leaves, from 2 ft. to 6 ft. long. It is one of the most valuable of the greenhouse plants that may be placed in the open air in summer from the end of May till October, and is particularly graceful in the centre of a bed of flowering plants, or isolated with the pot or tub plunged to the rim in the turf, always in a warm and sheltered position. Increased by seeds, or by separation of the suckers which are occasionally thrown up.
*Cynara Scolymus (French Artichoke).—This plant, although chiefly grown for culinary purposes, possesses sufficient merit as a foliage-plant to entitle it to a place amongst ornamental subjects. Its long, deeply-divided leaves, white and downy beneath, its height (4 ft. to 5 ft.), its purplish flower-heads, and distinct habit render it very suitable for planting on the irregular and rougher parts of pleasure-grounds, grass-plats, etc., which are often occupied by subjects far less striking.
*Cyperus longus (Galingale).—The stiff, erect, tapering, triangular stem of this plant, which is from 2 ft. to 3 ft. high, is crowned by a handsome loose umbellate panicle of chestnut-coloured flower-spikes, at the base of which there is an involucrum of three or more unequal leaves. These are often 1 or 2 feet long, the lower ones arching gracefully and of a bright shining green, giving the plant a very distinct and pleasing appearance. The rootstock is thick and aromatic, and was formerly much used in medicine as a tonic. A rare native plant, suitable for the bog-bed or the margin of water.
Dahlia imperialis (Lily-flowered Dahlia).—The common Dahlia gives us no more idea of this than the little vernal Scilla of Britain does of Scilla peruviana. The Imperial Dahlia has very large and graceful, much divided leaves, and flowers of a pure and beautiful French white, thrown up in a great cone-like mass, and resembling such lilies as L. tigrinum Fortunei, which, instead of merely developing a head of flowers, shoot up a great candelabrum laden with them. The flowers of this dahlia do not, like most of the flowers of composite plants, open so wide as to stare at you with the brazen look of a sunflower, but, on the contrary, hang pendulous and half open, with some of the modesty of the white lily. There is little chance of this species producing its flowers in the open air in this country, but it will, notwithstanding, be of service both in the flower-garden and conservatory.
Planted in rich soil, and placed in a warm, sheltered position in the open air at the end of May, it grows well with us in summer, and, in consequence of its large and graceful leaves, is an ornament worthy of being used as a “fine-foliaged” or “subtropical” plant. Just at the time that it begins to gather together its flowering energies the best of our season fails, and the plant must soon fail too, if not immediately taken up and placed in a well-lighted and warm greenhouse. If plunged out in a large pot or tub during the summer, it may be taken up without injury, and will in all probability flower under glass in the autumn, and prove a magnificent ornament. We should have very small hopes of its flowering well if planted out so that its great roots must be mutilated when being taken up, and therefore the safe way will be to pot it in a very large pot, and plunge that in the ground. The roots would probably go through the pot and enter the ground, but the main mass of them could be taken up without disturbance,
