Stephanandra Flexuosa. 71 



brought here from Europe and has made its way from the 

 gardens into the fields and woods. It grows from ten to 

 twenty feet high, with a smooth stem and gray or olive- 

 tinted branches. These are numerous, stiff, and well 

 supplied with thorns. The leaves are ovate, notched, and 

 marked with hairy veins beneath, though smooth on the 

 upper surface. The flowers are small but numerous, 

 growing in clusters, of various colors but mostly pink and 

 white, and are followed by berries which become black 

 when ripe, and hang late into the autumn. The buckthorn 

 is much planted for hedges in England, and, when properly 

 trained, constitutes an almost impassable barrier to man 

 and beast. It makes a fairly good ornamental plant, 

 though not in general use for that purpose, partly, per- 

 haps, because of its slow growth. 



STEPHANANDRA FLEXUOSA. 



THIS is a genus of Rosacece of but a single species. It 

 is closely related to the spiraeas and very much 

 resembles some of the most .valuable members of 

 that family. It is supposed to be of Japanese origin, and is 

 certainly an interesting low-growing shrub, seldom more 

 than six feet in height. The small branches are numerous 

 and the foliage dense and compact. This is distinguished 

 by being deeply and finely cut or toothed, and taking 

 on a purplish-red tint in its young growth and again in 

 autumn, being of a rich glossy green during the summer. 

 The flowers are small, but so numerous as to cover the 

 whole bush late in June or the early part of July. Many 



