ARBORETUM. 



23 



ARBUTUS. 



in January, and producing its large 

 tufts of white blossoms till October. 

 Some of the species and varieties, 

 such as A. verna, A. alplna nana, 

 and A. helUdifolia, do not grow 

 above three inches high, and are 

 admirable plants for rocliwork, or 

 gardens of pots. 



Ara'lia. ■ — Araliacece. — Hardy 

 suffruticose plants, and stove shrubs, 

 Tvith umbels of small white flowers. 

 The commonest species is J., spinosa, 

 useful in a shrubbery for its hardi- 

 ness, and for its thriving in any 

 poor gravellj' soil. There is a new 

 species, A. japonica, which is much 

 handsomer than the common kind. 



Arauca'ria.- — Comferce. — Some 

 of the species are very ornamental. 

 A. imbricata, or the Chilian Pine, is 

 quite hardy, and though it attains 

 a large size in its native country, it 

 grows so slowly in Britain, that it 

 may be safely j^lanted on a lawn. 

 A. BrasUiana, vrhich resembles ^1 . 

 imbricata, but has longer and looser 

 leaves, is much more tender. A. 

 excelsa, the Norfolk Island Pine, and 

 A. Cimninghami, the Moreton Bay 

 Pine, are both greenhouse plants in 

 Great Biitain, and are seldom seen 

 in perfection, on account of the great 

 space they require, A. CooJcUis a, 

 very singular plant of this genus, 

 which was first discovered by Captain 

 Cook on a small island near New 

 Caledonia. He describes its ap- 

 pearance as that of a tower, or 

 basaltic cohimn, and hence it was 

 first called A. columnaris. 



Arbore'tum. — A collection of 

 trees and shrubs, containing only one 

 i)T two plants of a kind, arranged 

 together according to some system or 

 method. The most common arrange- 

 ment is that of the Natural System ; 

 but the plants in an arboretum may 

 be placed together according to the 

 countries of which they are natives ; 

 according to the soil in which they 



grow ; or according to their sizes and 

 habits, or time of leafing, or flower- 

 ing. In all small villa residences an 

 arboretum is the most efiectual means 

 of procuring a maximum of enjoy- 

 ment in a minimum of space, as far 

 as trees and shrubs are concerned. 

 To render an arboretum useful and 

 interesting, each tree and shrub 

 should be named. 



A'rborvitjg. — See Thu'ja. 



Arbours. — Seats or resting- 

 places, forming terminations to 

 walks, or fixed in retired parts of 

 shrubberies or pleasure-grounds. In 

 general, every straight walk ought 

 to lead to some object of use, as well 

 as of beauty ; and an arbour is one 

 of those in most common use. The 

 structure being formed, climbing 

 plants, ligneous or herbaceous, are 

 planted all roirnd it at the base of 

 the trellis--n-ork, or frame, against 

 which, as they climb up, they ought 

 to be tied and trained, so as to 

 spread over the whole arbour. Some 

 of the best plants for this purpose 

 are the different species of Honey- 

 suckle, Eoses, and Clematis ; and the 

 Laburnum, the Periploca grai'ca,ihQ 

 Maurandyas, the Wistai'ias, Eccre- 

 mocdrpus scaber, Lophospermura, 

 Rhodochiton, the Virginian Creeper, 

 Cobce'a scdndens, Menispermum 

 canadense, and Ivy. 



Arbu'tus. — Ericacece. — The 

 Strawberry-tree. — Well-kno-mi ever- 

 green shrubs, of which A. U'nedo 

 rilbra deserves to be mentioned for 

 the beauty of its flowers; A. cana- 

 riensis, a greenhouse species, has 

 also very sho^R'y flowers ; and A . 

 Andrdchne, which is the tenderest 

 of the open air kinds, is remarkable 

 for the looseness and redness of its 

 bark. All the species are very or- 

 namental, and of free gi'owth ; and 

 they all thrive best in heath mould, 

 or very sandy loam. They are pro- 

 pagated by layers or cuttings. 



