced they were in a considerable degree shaded by the leafage of plum and pear trees that spread overhead, and though not rob- bing them of light im any serious degree, did certainly screen them from the sunshine. The amateur gardener may profitably bear in mind that success in gardening is like suecess in life, inasmuch as the secret of success depends in a great measure on attention to little things. We obtain our plants from all sorts of places—from rocky heights, from humid valleys, from snowy plains, and from warm water-courses—and yet we expect them all to thrive under nearly the same conditions within the boundaries of one garden. And the wonder is that many of them do thrive under conditions that appear so very different to those they were adapted for by nature. But their adaptiveness is a limited quantity, and it is an important part of the business of the cultivator to discover the limits, so that, he may not kill his pets by subjecting them to conditions at variance with their requirements. Two amateurs of hardy ferns agreed to make an attempt to grow the true maidenhair fern in a London garden, and they both bought plants of the same tradesman for the experi- ment. One planted his delicate pet in a nice snug corner of the rockery, and having followed the teaching of a book as to the mode of planting, he waited, and hoped for the best. The other followed the teaching of the book as regards the suitable soil, and so forth, but having reflected on the frail constitution of the plant, he proceeded to evolve out of his consciousness conditions of which the other _ 12 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. had not thought. He made a miniature cave with slabs of stone on edge, thus enclosing the delicate fern in a kind of open stone box. As winter approached he laid another slab over the box, thus making a close cave of it, the plant still obtaining sufficient light and air through the rough apertures where the fittings were imperfect. The plant so easily disposed of by number one disappeared during the first winter, and was seen no more. The plant of number two lived and grew, and became a erand specimen, and was displayed to visitors, living all alone, like a jolly hermit, in its substantial cave, through the large chinks of which it laughed at the frost and defied the winds; and when it spoke—as of course it often did—the subject of its dis- course was the importance to the gardener of things that thoughtless people call “ trifles.” AVENS. AVENS. Geum coccineum, MONGST the many pleasures a townsman may look for when Gps; \ rambling through a country village, the discovery of ex- quisitely beautiful flowers in the gardens of humble cottagers may be reckoned as of some account. You have, perhaps, been revelling for years amidst bedding plants and stately trees, and other fashionable and genteel items of a proper garden. But you have for a season quitted these rural scenes to find rest in things rustic, and in an idle mood you lean upon a fence and look over. Stars and planets ! What a blaze of flowers of sorts unseen till now has this humble horticulturist accumulated! Here are masses of colour that compel one’s lip to curl with contempt for all ordinary bedding, and combinations and features that to the unaccustomed eye, well rested from the wear and tear of town, appear to over-pass the reach of art, 14 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. and often, of course, are the result of some happy accident. But there are cultivated amateurs who ap- preciate such things and form collections, and find therein delights that are certainly different and doubtless higher in tone than a mere following the fashion would afford, unless, indeed, it became the fashion to render the garden truly representative of the infinite variety and beauty of the vegetation of the world. The subject before us illustrates the case. You may find the scarlet avens and perhaps two or three sorts of potentillas in the country garden, and you may, again, find them in the garden of the eclectic collector ; but in the garden “ of the period,” where carpet colouring, and evergreens clipped into round balls, are prominent features, such things are utterly unknown. The earth is plentifully furnished with beautiful plants, and it is a matter both for surprise and thankfulness that an immense proportion of the happy throng may be grown to perfection in our gardens. The species of geum that have been introduced to this country as hardy plants, adapted for the open rockery and border, number over thirty, and they are natives variously of North America, Chili, Kamtschatka, Russia, Volhinia, the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Carpathians, and the hills of Greece. That very few of them are now to be found is no fault of the plants, for if they were all re-introduced and displayed with judgment, they would be found as beautiful as ever, and as fully as ever entitled to reproach men for their perversity in neglecting the simplest and cheapest and most lasting and ever-changing of all garden pleasures. The avens is a rosaceous plant, and the picture might almost’ pass as representing a rose from the hedgerow. We have two wildings of the tribe—the common avens AVENS, 15 (Geum urbanum), producing yellow flowers like those of a potentilla, and the water avens (@. rivale), which has nodding flowers, curiously combining purple and orange in their colours. The scarlet avens is a native of Chili, and there are two or three varieties of it in cultivation. We adopt Lindley’s name for our heading, but the plant is also known as G. chiloense. Where space can be found for a few other species, we can recommend the yellow mountain avens (GC. monutanum), which produces yellow flowers; the creeping avens (G. reptans), also producing yellow flowers; and the three- flowered avens (@. ¢riflorum), which differs from the others in its diminutive growth To these may be added the two British species. The ordinary soil of any good border or well-made rockery will suit them all perfectly. The best of the bunch are G@. coccineum and G. montanum, as may be learned sometimes at a horticultural exhibi- tion. It happens occasionally that prudent promoters of flower shows offer prizes for collections of hardy plants ; and these two beautiful geums often appear in such collec- tions, their fresh distinct beauty rendering them “ show plants,” in the proper sense of the term. Having mentioned the potentilla as a near relation to the avens, it is but just to another charming plant, as also to the reader who can love such things, to mention the white mountain avens (Dryas octopetala), an extremely beautiful and scarce British wilding, which betrays its geographical relations in all its characteristics. It is the way of mountain plants to have short stems and a close tufted leafage, and flowers very large in proportion to the open parts. This lovely dryas conforms to the rule. Its evergreen leaves are deeply cut, and on the under side 16 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. clothed with woolly down. The large flowers are like white anemones, the purity of the petals and the bright yellow stamens in the centre assisting in completing the re- semblance to Anemone nemorosa. The white mountain avens needs a moist peaty or sandy soil, and must be pro- tected from slugs and snails. If planted in common soil it is not likely to live long. Geum coceinenm is figured by Sweet in the “ British Flower Garden ” (p. 292) as Geum queliyon, and he there refers to another plant, a native of Greece, which he re- marks “is doubtless a species of sieversia.” The present species, according to Feuillee, is a native of the sides of mountains in Chili, and has not been introduced there from Greece, as has been supposed. It makes a valuable addition to the flower borders, thriving well in the common garden soil. DOUBLE PEONy, THE DOUBLE PASONY. wonia officinalis. )/ LA'T may be the value to nature, collectively, : vis i NW llt \\ Ws : \\ ey’ of the changes in natural form, which man has affected or rendered permanent by the arts he employs in the cultivation of plants and animals, it is impossible at the present time for any one, however obser- vant, to estimate. But of the magnitude of such changes, and of the immense area over which they have spread, students of plant history and form may KZ gain some idea, even though élieg must necessarily fail to grasp the full measure of the matter. Ponta officinalis is a plant of some im- portance for its splendour and hardiness; but at this moment, looking at the future before us, and calling to mind the many splendid ponies we possess, we are tempted 7Q 18 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. to indulge the thought that the relation of man’s mind to the outward forms of nature 1s a matter of more pro- found importance than any merely sentimental view of the subject would suggest. The grand old gardeners valued the peony, and it is truthfully observed in the Botanical Magazine of 1816 (t. 1784) that “in Parkin- son’s time it must have been more common than now, as he observes that the double sort sometimes produces ripe seeds, which, being sown, bring forth some single and some double flowers.” It is most unusual in the present day for double ponies to produce seeds, and we may reasonably believe that the plant has altered considerably in con- stitution in the course of the past two hundred and fifty years. A very large proportion of all our garden plants have altered in like manner. Within the knowledge of many of the present generation the double pelargonium has been, as it were, created. Quite recently a double bou- vardia has been secured. Most of the cultivated flowers change in some way or other, and the change is always in the same direction, for it tends to throw upon man the burden of maintaining the race. It may be supposed, for the sake of illustrating the curious case that is thus brought before us, that the plants reason in this way: “ When we were in the wilds unnoticed we had to take care of ourselves, and we ripened, and scattered abundance of seeds. But now we are too well cared for to be under the necessity of adopting measures for our perpetuation, for this master of the world called man will look to it. Let us flaunt more banners and lead a gay life, for the sowing of seed is taken out of our hands.” Such reasoning represents the hypothetical case; it is quite according to Nature’s method. A man finds a plant that pleases him, THE DOUBLE PHONY. 19 and multiples it by cutting it up. Thereupon the plant begins to change its habits, and, in the course of a few generations, it ceases to produce seed. A very different order of argument is possible, however, and will occur to the reader. The variations that obtain so much attention are, let us say, strictly according to the course of nature, but when they fail to obtain the notice of man they pass away, or a quite small proportion survive, and become established. But man exerts his skill to keep them, and thus it is that plants with double Howers and variegated leaves abound in gardens. From this point of view we have an illustration of the origin of varieties by selection, and it is suggested to us that were man obliterated, a very considerable proportion of the varieties he has cherished would pass away, leaving no permanent mark whatever on the species they represent. The splendour of the ponies is well known, but we do not often see collections in gardens. The brief duration of their flowers perhaps accounts for this; but while they last they are so beautiful that the amateur desirous of doing full justice to the finest of our hardy garden flowers would find them worthy of special attention. The plant before us will grow anywhere, in sun or shade, and in any kind of soil. We have had it scattered amongst the rough herbage on the banks of the stream with daffodils and other flowers of bold growth, and the crimson flowers pre- sented a glorious appearance in the month of June. But a good collection could not be grown in this rough way. It would be necessary to provide for them a bed of sufficient length, and four and a half feet wide, this width being convenient for the necessary work of weeding and tying-up, the flowers needing a little support to insure 20 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. their safety durmg a gale of wind. The soil should be a deep, rich loam, and the plants should remain undisturbed for several years to form strong stools, and display their various and attractive flowers. There are at least thirty species and varieties available for such a plantation, which in the height of summer would be a magnificent feature of a hardy garden. All the peonies are good border flowers, that may be planted at any time if obtained in pots ; but if lifted from the ground the best time to plant them is when just beginning to grow in the spring. The single and the double flowers are alike worthy of admiration ; indeed, the single P. edulis, P. albiflora, and P. tenuifolia have a beauty of a more refined character than any of the double flowers. But the double flowers make more show and last longer, and we cannot do without them. DOUBLE TRUMPET DAFFODIL. DOUBLE TRUMPET DAFFODIL. Narcissus psendonarcissus. HE trumpet daffodils constitute a distinct and important section of the great genus Narcissus ; and they are, without doubt, the most useful of all our garden flowers, and eminently gay when, in the timid days of spring, they present their golden flowers. The double daffodils belong exclusively to the garden. Those that enrich the midland meadows in primrose time are invariably single, and of one distinet type, known as the English daffodil. It is of these more especially that Shake- speare speaks in the famous passage in the “ Winter’s Tale ” ce where Perdita sighs for “ some tlowers o? the spring’ wherewith to welcome the young people at the shearing feast— “ Daffodils, That come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty ; violets dim, But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes Or Cytherea’s breath ; pale primroses That die unmarried, ere they can behold Bright Phcebus in his strength.” bo to FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. It is the early flowering of these trumpet daffodils that renders them so especially valuable in the English garden, and that has suggested to the greatest of poets the sweetest and simplest passage on spring’ flowers that has ever been written. From first to last, through all the fifty or more, us the case may be, these daffodils are amongst the hardiest of plants known to us; no frost hurts them; the ‘ winds of March” cannot despoil them, and they are careless of ronditions, provided they have soil of some sort to grow in, and are not at any time exposed to the full glare of the advancing sun. Although these comprise only one section of daffodils, there being at least four other sections equally distinct in character, they constitute a subject for an elaborate study, and the student of vegetable form may do well to secure as large a collection as possible, both for scientific observation and to add to the joy of the garden. One striking characteristic of the group is to be found in their delicate gradations of size and form with strict ad- herence to type, so that however they may differ in degree, we have no trouble at any time in determining that each is a veritable trumpet daffodil. In JMinimus, Minor, and Nanus we have three miniature varieties that in their way bear the closest resemblance to Maximus, Princeps, Telamo- uius, Hmperor, and Volutus, which are the largest of the section, the noblest in form and colour, and may truly be described as gigantic daffodils. Nor does the family like- ness fade in the lovely Bicolor, Empress, and Moschatus, in which there are two distinct colours, white and yellow ; or in Cernuus, which keeps its head down as if in trouble, and is wholly white, or but shghtly touched with a delicate creamy shade. In the process of doubling, a departure from the family DOUBLE TRUMPET DAFFODIL. 23 likeness 1s made, and it must be owned there is a depar- ture also from the prevailing beauty of the trumpet series. None of the double flowers can be properly said to equal the single ones in elegance, but they make more show, and they last longer ; and if nature 1s pleased to give us double flowers we must accept, them with thankfulness. For the student of daffodils, the double are as attractive as the single flowers, for the origin of their several parts, and the manner in which the process of doubling is accom- plished, present subjects for inquiry not soon to be ex- hausted. Some flowers occur that are double within the trumpet only. In this case the organs of reproduction may be supposed to be converted into petals, or their equiva- lents. Other flowers occur that are double outside the trumpet, which remains intact in the midst of a crowd of golden banners ; and others, again, are double throughout, like a double rose, and the trumpet is completely lost in a confused mass of petals—or, to be learned, we will say perianth segments. When we inquire into the origin of these many petals, we find that we can in theory account for many of them. For example, the outer segments or petals are six in number; the trumpet consists hypothetically of six lobes united at their edges ; there are six stamens and a stigma of three lobes. Thus in a common single trumpet daffodil there are twenty-one parts in all. How many separate parts there are in a very double flower we do not know, for we have never succeeded in counting them. We began with a flower called Grandiplenus, and having: stripped from it sixty parts, found there were fully three times as many remaining, a considerable proportion of these being green scales, like miniature leaves. 24 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS, As garden flowers, the finest of the double daffodils are Telamonius plenus, the largest yellow; Cernuus plenus, a lovely white rosette flower ; and Cernuus bicinctus, a pretty and curious white flower, with a double trumpet and two rows of guard petals. ; All the trumpet daffodils are suitable for planting on rockeries and in common borders ; and although they will thrive almost anywhere, a deep moist loam is the kind of soil in which they are likely to attain to the finest pro- portions.