»06 ODOROGRAPHIA. 



Chimonanthus. 



Chiinonantlui.s (derived from x^l/icov, winter, and av6o<;, a flower, 

 in reference to the time of flowering, which is from December to 

 February). 



C. frar/rans, the " Japan Allspice," is the only representative of 

 this genus of the Calycantlius family, and it is well-known in 

 English gardens for its early flowering and the sweet scent of its 

 blossoms. It was introduced from China in 1766 and for a long 

 time was known under the name of Cahjcanthus jjvcecoo:, until it 

 was shown to differ from that genus in having but ten stamens 

 arranged in two row^s ; while in Calycanthus, they are very 

 numerous and arranged in four rows. 



Chimonanthus fragrans, Bot. Eeg., 404. Syn. Calycanthus 

 2Jraxox, Lin. Spec, 718 ; Ait., Hort. Kew, Ed. 1, ii., p. 220, t. 10 ; 

 Bot. Mag., t. 466 ; Lam. Ill, t. 445, f. 2. Native of Japan. It is 

 a shrub of about six feet in height, much branched and generally 

 treated as a wall-plant in gardens. Its leaves are opposite, stalked, 

 between oval and lanceolate in form, acuminate, very rough on the 

 surface, glabrous beneath ; they generally fall late in the autumn, 

 but sometimes a few remain till the spring. The flowers form in 

 the axils of the old leaves, they are sessile on the branches, about 

 an inch in diameter and made up of a large number of pale yellow 

 waxy petals, arranged in several rows; the inner series in one 

 variety chocolate-coloured and in another mottled with red. 



Var. IB, grandiflorus, Bot. Eeg., t. 451. In this the flowers 



are larger and much more numerous. 

 There is also a large-flowered variety, w^ith flowers yellow both 



inside and out. 



The delightful fragrance of the blossom (which has been com- 

 pared to a mixture of Jonquil and violet) and the little trouble 

 required for the cultivation of this plant and its varieties, suggest 

 the idea of its growth on a large scale for the purpose of extracting 

 the perfume ; especially as it is hardy in sheltered situations and 

 produces such a profusion of flower. It can be grown either 

 against a wall or on espalier, or as a bush if protected from the 

 north ; in such a position as the last it is recorded in a gardening 

 journal that in a garden in Cork, " a tree of Chimonanthus about 



