SKIMMIA JAPOXICA. 



fortunate possessors having personally confirmed this statement. This tendency to 

 blossom and fruit in so young a state is very remarkable, and would prove an 

 additional recommendation were any required. 



As to its capability of bearing entire exposure, Messrs. Standish and Noble 

 informs us that they have no doubt that it will prove perfectly hardy in this 

 country; and this will readily be believed when it is known that, on the Himalaya, 

 the plant is often found at elevations where it is covered with snow during a part 

 of the year. It is said to require some protection in Holland, where it was first 

 introduced ; but this statement needs confirmation. 



The true affinities of this remarkable genus have only recently been detected. 

 It has been, by some Botanists, classed with the Holly-worts ( Aquifoliaceas ) ; and 

 the resemblance of its bright red berries to those of the Holly, appears, at first 

 sight, to favour such a supposition. But the fleshy disc surrounding the ovary of 

 the Skimmia, and its dotted leaves, distinctly point out its relationship with the 

 Orange-worts, to which family it was first referred by De Candolle. The trans- 

 parent glandular spots of the foliage are hardly perceptible, however, in the 

 cultivated plant, though they are very evident in the wild specimens. It differs 

 from most other plants of the Orange tribe, in the absence of the winged petiole 

 generally present in that Order, and also in its seeds containing albumen in con- 

 siderable quantity, surrounding the greenish embryo. Its place is certainly at the 

 extreme limits of the Order, and it may be regarded as a connecting link between 

 it and the Bue tribe. 



It is difficult to believe that any of the Aurantiacece possess hurtful properties, 

 but according to the best authorities, the Chinese and Japanese regard the berries as 

 poisonous, and the native term Sikimi, from which Skimmia is derived, signifies 

 noxious fruit. The leaves have an aromatic, but slightly acrid taste. The Japanese, 

 with whom the plant is a great favourite, have a cultivated variety, producing 

 white berries, but it has not yet been introduced to this country. 



The Skimmia japonica is one of Mr. Fortune's numerous introductions, having been 

 sent by him front the north of China to Messrs. Standish and Noble of Bagshot, 

 on his second visit to that country. "We learn that this gentleman is about to 

 proceed on a third mission to the Chinese territory, to procure tea-plants for the 

 East India Company ; and we can but wish him, not only a prosperous voyage and 

 safe return, but also, that the same good fortune may attend his Botanical researches 

 as on his previous visits. Notwithstanding the rich harvest already gathered, we 

 have no doubt that there are many valuable plants yet to be discovered. 



"We have to express our great obligations to Messrs. Standish and Noble for 

 affording us an opportunity of figuring this beautiful plant, as well as other interest- 

 ing Chinese subjects which we hope speedily to place before our readers. The list 

 of exotics is now so rich in hardy evergreens, that to those possessing gardens of only 



