THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 97 



BERBERIDOPSIS CORALLINA. 



(IVit// Coloured Ilh.istratioH.) 



HE beautiful shrub here figured escaped our attention, 

 when, in 1873, we were discussing the merits of" beau- 

 tiful trees for kind climates."' It was mentioned by Mr. 

 Bell, writing from Kew Gardens, in the Eloeal Woeld 

 for May, 1873, as a plant likely to prove hardy in the 

 neighbourhood of London, and as thriving on the dry sandy soil of 

 Kew. But in the interesting communication from Lieut.-General 

 Sir Horatio Shirley, C.B , which appeared in the December number 

 of the same year, no reference was made to it, although the list 

 supplied of tender trees and shrubs thriving at "Weymouth, comprised 

 five-and-twenty of the most beautiful plants kno'nn. In the paper 

 in which we broached the subject, publislied in March of that year, 

 we made no mention of it, and yet we have been interested in it 

 many years, and have flowered it finely in a cool house with the 

 equally tender Berleris Nepalensis, the Pittosporum, and the Bes- 

 fintainia. 



It is a question of some importance, however, how far this plant 

 may be considered hardy. "VVe have the assurance of Mr. Bell, as 

 referred to above, that it is hardy at Kew. But it may be peculiarly 

 circumstanced in respect of shelter in the royal gardens, and cer- 

 tainly it has the advantage there of a dry soil. On our cold clay 

 at Stoke Newington, it is incapable of enduring the trial of a 

 severe winter, and consequently we have never been able to keep an 

 out-door plant for any length of time, for the first severe winter that 

 occurs after planting it out, cuts it down, and it does not recover by 

 throwing up from the root. As a cool-house plant Me value it 

 highly, but its free habit of growth, and fitness for the decoration 

 of walls and trellises, render it admirably adapted for planting in the 

 open garden wherever the climate is kind enough to spare it, when 

 these isles are visited with real winter weather. 



In the Floral World for August, 1862, appeared an article on 

 berbeiries, in which we described the species we had found most 

 useful on our cold soil. Since then, we have, of course, added to 

 their number, and have found much to interest us in collecting and 

 cultivating these plants. We find that the growth of London on 

 the north, and the consequent increase of smoke in our Stoke 

 Newington atmosphere, tells against the berberries very deci- 

 sively. The very common and peculiarly useful B. aquifolium 

 endures the assaults of smoke the best of any, and the very larg3 

 angular-leaved kinds, of which B. Japonka is the representative, 

 suffer most of all. The most useful after B. aquifolium, which in 

 its way is as valuable as the holly, are B. Jamesoni (syn. B. Hookeri), 

 B. fascicularis, and B. glumacea. These are thoroughly handsome 

 and distinct, and occasion no trouble, for they grow equally well in 

 clay, loam, or peat. We are, of course, as much as ever enamoured 



April. 7 



