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The soft-wooded kinds are the ones most grown. The hard-wooded sorts require a longer period of growth and more thorough ripening of the wood. Apparently only one yellow-flowered heath is cultivated in America, E. Cavendishiana which is a hybrid species about which little is known. See supplementary list (p. 1132).

The soft-wooded kinds are the ones most grown. The hard-wooded sorts require a longer period of growth and more thorough ripening of the wood. Apparently only one yellow-flowered heath is cultivated in America, E. Cavendishiana which is a hybrid species about which little is known. See supplementary list (p. 1132).

In general, the ericas do not grow well in this climate on account of the extreme heat of the summer months, but some varieties grow and flower even better here than in Europe. The choice of the soil is very important. A light peat, mixed with sharp coarse sand is about the best we can get here. After flowering, the plants should always be cut down to keep them bushy at the base and well shaped. They will then receive a good repotting, always using very clean pots and plenty of drainage. Cuttings are made from December to April, preferably from young plants, the tender shoots about 1 inch in length being test. These are planted firmly in a pan filled with clean fine sand; and covered with a bell-glass, or in a box covered tightly with a pane of glass. Bottom heat is not necessary. When rooted, the cuttings should be potted in small pots, and when well started should be given as much air as possible. It is well to bring the ericas out of the greenhouse as early in the spring as possible. The pots should be plunged in a good location, where plenty of air and sunlight can be had. They should be wintered in a greenhouse extremely well ventilated, and a temperature not higher than 40° to 45° F. When in bud the plants should not be allowed to dry out too much. One drying might be enough to cause the loss of all the buds. Very often the heaths are attacked by a disease similar to mildew, brought on by an excess of humidity in the air. As this disease is very contagious, it is well, as soon as noticed, to use sulfur in powder or sulfate of copper in solution until the plants are rid of it (Louis Dupuy).

In general, the ericas do not grow well in this climate on account of the extreme heat of the summer months, but some varieties grow and flower even better here than in Europe. The choice of the soil is very important. A light peat, mixed with sharp coarse sand is about the best we can get here. After flowering, the plants should always be cut down to keep them bushy at the base and well shaped. They will then receive a good repotting, always using very clean pots and plenty of drainage. Cuttings are made from December to April, preferably from young plants, the tender shoots about 1 inch in length being test. These are planted firmly in a pan filled with clean fine sand; and covered with a bell-glass, or in a box covered tightly with a pane of glass. Bottom heat is not necessary. When rooted, the cuttings should be potted in small pots, and when well started should be given as much air as possible. It is well to bring the ericas out of the greenhouse as early in the spring as possible. The pots should be plunged in a good location, where plenty of air and sunlight can be had. They should be wintered in a greenhouse extremely well ventilated, and a temperature not higher than 40° to 45° F. When in bud the plants should not be allowed to dry out too much. One drying might be enough to cause the loss of all the buds. Very often the heaths are attacked by a disease similar to mildew, brought on by an excess of humidity in the air. As this disease is very contagious, it is well, as soon as noticed, to use sulfur in powder or sulfate of copper in solution until the plants are rid of it.

 

The following are mostly kinds that have been grown successfully in small quantities in this country but appear not to be advertised in American trade catalogues. H=hard-wooded; the rest are soft-wooded. 8. Afr., unless stated. Aside from these, E. scoparia, Linn., of S. Eu.. is sometimes listed: 2-3 ft., glabrous: lvs. in 3's: 3s. greenish, in 1-sided racemes: calyx-lobes about half the length of the subglobose corolla. E. capensis also appears, but it is apparently only a catalogue name.

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E. ampullacea, Curt. Lvs. ciliate, mucronate: bracts colored; fls. mostly in 4's; corolla ventricose, very stinky, typically white, lined with red; limb spreading, white. Var. rubra is the only form cult. B.M. 303. L.B.C. 6:508. H.— E. arborea var. alpina, W. I. Beau. An alpine variety, grown only at Kew. It is a stiff erect bush with tiny white fls. in plume-like clusters. Gn. 75, p. 384.—E. aristata, Andr. Readily distinguished by the long bristle which ends the lvs.: lvs. recurved: fls. in 4's; sepals keeled with red; corolla sticky, 1 in. long, ventricose, but with not so long and narrow a neck as in E. ampullacea. B.M. 1249. L.B.C. 1:73. H.—E. barbata, Andr. Bristly and glandular-pubescent: lvs. in 4's: corolla urn-shaped, villous; ovary villous. L.B.C. 2:124.—E. Bowieana, Lodd. Lvs. in 4's to 6's; infl. axillary; corolla tubular, lightly inflated; limb erect or scarcely open. L.B.C. 9:842.— E. Burnettii, Hort. Hybrid. F.S. 8:845.—E. Cavendishiana. Hort. (E. Cavendishii, Hort.). Hybrid of E. depressaxE. Patersonii. Lvs. in 4's, margins revolute: fls. in 2's to 4's; corolla tubular; stamens included; anthers awned. P.M. 13:3. G.C. 1845, p. 435; 11.18:213; 20:597. F.S. 2:142. A.F. 12:1143. Gng. 5:331. C.L.A. 7:180. G. 6:489; 10:243.— E. conspicua, Soland., is a species with club-shaped, villous fls. and villous lvs. in 4's. Var. splendens, Klotzsch, with the lvs. and sepals shining green and pubescent corollas, includes E. elata, Andr. L.B.C. 18:1788. — E. cylindrica, Andr. and Hort. Important hybrid of unknown parentage, cult. since 1800. Lvs. in 4's: fls. nearly sessile; corolla 1 in. long, brilliant rosy red, with a faint circle of dull blue about two- thirds of the way from the base; anthers awned, included; ovary glabrous. L.B.C. 18:1734. R.H. 1859, p. 42.—Fls. very showy and unusually long. The oldest E. cylindrica. That of Wendland is a yellow-fld, species unknown to cult.—E. Devoniana, Hort. Hybrid. Fls. rich purple. H. — E. elata, Andr.= E. conspicua var. splendens. — E. Irbyana, Andr. Allied to E. ampullacea, but with corolla narrower at the base and tapering with perfect regularity to just below the limb, where it has a prominent red bulge. It is also distinctly lined with red, and the sepals are green, although the bracts are colored, as in E. ampullacea. L.B.C. 9:816. H. —E. nigrescens is presumably E. melanthera (H. D. Darlington). —E. pallida. A confused name. The oldest plant of this name is Salisbury's, which has an urn-shaped corolla, fls. often in 3's, pubescent and hirsute branches and lvs. in 3's. L.B.C. 1:72 (as E. pura). E. pallida of the trade is probably the tubular-fld. hybrid of Loddiges in L.B.C. 14:1355, which has axillary and terminal fls.. and lvs. in 4's to 6's.—E. persplcua, Wendl., has a tubular or slightly club-shaped corolla, lvs. in 4's, pubescent or rough-hairy, and fls. in 1's to 3's, but the plant in the trade is probably E. perspicuoides, Forbes, a hybrid, with longer and woollier hairs, fls. somewhat in umbels, nearly 1 in. long. Only var. erecta is grown here.—E. Syndriana is grown by Louis Dupuy.— E. translucent, Andr. Perhaps the first of all the garden hybrids between E. tubiflora and E ventricosa. Lvs. rigid, with or without long, soft, red hairs: fls. in umbel-like heads; bracts remote; corolla rosy, 8-9 lines long; tube narrowly ventricose, pubescent limb abort, spreading; ovary sessile. Andr. Heaths, 295. Bentham considers this a synonym of E. spuria, Andr. Heaths. 60. Schultheis says "it is the finest erica grown; a poor propagator but good grower. Takes 3 months to root."—E. tricolor is perhaps the most confused name in the genus, and apparently one of the important kinds abroad, where it has many varieties and synonyms. In the trade it seems to stand for a handsome heath, with lvs. in 4's, distinctly ciliate and terminated by a bristle: fls. in umbels of 8-10, 1 in. long, a little too inflated at the base for the typical tubular form, rosy at the base, then white, then green, and then suddenly constricted into a short neck; pedicels red and exceptionally long. This description is from L.B.C. 12:1105 (as E. eximia), one of the earliest pictures of these charming hybrids which Bentham refers to the hybrid E. aristella, Forbes.—E. Wilmorei, Knowles & Westc. (E. Wilmoreana and Vilmoreana, Hort.). Hybrid: corolla tubular, bulged below the lobes, slightly velvety-hairy: fls. in 1's to 3's, rosy, tipped white. R.H. 1892, p. 202. A.F. 4:251. G.C. III. 19:201. A.G. 21:869. Var. glauca, Carr., has nearly glaucous foliage. Var. calyculata, Carr., has a large additional calyx. R.H. 1892, p. 203. Wilhelm Miller. N. Taylor.

 

E. ampullacea, Curt. Lvs. ciliate, mucronate: bracts colored; fls. mostly in 4's; corolla ventricose, very stinky, typically white, lined with red; limb spreading, white. Var. rubra is the only form cult. B.M. 303. L.B.C. 6:508. H.— E. arborea var. alpina, W. I. Beau. An alpine variety, grown only at Kew. It is a stiff erect bush with tiny white fls. in plume-like clusters. Gn. 75, p. 384.—E. aristata, Andr. Readily distinguished by the long bristle which ends the lvs.: lvs. recurved: fls. in 4's; sepals keeled with red; corolla sticky, 1 in. long, ventricose, but with not so long and narrow a neck as in E. ampullacea. B.M. 1249. L.B.C. 1:73. H.—E. barbata, Andr. Bristly and glandular-pubescent: lvs. in 4's: corolla urn-shaped, villous; ovary villous. L.B.C. 2:124.—E. Bowieana, Lodd. Lvs. in 4's to 6's; infl. axillary; corolla tubular, lightly inflated; limb erect or scarcely open. L.B.C. 9:842.— E. Burnettii, Hort. Hybrid. F.S. 8:845.—E. Cavendishiana. Hort. (E. Cavendishii, Hort.). Hybrid of E. depressaxE. Patersonii. Lvs. in 4's, margins revolute: fls. in 2's to 4's; corolla tubular; stamens included; anthers awned. P.M. 13:3. G.C. 1845, p. 435; 11.18:213; 20:597. F.S. 2:142. A.F. 12:1143. Gng. 5:331. C.L.A. 7:180. G. 6:489; 10:243.— E. conspicua, Soland., is a species with club-shaped, villous fls. and villous lvs. in 4's. Var. splendens, Klotzsch, with the lvs. and sepals shining green and pubescent corollas, includes E. elata, Andr. L.B.C. 18:1788. — E. cylindrica, Andr. and Hort. Important hybrid of unknown parentage, cult. since 1800. Lvs. in 4's: fls. nearly sessile; corolla 1 in. long, brilliant rosy red, with a faint circle of dull blue about two- thirds of the way from the base; anthers awned, included; ovary glabrous. L.B.C. 18:1734. R.H. 1859, p. 42.—Fls. very showy and unusually long. The oldest E. cylindrica. That of Wendland is a yellow-fld, species unknown to cult.—E. Devoniana, Hort. Hybrid. Fls. rich purple. H. — E. elata, Andr.(syn. E. conspicua var. splendens). — E. Irbyana, Andr. Allied to E. ampullacea, but with corolla narrower at the base and tapering with perfect regularity to just below the limb, where it has a prominent red bulge. It is also distinctly lined with red, and the sepals are green, although the bracts are colored, as in E. ampullacea. L.B.C. 9:816. H. —E. nigrescens is presumably E. melanthera (H. D. Darlington). —E. pallida. A confused name. The oldest plant of this name is Salisbury's, which has an urn-shaped corolla, fls. often in 3's, pubescent and hirsute branches and lvs. in 3's. L.B.C. 1:72 (as E. pura). E. pallida of the trade is probably the tubular-fld. hybrid of Loddiges in L.B.C. 14:1355, which has axillary and terminal fls.. and lvs. in 4's to 6's.—E. persplcua, Wendl., has a tubular or slightly club-shaped corolla, lvs. in 4's, pubescent or rough-hairy, and fls. in 1's to 3's, but the plant in the trade is probably E. perspicuoides, Forbes, a hybrid, with longer and woollier hairs, fls. somewhat in umbels, nearly 1 in. long. Only var. erecta is grown here.—E. Syndriana is grown by Louis Dupuy.— E. translucent, Andr. Perhaps the first of all the garden hybrids between E. tubiflora and E ventricosa. Lvs. rigid, with or without long, soft, red hairs: fls. in umbel-like heads; bracts remote; corolla rosy, 8-9 lines long; tube narrowly ventricose, pubescent limb abort, spreading; ovary sessile. Andr. Heaths, 295. Bentham considers this a synonym of E. spuria, Andr. Heaths. 60. Schultheis says "it is the finest erica grown; a poor propagator but good grower. Takes 3 months to root."—E. tricolor is perhaps the most confused name in the genus, and apparently one of the important kinds abroad, where it has many varieties and synonyms. In the trade it seems to stand for a handsome heath, with lvs. in 4's, distinctly ciliate and terminated by a bristle: fls. in umbels of 8-10, 1 in. long, a little too inflated at the base for the typical tubular form, rosy at the base, then white, then green, and then suddenly constricted into a short neck; pedicels red and exceptionally long. This description is from L.B.C. 12:1105 (as E. eximia), one of the earliest pictures of these charming hybrids which Bentham refers to the hybrid E. aristella, Forbes.—E. Wilmorei, Knowles & Westc. (E. Wilmoreana and Vilmoreana, Hort.). Hybrid: corolla tubular, bulged below the lobes, slightly velvety-hairy: fls. in 1's to 3's, rosy, tipped white. R.H. 1892, p. 202. A.F. 4:251. G.C. III. 19:201. A.G. 21:869. Var. glauca, Carr., has nearly glaucous foliage. Var. calyculata, Carr., has a large additional calyx. R.H. 1892, p. 203. Wilhelm Miller. N. Taylor.

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