flDarcb 



THE AUCUBA 



T 



(HE bright coral-red berries 

 the aucuba are now 

 r ing in pretty contrast with 

 light-green spotted leaves. 

 This useful hardy 

 shrub was in- 

 troduced from 

 Japan in 1783, 

 but as it is 

 dioecious and 

 bears male and 

 female flowers on 

 different trees, no 

 berries were ever 

 seen on the early 

 specimens ; for it 

 happened that they 

 were exclusively 

 of the female sex. 

 However, in 1861 Mr. R. Fortune, the great travellei 

 and botanist, brought over from China some of the 

 male pollen-bearing trees, and now the wind carries 

 the fertilising dust far and wide, and the sprays of red 

 berries appear amongst the foliage in profusion. 



This shrub is not only ornamental, but has the useful 



49 



AUCUBA BERRIES. 



