Aucuba : first, that varieties may be, and indeed in many cases are, 

 as permanent as species. Of variations, that consisting in discolo- 

 ration of the foliage is supposed to be the least characteristic and 

 permanent, and yet the Aucuba has retained this character un- 

 changed through upwards of eighty years in Europe, America, 

 and the colonies ; and probably through many centuries in Japan. 

 Secondly, that though discoloration is usually attributed to dis- 

 ease, this may not be so really ; for certainly the Aucuba has 

 shown no si^u of deterioration since it was first introduced. 

 Several curious problems remain to be solved with regard to the 

 Aucuba, such as, whether the old variegated form will seed well 

 if impregnated by pollen of the nncoloured, and whether its 

 seedling will be as strong and healthy as its offspring by cut- 

 tings ; whether the uncoloured form will ever sport and become 

 variegated, as many plants are apt to do on damp clay soils ; 

 and whether the offspring of the uncoloured and coloured forms 

 will tend most to the one or the other of its parents. 



It is curious to read that the Aucuba, when first introduced, 

 was treated as a stove-plant, and even as late as 1809 was often 

 cultivated in a greenhouse, where the leaves are described as 

 being of a fuller green than when cultivated out-of-doors. 



The uncoloured female Aucuba is now common in our collec- 

 tions : for the magnificent fruiting branch we have figured we 

 are indebted to Messrs. Standish's Ascot Nursery. 



Fig. 1. Female flower. 2. Ovary. 3. Berry. 4. Transverse ; and 5. Ver- 

 tical section of ditto. 6. Panicle of male flower. 7. Male flower -.—all but 3, 4, 

 5, and 6, are magnified. 



