Acanthus Perringii.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIV, Issue 1, 5 January 1910, Page 40

Acanthus Perringii.

The Acanthus, or Bear’s Breech, as it is commonly called, is cultivated mainly on account of its handsome foliage, although the stout spikes of rose-coloured or white flowers are also attractive. The commonest species met with in gardens is A. mollis, which is found all over the South of Europe. . It is a stately plant, the large, shining, green leaves on speci mens, growing in deep, strong soil, forming handsome tufts 4ft or sft across. Other species in cultivation include AJongifolius, a very distinct plant, with leaves from 2ft to 3ft long, and narrowin proportion, bearing spikes of purplishrose coloured flowers; and A. spinosus, distinguished by its very spiny, deeplycut leaves. This latter species seldom flowers except when planted in hot, dry situations at the foot of a wall facing south. Both species are natives of Southern Europe. Another less often seen is A. hirsutus, from Asia Minor, which produces a tuft of radical leaves close to the ground. The leaves and

flower-stems are covered thickly with a hairy pubescence. It is to this latter ■species that A. Perringii is most closely related. Plants of A. Perringii were received at Kew in 1904 from Mr. W. Siehe, of Mersina, in Asia Minor. Mr. Siehe states that he discovered it in 1903 in the Cappadocian Antitaurus growing on cliffs composed of a chalky loam at an elevation of from 5000 to 6000 ft. The plant is very deep-rooting and spreads freely by means of underground rhizomes. The leaves are all radical, -about lOin long, grey in colour, toothed and spiny, and, like the stem, covered with a fine, hairy pubescence. The inflorescence grows about 2ft high, the flowers being rosy-red in colour. The specimen shown is growing at the foot of a south wall at Kew; the extreme heat causes it to flower. Planted in the open beds, it grows well and is quite hardy, but it does not bloom. This also applies to A. hirsutus and A. spinosus. A. mollis and A longifolius will grow freely and flower well in the open on the borders of shrubberies or in open beds on lawns. A. m-ollis is grown in gardens under the names of A. candelabrum, A. latifolius, A. lusitanicus, and A. Sehottii, while the plant sent out some years ago as A. Caroli Alexandri is only a form of A. spinosus.