1871.] NOTES ON "AMERICAN" SHRUBS. 543 



drupes are ripe in October, and are covered with a white vegetable 

 wax, which is separated by boiling in water, and in some parts of 

 America extensively used, either alone or in combination with animal 

 fat, for making candles. Of this species there are two or three well- 

 marked varieties, among which latifolia, with broader leaves and a 

 more robust habit of growth, is the most ornamental. 



Gale. — Sweet .Gale or Bog Myrtle is a deciduous shrub growing 

 from 2 to 4 feet high, found wild in moors in this country, and over 

 a wide area in northern Europe and America ; is the most fragrant of 

 the Myricas, and forms a neat shrub with pretty foliage, and well 

 worth a place in collections of peat-soil plants ; to grow it well it 

 should have a damp situation and plenty of peat. 



Calif or nica. — From California and the north-west coast of America ; 

 is a handsome bushy evergreen, growing from 8 to 12 feet high ; the 

 leaves are very fragant, of a narrow lanceolate shape, and densely 

 arranged on the branches ; the flowers, which are of a light-green 

 colour, come out in July in short axillary spikes, succeeded by small 

 berry-like fruit of a dull-red colour, ripe in September. It is quite 

 hardy in this country, and though, like the other species, preferring 

 peat, it grows well in any rich loamy soil ; and though comparatively 

 little known, is a valuable ornamental shrub. 



COMPTONIA. 



The singularly graceful deciduous shrub known as C. asplenifolia 

 is the only representative of this genus in cultivation ; and though, like 

 its near allies the Myricas, it has little to recommend it as far as flowers 

 are concerned, its fine foliage, pleasing aromatic fragrance, and neat 

 habit of growth, render it worthy of admission to even a select collec- 

 tion of American plants, to which, from its distinct and handsome 

 appearance, it gives a variety which is attractive in the extreme. It 

 is found wild in peaty woods in the colder parts of Canada and the 

 United States, and though it was introduced into Europe nearly a 

 century and a half ago, is as yet rarely found in British gardens ; and 

 this is the more remarkable from the fact that it is perfectly hardy, 

 and that it grows freely in the ordinary peat-beds, if planted in a 

 shady aspect. The leaves are of an oblong-linear shape, deeply cut on 

 each side into rounded lobes, resembling small fronds of the well- 

 known fern Ceterach officinarum ; the flowers, which are produced in 

 catkins, are of a rusty-brown colour, and are in perfection about the 

 beginning of April. 



DAPHXE. 



Though all the Daphnes delight in a peaty soil, and are sometimes 

 associated with American plants with the most charming effect. 



