132 



THE FLOUAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE, 



For the curious, Tortuosa muit be con- 

 siilerecl quite unique. Tlie le:ifis blotched 

 with gold yellow on thu in;irgiii, imd tlie 

 midrib lias an irregular strciik of tlie same 

 colour, the grouml being a rich and lively 

 green. Kvery leaf has a twist, so tliat but 

 little more than half of the fiont surface is 

 pi-esented to the eye. It is one of the 

 slowest growing of the tribe, and nut at all 

 suited for planting in masses. Another 

 cui'iosity is tlie variegated hedgehog, the 

 green liedgehog being a common holly in 

 almost every garden. This is called ferox 



aurea, as spiny as a caltrops, and the varie- 

 gation running into a mass on each side of 

 the leaf towards its' termination, so as to 

 form a letter V inverted. The common 

 ferox is certainly not a handsome holly, 

 though freely used in planting because of 

 its curious porcupine armour ; but this is 

 showy and unique, and will suit well for 

 conspicuous positions with those who like 

 shrubs that interest and bear frequent in- 

 spection. Another very charming holly is 

 Milkmaid, closely resembling Painted Lady, 

 but less gaudy in variegation. The spines 

 are quite irregular, and in some cases form 

 distinct lobes in the convergence of the 

 margin towards them. This is one of the 

 free-growing kinds, and may go with Fkee- 

 GROwiNG Gold and BBO.iD leaved Silvek. 

 Where it is desired to get up specimens as 



quickly as possible, there is a still yet more 

 striking variety called Bronze, th; leaf of 

 which is of the aquifolium type, but instead 

 of a marginal band ur line along the mid- 

 rib, the wliole surface of the leaf sh;.des 

 from dull green into deep bronzy orange; 

 the orange forming the chief colouring, and 

 the green, whichdcepens towards the petiole 

 being quite subsiiiiary to it. Where the 

 least possible am >unt of green and the 

 greatest possible breadth of orange foliage is 

 required, this is the holly to make choice of. 



My specimens are tliirty-one in number, 

 and I think I have now touched upon the 

 distinctive characters of all that require re- 

 mark. In describing the green kinds I 

 should have advised the planting of Lati- 

 folia, which makes leaves of six to eight 

 inches long in none but sheltered positions, 

 for it often suffers from wind, and is not 

 quite hardy, as the late winter proved to the 

 dismay of Mr. Paul and others, who had 

 good stocks of it. Cheshuntensis, figured 

 last month, is a seedling of the Messrs. 

 Paul's, and not to be had for love or money, 

 for there is but the one oiiginal plant in 

 existence, and the production of stock of it 

 has not been attempted yet. ' It is alto- 

 gether unique in its beauty, the green rich 

 and d.ark, and in hue similar to Portugal 

 laurel at its very best; the varnish on the 

 surface as bright as the best French polish. 

 If this were propagated as I believe it is 

 to be at once, it would command a price 

 per inch sufficient to repay Messrs. Paul for 

 the value of the whole batch out of which 

 it was selected, and something over for the 

 dead weight of those pieces that have been 

 on the ground fifteen or twenty years, and 

 that are scarcely any bigger than when the 

 present heads of the firm played at hide and 

 seek among the oaks and hornbeams that 

 screen the plantations. 



Mr. Chitty spent four hours in getting 

 the specimens together for me, and if he 

 had spent four days the time would have 

 been well bestowed in getting just so much 

 intelligence of Cheshuntensis. There are 

 mauj- matters yet that demand attention 

 ere we quit the subject of hollies, but as 

 they will keep for a while, it is sufficient 

 for the present that a few hints have been 

 given at a season the best of all in the 

 year for moving hollies to fill up the blanks 

 of the last winter, and prove material for a 

 higher order of decoration than usually 

 prevails in private gardens. 



SlIIBLET HiBBERD. 



