CHAP. xLii. ijosA^cE^. cotonea'ster. 873 



ing leaves more decidedly round: microphylla is better; but UVa-ursi, 

 we think, would be best, both because it resembles ^rctostaphylos UHa-ursi 

 in appearance and habit, and because, though a native of Asia, it is equally 

 hardy with that plant. It might be grafted standard high in every haw- 

 thorn hedge in the north of Scotland. 



« 9. C. (r.) microphy'lla IVall. The small-leaved Cotoneaster. 



Identification. Wall, ex Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 1114. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 604. 

 Engravings. Bot. Reg., t. 1114. ; and out fig. 625. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves oblong, obtuse, pubescent 

 beneath, evergreen. Peduncles usually 1-flowered, 

 {Dons Mill., ii. p. 604-.) Flowers white, and pro- 

 duced in May and June. Introduced in 1824. Not- 

 withstanding the high authority of Dr. Lindley, we 

 cannot help considering this only a variety of the 

 preceding species. It is exceedingly hardy, and 

 forms a fine plant on rockwork, or on a lawn, where 

 it has room to extend itself. " Its deep glossy fo- 

 liage, which no cold will impair, is, when the plant 

 is in blossom, strewed with snow-white flowers, which, reposing on a rich 

 couch of green, have so brilliant an appearance, that a poet would compare 

 them to diamonds lying on a bed of emeralds." (Lindl.) " It is deserving of 

 notice, that the peculiar flavour, which, in 7?osaceae, is attributed to the pre- 

 sence of prussic acid, is so strong in this plant, that, before flowering, it would 

 be taken for a Primus ; a remarkable fact in a tribe of plants which are re- 

 puted to possess, exclusively, malic instead of prussic acid." (Idem.) A 

 plant of C. microphylla, at High Clere, of about 10 years growth, was, in 

 1835, 6 ft. high, and formed a dense bush, covering a space 21 ft. in dia- 

 meter. Its branches are strong and rigid ; its foliage of an intense green, 

 lucid, with scarcely any veins, and of leathery texture; and it is never 

 without a profusion of scarlet berries. Grafted standard high on the thorn, 

 or any of its congeners, this shrub forms a singular and beautiful evergreen 

 drooping tree : or it will cover a naked wall nearl}' as rapidly as ivy ; and it 

 possesses a decided advantage over that plant, and particularly over the 

 variety called the giant ivy, in its shoots, which may be prevented from extend- 

 ing many inches from the face of the wall, and, consequently, being not likely 

 to injure the plants growing near it. Were the practice of training trees 

 and shrubs in architectural or sculptural shapes again to come into fashion, 

 there are few plants better adapted for the purpose than this and the pre- 

 ceding sort of Cotoneaster. To some, it may appear in bad taste to revive 

 the idea of verdant sculptures; but such is the ardent desire of the human 

 mind for novelty, that we have no doubt clipped trees and shrubs will, at 

 no distant period, be occasionally reintroduced in gardens. The contrast 

 produced by beauties of this kind, in the midst of a profusion of natural and 

 natural-like scenery, is delightful. 



« 10. C. (r.) .buxifo'lia WaH. The Box-leaved Cotoneaster. 



Identification. Wall, ex Lindl. Bot. Reg , t. 1229. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 604. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves ovate, woolly beneath, evergreen. Peduncles 3- 

 flowered, woolly. Flowers white. [DoiCs Mill., ii. p. GOi.) A native of 

 Neelgherry; introduced in 1824; and apparently a variety of C. rotun- 

 difolia, from which it differs in having the peduncles 2 and 3-flowered, 

 but scarcely in any thing else. 



App. i. Sjjccies of Cotoneaster not ijct introduced. 



C. bacillaris W'all. ined. Lindl. in Bot Reg., t. 1229., has obovate leaves and many-flowered cymes. 

 It is a native of Kamaon. 



C. obtiisa Wall. ined. Lindl. in Bot. Reg., t. 1229., is a native of the mountains of Nepal and 

 Kamaon, with many-flowered, crowded, glabrous cymes. 



As there is every probability that all the cotoneastcrs, even though natives of Asia, are quite 

 liardy, the introduction of new species or varieties is ardently to be desired by every lover of ligneous 

 plants. 



