a.

_Syn._ CASSIOPE TETRAGONA; _Nat. Ord._ ERICACEAE.

A dwarf hardy evergreen shrub, which comes to us from Lapland and North
America; though a very beautiful subject for either rockwork or border,
it is rarely seen. It is not one of the easiest plants to grow, which
may, to some extent, account for its rarity. Still, when it can have its
requirements, it not only thrives well, but its handsome form and
flowers repay any extra trouble it may have given. In the culture of
this, as of most plants of the order _Ericaceae_, there is decidedly a
right way and a wrong one, and if the species now under consideration
has one or two special requirements it deserves them.

[Illustration: FIG. 5. ANDROMEDA TETRAGONA.

(One-half natural size.)]

With me it never exceeds a height of 6in. or 7in., is much branched, and
of a fine apple green colour; the flowers are small but very beautiful,
bell-shaped, pendent, and springing from the leafy stems of the previous
year's growth. The leaves are small as well as curious, both in form and
arrangement, completely hiding their stems; their roundish grain-shaped
forms are evenly arranged in four rows extending throughout the whole
length of the branches (whence the name _tetragona_), giving them a
square appearance resembling an ear of wheat, but much less stout (see
Fig. 5); the little leaves, too, are frosted somewhat in the way of many
of the saxifrages. It is next to impossible to describe this pretty
shrub; fortunately, the cut will convey a proper idea at a glance. All
who possess more select collections of hardy plants and shrubs should
not fail to include this; it is fit for any collection of fifty choice
species.

I struggled long before finding out the right treatment, as presumably I
now have, yet it is very simple, in fact, only such as many other plants
should have; but, unlike them, _A. tetragona_ will take no alternative;
it must have partial shade, sandy peat or leaf soil, and be planted in a
moist or semi-bog situation. On the raised parts of rockwork it became
burnt up; planted in loam, though light, it was dormant as a stone; in
pots, it withered at the tips; but, with the above treatment, I have
flowers and numerous branchlets. Many little schemes may be improvised
for the accommodation of this and similar subjects. Something of the bog
character would appear to be the difficulty here; a miniature one may be
made in less than half an hour. Next the walk dig a hole