IRISH GARDENING 



VOLUME IV. 

 No. 45 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND 



ARBORICULTURE IN IRELAND 



NcjVKMBEk 



New Plants from China. 



By llie Hon. X'karv Gihbs, Aldiiiliam House, Elstrce. 



IT may interest your readers to hear some- 

 thing of the plants collected by Mr. Wilson 

 in his last visit to China, which he under- 

 took lor a syndicate that was organised by 

 Professor Sargent of the Arnold Arboretum at 

 Harvard University, U.S.A. 



During the last eighteen months we have 

 raised an immense number of these plants from 

 seed, and though it is rather earl)' in the day to 

 speak confidently they show every promise of 

 furnishing most valuable and novel ornaments 

 to our gardens, many of which should prove 

 liardy not only in your favoured climate, but in 

 almost every part of the United Kingdom. 

 In the very large collection which Mr. Wilson 

 made there are included many plants which 

 have already for a long time been in cultivation 

 in these islands, but in that case, as he explained 

 to me, the seeds have been gathered from a 

 much higher altitude than the original intro- 

 ductions, in the reasonable expectation that 

 thus a much more robust strain might be 

 secured. 



Naturally during the past season we have 

 had many visits from botanists and collectors 

 anxious to inspect these novelties, some ol 

 which are not to be seen anywhere else except 

 in their native habitat in Central China ; and in 

 this connection I may say that I am always 

 pleased to grant permission to anyone, amateur 

 or professional, whv5 is really interested in the 

 subject, to view this collection. 



It is evidence of the marvellous richness of 

 the flora of China, as compared with any other 

 part of the Globe, that on this one trip, from 

 one district alone, Mr. Wilson has collected 

 about forty different species of Rnbiis showing 

 a striking variety and beauty of form and 

 colouring, and some of them bearing little or 



no superficial resemblance to a bramble at all. 

 Their chief merit is in the foliage, fruit, and 

 colour of stems in winter, but a few of them 

 have yet flowered with us, and the only one to 

 show marked excellence in this respect is R. 

 roscefluri's, which has a large white flower some- 

 thing like R. deliciostts ; the foliage and general 

 eft'ect, however, is very dift'erent, being more 

 like Spira'ii assurgens. Then we ha\e R. 

 corcaiiiis witli purplish stems ; R. polytrichus, 

 which Wilson speaks of as very ornamental ; 

 R. Plavfaiiiy with leaves like a \'irginia 

 creeper ; R. lumberlianiis, with a vine-like leaf ; 

 R. Irenwus, a dwarf procumbent form with 

 large, round leaves something like coltsfoot, 

 the voung shoots being of a clear, bright brown ; 

 R. Ic/uingeiisis, with long, pointed, metallic, 

 glaucous foliage ; R. parkeri, similar in shape 

 of leaf, but of rich, dark-green colour and rough 

 texture. Then 1 must not omit R. bambusaruni, 

 with narrow, elegant leaflets — perhaps the most 

 beautifulof all — which Wilson discovered on his 

 first visit to China for Messrs. Veitch. Of the 

 quantity of unnamed Rubus, I will only mention 

 No 8i, with a large leaf, soft and velvety to 

 touch ; No. 279, with bright, white stems, 

 superior to the well-known R. bifloriis ; and 

 No. 282, which at the time of writing is covered 

 with bright, scarlet, somewhat acid fruits. 



Leaving the brambles, there are several new 

 and promisingcotoneasters,such as C. applunata, 

 free growing and very graceful in form, and C. 

 hiimifusa, dwarf and quite prostrate, which last 

 should make a delightful addition to our 

 rockeries. A new and very distinct Liquidam- 

 fo/r deserves honourable mention, as does also 

 Cercis racemosa, which is said to be the best 

 Judas tree in existence. W^e have some 20 or 

 30 new vines which show great variety of 



