species, but will be considered more showy than either. The flower-heads are purple, very large, and appear in July and August.

E. purpurea, syn. Rudbeckia purpurea (Purple E.)-This species grows 4 or more feet high. The leaves are broadly lance-shaped or egg-shaped. The flower-heads are large, with long, rather flaccid, and drooping purple rays. Flowers in July and August. Native of North America.

E. serotina, syn. Rudbeckia serotina (Late-flowering E.)— This species grows about 3 feet high. The leaves are broadly egg-shaped and slightly toothed. The flower-heads are large, and the purplish-red ray florets are stiffly spreading. They appear in August and September. Native of North America.

Echinops (Globe Thistle).-This is a coarse but very striking genus of Thistle-like plants, with large globular flower-heads and great hoary leaves, which are quite as worthy the attention of those who practise what is named subtropical gardening as many farther-fetched things. But I do not put them forward here for that purpose. They are mostly natives of woody or bushy places in the south of Europe and the Levant, and are adapted generally for naturalising in similar situations in Britain. They are stiff rigid plants, with a rather touch-menot air about them, which gives them a desirable character for naturalising in half-kept places. They succeed in any gardensoil, but best in that which is rather rough and stony. gate by division in spring.

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E. Ritro (Smaller Globe Thistle). This species is the most fit of any of the group for culture in the mixed border. It grows from 2 to 3 feet high, branching freely, the stems and branches being clothed with large pinnatifid leaves, clothed with cottony down beneath, and webbed above with the same. The heads of flowers are globose and purplish blue. They appear in summer and autumn. Native of southern Europe.

E. ruthenicus (Russian Globe Thistle).-This species grows about the same height as the last. The flower-heads are similar in character, but the leaves terminate in stout spines, as do also the lobes of the upper leaves. Flower-heads blue, appearing in June, July, and August. Native of Sicily and other countries of southern Europe and Russian Asia.

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E. sphaerocephalus (Round-headed Globe Thistle). plant grows 5 or 6 feet high in rich soil, branching freely. The leaves are large, pinnatifid, densely clothed with cottony down below, and above with slightly glutinous hairs. The flowerheads are very numerous, quite spherical, and pale blue, appearing in July and August.

Gaillardia.—This is a limited group of handsome borderplants, producing large showy flowers, rather profusely and in long continuance. They require rather a dry warm situation and rich light loam, as they are apt to perish in heavy soils in cold wet places. Where they are apt to die in winter they may yet be used in mixed borders, treated as half-hardy annuals; for if sown in a mild hotbed in the end of February or the beginning of March, they may be grown into good plants, and a full display of their fine flower-heads obtained as early as upon those which may have withstood the winter in the borders. They are propagated by cuttings in autumn or spring in the manner of general bedding plants, and by division in spring, assisted afterwards by slight heat if the locality is a cold one.

G. aristata (Awned G.)—This species grows I foot or rather more high, producing very freely large flower-heads, orange yellow in colour, in July and onwards till October. Native of North America. One of the hardiest of the group.

G. grandiflora, G. maxima, and G. Loeselii, are all forms of the same plant. The last is perhaps the best or most showy. It grows 3 or 4 feet high, producing very large flower-heads, coloured crimson and yellow. They appear in July, August, and September.

G. Richardsoni (Richardson's G.)-This sort grows 18 inches or 2 feet high. The flower-heads are orange and large, and are produced throughout the greater part of summer and autumn. Native of North America, and one of the hardiest.

Galatella.-This genus is an offshoot of the extensive Starwort group, and the few species of which it is composed bear considerable resemblance to some of those comprised in that group. G. hyssopifolia is perhaps the most ornamental of the four or five species that have been taken from Aster, and grouped together under this name; and as the general character, at least for the purpose of the gardener, is the same as that of Aster, it only need be described here. The others are quite worthy of cultivation in extensive collections, and their names may be noted now for the use of those who may wish to add them to their collections. They are all in nurseries under the name Aster or Galatella, but more commonly they are named Aster.

G. hyssopifolia (Hyssop-leaved G.)—This plant grows about I foot or 18 inches high, erect at first, but the slender stems, as the development of the corymb of flowers proceeds, become gradually bent downwards. The leaves are very narrow, linear, and roughish to the touch. The corymbs of flower

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heads are dense and somewhat pyramidal in outline. The flower-heads are lilac or pale purple, and appear in September and October, often also in November if the weather is mild. Native of North America. This species and the others are easily-cultivated plants, succeeding well in any ordinary garden-soil, and are suitable for the mixed border and shrubbery borders. The other species known to cultivation are G. linifolia, G. punctata, and G. dracunculoides.

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Grindelia. This is a showy genus well worthy of culture wherever the climate and soil are favourable, but in this country they do not endure our winters, except in dry, warm, well-sheltered places. They flower very freely, and keep up a long succession of bloom, and their character and style are well worth trying for wherever the climate is suitable. cannot, however, recommend them for any part of Scotland or the north of England, having had no experience of them in either of these quarters. It is a small group, and all that are known to science are not in cultivation; and some of those that are, are dwarf half-shrubby plants, more suitable for planting at the base of a wall than in the open border, and are quite worthy of such a position where there is room for them. Two of the herbaceous species only will be noticed; they are both in cultivation, and to be had in nurseries, though they are rare. They are the hardiest of the group, and succeed well in the London district and beyond it southwards, and in Ireland. They flourish best in light rich loam. Propagate by division in spring.

G. grandiflora (Large-flowered G.)-The plant grows 3 or 4 feet high, with undivided stems till near the top, when they branch for flowering. The leaves are stalkless, clasping the stems somewhat at the base, roughly toothed on the margin, and tapering much from base to point. The flower-heads are borne one on each branch, and are large, with spreading bright orange-yellow ray-florets. Flowers from July till late autumn. Native of Texas.

G. squarrosa (Snake's-head G.)—This species grows 11⁄2 to 22 feet high, with unbranched stems till near the top, where they break for flowering. The leaves are lance-shaped, clasping the stem slightly at the base, and coarsely but sharply toothed. Flower as in the last species, only one to a branch. They appear in July and continue till September. Native of Missouri.

Helianthus (Sunflower).—This is rather a coarse but showy genus, embracing a considerable number of species of tall striking plants, all producing yellow flower-heads. Any of the species may be freely naturalised in open woods and semi

wild places; and a very limited selection may be made in favour of the mixed border where the borders are of ample breadth, but scarcely any of them are suitable for those that are narrow. They are all very suitable for planting amongst open shrubberies for the purpose of giving colour to masses of green, and the dwarfest of the species may be planted in masses by themselves, or in association with other plants of different colours and similar habit, in points of landscape where it is desirable to have the distant effects of colour. They succeed well in any fairly good soil, and being robust, vigorous plants, may be established at very little cost or trouble in almost any place where there is tolerable depth of soil. pagate by division in autumn or spring. It may be observed that rabbits are exceedingly fond of the young growth, and where they abound it will therefore be difficult to naturalise these plants without giving them necessary protection.

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H. angustifolius (Narrow-leaved S.) This species grows about 3 feet high, with slender unbranched stems, clothed with opposite narrow lance-shaped leaves, rough to the touch, entire on the margin, but revolute. Flower-heads yellow, terminating the stems, which in established plants are numerous. Flowers in August, September, and October. Native of North America.

H. doronicoides (Leopard's Bane-like S.)-This species produces rather slender stems, about 3 or 4 feet high. The leaves are opposite on short stalks, egg-shaped, with a slightly glaucous tint on the upper side. Flower-heads large, bright yellow, with wide-spreading ray-florets. Flowers in July and the two following months. Native of North America.

H. multiflorus (Many-flowered S.)-This species grows about the height of the last two, but with stouter and more erect stems. The leaves are heart-shaped or egg-shaped, and very rough to the touch. The flower-heads are large, deep yellow, and the ray-florets are very numerous and spreading. Flowers in August, September, and October. Native of North America. There is a very handsome double variety in nurseries under the name H. multiflorus plenus; it is more ornamental than the normal form. These are three of the best suited for border decoration; but there are others not inferior, and many besides that are too bulky for ordinary border ornamentation, though producing showy flowers in considerable abundance. The following is a short list of some of the more distinct for naturalising: H. excelsus, 6 to 8 feet; H. macrophyllus, 5 feet; H. diffusus, 4 feet; H. Maximiliani, 4 feet; H. orgyalis, 5 feet.

Helenium.—This is a limited genus of North American

plants, of which we have very few in cultivation. Two or three of the species that are to be found in botanical gardens are scarcely hardy enough to endure out of doors our winter climate, and they are not so highly ornamental as to repay the trouble of protection. The two selected are quite hardy, and will succeed in any ordinary garden-soil. Propagate by division in autumn or spring.

H. autumnale (Autumn-flowering H.)-This species grows about 3 feet high. The flower-heads are very large, bright yellow, with broad-spreading ray-florets, appearing from August till October. The variety H. a. pumila, growing about 18 inches or 2 feet high, is a neater plant for small borders, and the normal form is handsome for larger ones and for shrubbery decoration. Native of North America.

H. Hoopesii (Hoopes's H.)-This is a species of recent introduction, for which we are indebted to Mr Thompson of Ipswich. It grows about 2 feet high, and produces large flowerheads, deep-yellow or orange colour. Flowers in June, and onwards throughout the summer. It is a very handsome border-plant, the best perhaps of the genus. Native of North America.

Hieracium aurantiacum (Orange Hawkweed).-The family of Hawkweeds is very extensive, and very generally rather weedy. The species above named is, so far as I am aware, the most ornamental. It is well worth a place in mixed borders where the collection is extensive, being rather a showy plant, though never very profuse; but for four or five months it is always throwing up its corymbs of deep orange-coloured flowerheads. It produces dwarf tufts of entire hairy leaves, whence spring the rather hairy slender flower-scapes, bearing compact corymbs of flower-heads. It is a common plant in cultivation, being often met with in cottage gardens. It flourishes in any ordinary garden-soil, and may be freely propagated by division in autumn, winter, or spring. Native of the mountains of southern Europe, and occasionally found as an escape from gardens in many parts of Britain, and so included in some of our British floras. Height about 18 inches.

Liatris. This is a very handsome family of hardy borderplants from North America, one or more of which should be in every collection. Only one species is at all common, Z. spicata, and it is not so generally grown as it should be on account of its fine habit and beautiful spikes of flower-heads. There are about ten species in cultivation; but very few of these are in nurseries, and fewer still in private gardens. All are purple-flowered, and late summer and autumn flowering