1880.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



197 



schools, were present. Every child brought a 

 nosegay of flowers, and at the close of the ser- 

 vice these v/ere deposited on the steps of the 

 chancel, the offerings being intended for the 

 children who are inmates of the Westminster 

 Hospital . The children of the Duke of St. Albans 

 were among those who brought bouquets. The 

 flowers formed a large bank and completely 

 scented the chancel of the church. They were 

 afterwards taken to London by Canon Farrax", 

 and occupied several large packages. The Canon 

 selected his text from Matthew vi., 2G, "Consider 

 the Lilies of the field, how they grow." 



Hydrangea paniculata. — It will be remem- 

 bered that last season Mr. Chas. H, Miller pointed 

 out in our pages that the Hydrangea paniculata, 

 and H. p. grandiflora were distinct varieties. We 

 have heard this questioned since, notwithstand- 

 ing the clear description Mr. Miller gave of their 

 differences. More recently Mr. Hibberd has 

 given an account of them in the Gardener's 

 Magazine, Avhich shows that in his country, as 

 here, the differences are recognized. He says : — 



This noble plant must be counted amongst the 

 most valuable acquisitions to the garden of re- 

 cent years. Its perfect hardiness adds a hun- 

 dredfold to its value, as judged by its beauty and 

 distinctness only. But in common with other 

 members of the useful genus to which it belongs, 

 it takes to pot culture kindly, and submits to be 

 forced without deterioration of its splendid 

 qualities of leaf and flower. As a plant adapted 

 for isolation on grass turf there are but few to 

 equal it, and it is not the less valuable for the 

 mixed shrubbery, the entrance court, and for 

 select positions where plants characterized by 

 massiveness and brightness may have a place in 

 the parterre. 



There are two varieties. Hydrangea paniculata 

 flowers earlier and produces smaller flowers than 

 H. p. grandiflora. Moreover, the flowers of the 

 first are of a pure white color, whereas those of 

 the second are pinkish and fade into a purple 

 tinge. In all respects, the first is more refined 

 than the second, but which is the species and 

 which the variety we do not pretend to say, be- 

 cause it is a grave question if in the end these 

 terms are by any at present fully understood. 

 Let it suffice then that we have two forms of a 

 fine plant; both are noble and worthy of ad- 

 miration, but the one with two names is to be 

 preferred for pot culture and the one with three 

 for planting out. 



Hydrangea Thunbergii, the handsomest of all 

 the outdoor flowering shrubs now in bloom at 

 Kew, is in fine condition by the side of the wall 

 near the entrance to the Victoria-house. It is a 

 very floriferous, neat-growing, dwarf shrub, not 

 more than three feetin height. The numerous bar- 



ren ray-florets, each composed of three or four 



orbicular sepals of a deep rosy-red color, the 

 crowded fertile flowers tinged with purplish red, 

 together with their bright blue anthers and fila- 

 ments of the same shade, combine to render the 

 plant very conspicuous. Siebold, in his Flora 

 Japonica, informs us that the dry leaves make a 

 very good tea, which on account of its sweet and 

 agreeable taste is called " ama-tsja," which means 

 "celestial tea." According to some authors, 

 however, it owes that name to the fact that on 

 the birthday of Sjaka (Buddha), which falls on 

 the eighth day of the fourth month of the year, 

 the idols of the foiuider of the Buddhist religion 

 are with great solemnity washed in it. — Garden- 

 ers' Chronicle. 



El.eagnus longipes. — This perfectly hardy 

 and very desirable Japanese shrvib, is at present 

 in fine fruit in the Kew collection. A figure of 

 it is given in the Gardener's Chronicle for 1873, p. 

 1014. It is a spreading evergreen bush about three 

 feet high, with deep, reddish-brown twigs and 

 leaves, green above and silvery white beneath, 

 the pendulous, long-stalked, transparent orange 

 fruits, studded with small ferrugineous scales, 

 being produced in clusters. Some of the Japanese 

 varieties of this species are said to yield edible 

 fruits ; those, however, of the Kew plants are 

 somewhat too acid and astringent to be pleasant. 

 — Gardener' s Chronicle. 



American Trees in England. — Nothing more 

 amazes those familiar with the beauty of Ameri- 

 can trees than to note the indifference which 

 English planters show for them. Through their 

 parks and gardens we travel for days and see lit- 

 tle beyond English Oak, English Ash. Sycamore, 

 Linden, Elm, and a few others. Here and there 

 a solitary American may be seen in great beauty, 

 but they are rare. Of this neglect the London 

 Journal of Forestry says : — 



" The rich and beautiful trees and shrubs of 

 North America have, from the time of the first 

 explorers of the woods and pi*airies of that 

 country till the present day, formed the theme of 

 enthusiastic admiration by all lovers of the 

 higher orders of vegetation who have visited that 

 favored land. It has often surprisetl eminent 

 men, who have seen the glorious display of 

 flowers and foliage in the backwoods and rich 

 savannahs of America, that so few of the many 

 rare and beautiful tiees there met with are apt to 

 be found in cultivation in this country. With the 

 solitary exception of the evergreen members of 

 the coniferous family, no other tribe of American 

 plants is represented in our woods and orna- 

 mental grounds to anything like the extent their 



