■RT 
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6G 
GLEANINGS AND ORIGINAL MEMORANDA. 
wedge-shaped, a short compressed tube^ open at the mouth. Stamens numerous, yellow. Pistils five. Ovaries tapering 
mto styles as long as the stamens. Stigma clavate, hairy." — Bot 3fag., t. 4581. 
318. Skimmia Japonica. TJmnlerg. {alias Limonia Laiireola JFaUlch.) A half hardy^ 
slirub^ belonging to Citronworts. Found in China and Japan, and on the 
fragrant, evergreen 
Himalayan Mountains, Mowers, pale green. (Fig. 163.) 
This interesting evergreen bush has now established itself in Cornwall, and is procurable in the nursery of Messrs. 
Standish and Noble. We cannot see that the Himalayan and Chinese forms differ in any respect ; for although 
Zuccarini says the flowers of the Chinese plant are white, edged with rose, yet the Chinese specimens furnished to us 
are green, exactly as represented in Dr. Wallich's Plantce Asiattcce vaAores, We have therefore only to add to 
our assurance that it is a bush with deliciously fragrant blossoms, the following exti'act from Zuccarini's Plantce 
Japonicce :■ 
" The Shimmi is an evergreen shrub, found throughout Japan among mountains, and shaded by forests, but the 
We found it near Nangasaki, 
plants are nowhere numerous, and always scattered, which renders them somewhat rare. 
Kaempfer was wrong in calling it a large tree, for in a 
In a 
on the mountain Kawara, 594 yards above the level of the sea. 
bright 
wild state it scarcely grows above three or four feet high, and its branches generally incline towards the eartli, 
cultivated state it becomes taller, the branches crowded, and almost in whorls of three or four together, growing stiffly 
from the stem. The leaves last three or four years, and each year is known by the distance of tlie tufts. The wild 
plants are distinguished by sharper leaves, wliich are closely spotted with transparent glands, like those of the orange 
tree, or the Tutsan. The flowers appear, in terminal panicles, from the beginning of March to the end of April, 
They are white, and of a reddish colour at the edge of the under side of the petals. The perfume is very agreeable, not 
unlike that of Daphne odora, and is particularly strong in the evening. The round, bright red berries (white in a 
cultivated variety) resemble those of the hawthorn, and contain four cartilaginous stones. The fruit ripens in October, 
and does not fall till towards the end of December. The leaves have an aromatic and acrid flavour. 
*' The Shimmi is generally cul- 
tivated in Japan in gardens, and 
around temples. Its evergreen 
leaves, its numerous and 
graceful bunches of flowers, dis- 
played from the tops of the 
branches from the beginning of 
spring, its fragrance, and at the 
end of autumn its beautiful red 
berries, entitle it to a high rank 
among ornamental plants. It is 
increased by cuttings or layers. 
Although in our climate (Holland) 
it is difficult to preserve in the 
open air, it thrives perfectly in the 
green-house, where, along with 
Camellias, it enhances by its pei'- 
fume the beauty of those scentless 
shrubs. However, the Japanese 
and the Chinese reckon it among 
venomous plants ; and the name 
Sikimi signifies also mischievous 
fruit. 
i» 
319. 
Acacia cyano- 
PHYLLA. Lindle^. A noble 
Swan Eiver tree, with long 
glaucous leaves, and spikes of 
bright yellow flower-heads. 
Blossoms in Tiibruary and 
March. (Pig. 164.) 
According to Preiss this plant inhabits wet sandy flats, near Swan River, where it is called Black Wattle, and forms 
a small straggling ti^ee from 12 to 18 feet high : he adds, that the leaves of the wild plant axe much smaller and 
