70 DEUTZIA GRACILIS. 



DEUTZIA GRACILIS. 



Slender Deutzia. 

 Linnean Class — Decandria. Order — Trigynia. Natural Order — Phlladelphaceje. 



With one exception, all the shrubs we have hitherto figured have been of an 

 evergreen character ; and considering the strong claims this class of plants has on 

 the Horticulturist, our preference was, we think, fully justified. 



Amongst the recent additions to those of a deciduous nature, there are, however, 

 several of so much value, that we must no longer defer to notice them ; and. 

 perhaps, one of the most interesting of these novelties is the elegant little Deutzia 

 gracilis ; its graceful habit, the abundance of its snow- white flowers, and the 

 readiness with which they are yielded even by very small plants, entitled it to 

 rank with deciduous shrubs of the first class. Tbe free flowering habit of this and 

 one or two other species, is indeed so remarkable, that a cutting of the young wood 

 struck in summer will produce flowers in the following spring, when the plant is 

 but a few inches high ; and facilities are thus afforded for their cultivation in pots, 

 which greatly enhances their value. 



The genus Deutzia, originally represented in our gardens by scabra only, now 

 includes at least seven additional species, viz. crenata, canescens, sanguinea, undulata, 

 corymbosa, staminea, and gracilis, all hardy, white-flowered, deciduous shrubs. The 

 best known, and we may add one of the most valuable, is the D. scabra, so named 

 from the asperities of the leaves ; its habit is more robust than that of gracilis, and 

 its foliage and flowers of a larger size. Crenata is a fine species, of somewhat 

 taller growth than the preceding, with which it is sometimes confounded ; it may 

 be distinguished by its larger flowers, and by the teeth at the margin of the leaves 

 being rounded, or crenate, those of scabra are sharp and saw-like ; this species is not 

 much cultivated at present, at least in this country. Canescens is so named from 

 the branches and under-surface of the leaves being covered with a whitish down ; 

 of its merits we know but little. Staminea is an abundant flowerer, but is some- 

 what dwarfer than those we have mentioned. Corymbosa was highly spoken of at 

 its first introduction, but it has proved a shy bloomer, which is the more to be 

 regretted, as its flowers are very sweet-scented. With sanguinea and undulata we 

 are acquainted only by name ; that of the first alludes rather to the reddish purple 

 colour of the ripened shoots than to the tint of the flowers, which are, we believe, 

 white, like those of the other species. 



Prom those now enumerated, gracilis differs in nothing but its slender habit ; its 

 foliage is more acute than that of scabra, and is entirely destitute of the roughness 



