186 COLLECT THE FALLEN LEAVES. 



AMPELYGONUM SINENSE. 

 Though not remarkable for its flowers, this comparatively recent importation, belonging to the 

 Polygonacem or Buck-wheat tribe, is likely to prove of interest as a picturesque plant, from the 

 curious tints assumed by the leaves and branches in the autumnal months. Its stems are somewhat 

 shrubby, of a purplish violet colour, and articulated and tumid at the joints. The leaves 

 are, at first, of an oval lanceolate form, almost sessile, and of a clear green. Towards the 

 end of summer, when the sun's power declines and the nights are cool, the plant commences 

 a fresh o-rowth ; its young shoots become more vigorous, and assume a deeper purple tint. The 

 foliage undergoes an entire change, both in form and colour; the leaves now produced are 

 sanitate, or arrow-headed, with petioles an inch long, and furnished at their base with a 

 lon°- sheathing stipule ; the veins are of a purplish tint, and about the middle of the leaf 

 two distinct zones of colour occur, having the form of an inverted V; the first and inner- 

 most zone is purplish brown, about half an inch in width; the second is green, much 

 paler than the rest of the leaf. The young leaves at the extremity of the branches are 

 suffused with purple, but the marks are very apparent. This singular change commences about 

 the month of September, and continues through the following months, until arrested by severe 

 frost or until the branches have attained their full development, when the leaves assume a 

 uniform green tint. Variegation is commonly supposed to be the result of disease ; but, in 

 this instance, the change of colour only occurs at the season when the growth of the plant 

 is most vigorous. The same thing occurs in the well-known Lamium maculatum, the white 

 mark or feather characterising its foliage usually disappearing in summer months, especially in 

 exposed situations. The Apelygonum is incapable of resisting our winters in the open ground 

 and is therefore termed a green-house plant by most authorities, but it may be grown in the 

 borders during the summer and autumn months. 



COLLECT THE FALLEN LEAVES. 

 "We cannot more appropriately conclude the present Volume than by reminding the reader of 

 the value of the Fallen Leaves and other vegetable refuse of the garden and shrubbery. Their 

 mission fulfilled of gladdening the eye by their varied shades of green, or of yielding us a 

 grateful shade from the sun's heat, and their physiological functions performed, they now 

 slowly resolve themselves into their original elements, and become available for a purpose 

 scarcely less .important, if less obvious, than that they have hitherto served. The leaf-mould 

 arisino- from their decomposition is a far more appropriate stimulant for many pot plants 

 and bulbs than decayed manure, and, unlike that, may be used at any stage of its formation 

 without injury. It is a common practice to dig in the leaves which fall in the shrubbery, 

 but this should only be done where the supply exceeds the demand : all should be carefully 

 raked together from the borders, walks, and hedges, and be preserved from dispersion in some 

 convenient but partia^y sheltered corner. We do not think it a good plan to allow the heap 

 to be so exposed that the leaves become quickly decayed; their soluble salts are then wasted 

 away, and little remains but comparatively inert humus : in a more recent state, or when only 

 partially decayed, they are more valuable as an ingredient in composts, and also serve more 

 effectually to keep them open and porous. When practicable, we would advise their being 

 preserved in a large cask or hogshead, whieh will exclude the worms and other ground insects 

 from the mass, and also enable the decomposition of the leaves to be accelerated or retarded 

 at pleasure. 



