THE ANNUAL EXCURSION. 303 



green foliage. Another conservatory plant, the Pittosporum 

 Mayii, was also found in the open-air, forming a magnificent 

 bash 15 feet high and 10 feet in diameter. Some notable 

 specimens of Pimis insignia are here, and the rare and beautiful 

 Mexican pine, Montezwnae. There are about twenty very pretty 

 types of bamboos, including Arundinaria Falconeri, and some 

 fine examples of Dacrydium Franklini, a yew which grows to the 

 height of a forest tree in New Zealand. Specimens of Cnpressus 

 lawsoniana /idea abound, some of them being over 20 feet 

 higb, and their golden foliage brightening up their surround- 

 ings. Another rare and beautiful tree is the Lari,'- Kaimpferi, a 

 Chinese larch, altogether unlike others of the species except in 

 the wood. Close by is a specimen of the curious umbrella-tree 

 of Japan. Sciadopitys verticiUata, the leaves of which are arranged 

 precisely like an umbrella. Although not seen at their best, 

 there is a splendid group of Japanese maples, of which about 

 thirty varieties are in the grounds. Daphniphyllum glaucescens, 

 a rare Japanese plant, was seen in all its splendour; the Patagonian 

 holly, Desfontainca spinosa, with its bright scarlet flowers, was 

 very attractive ; and a very pretty avenue of standard Portugal 

 laurels leads up to a terrace from which a charming view is 

 obtained. 



After walking through the orangery and conservatories, a fine 

 range of glass, in which there is a profusion of rare hothouse 

 plants — including a new Begonia called after the Countess of 

 Annesley — a visit was paid to her ladyship's own garden, situated 

 in a picturesque corner of the grounds, and including, among 

 other choice plants, Vitis Coignelice, a Japanese vine whose leaves 

 in the autumn assume a lovely scarlet colour. A duck-pond 

 near by, filled with Canadian geese and a variety of ducks, has 

 a very pretty background, in which the New Zealand Olearia 

 Haastii, with its white, thorn-like blossom, is conspicuous. On 

 the way to the Deer Park a charming garden was passed through, 

 in which were growing in great luxuriance Cordylines and 

 Arundos from New Zealand, red maples and Retinosporas from 

 Japan, the iron-tree from Persia (Parrotia Persica), Himalayan 

 rhododendrons, Hypericums, Cujwessus, and Abies of all sorts, 

 Indian azaleas in all varieties and colours, a very rare specimen 

 of Stephanandra Jlexuosa, and a splendid Eucalyptus cocci/era, 

 measuring 60 feet in height. A short distance above this garden 

 is the bamboo garden, which is admirably situated for these 



