Gordonia. 287 



C. kotisa has come to be known as a cornus, though 

 it was formerly classed as Benthamia japonica, that genus 

 having now been merged into this. The kousa is an 

 interesting form, having flowers which are yellow, very 

 small, and borne in clusters, the showy part of the inflores- 

 cence being furnished by four large white bracts which 

 surround the real blossoms exactly as in Cornus florida. 

 The bracts of this Japanese cornus are, however, more 

 pointed and, if anything, of a purer white. Mr. Falconer, 

 who grew it at Glen Cove, pronounced it one of the finest 

 shrubs one could have in a garden, and far more hardy 

 than some of the other Japanese sorts. 



GORDONIA. 



THIS is a distinctively American tree or shrub, hav- 

 ing been discovered on the banks of the Al- 

 tamaha River in Georgia, by a botanist of the 

 last century. It is said to have been named in honor of 

 Dr. James Gordon of Aberdeen, with whom the discoverer 

 had previously been associated. It belongs to the order 

 Ternstroemiacece. The genus includes few species suf- 

 ficiently hardy for out-of-door cultivation, and even in the 

 middle-southern States winter protection is sometimes 

 needed. With suitable precautions specimens have been 

 grown as far north as New York and even Boston, but 

 the gordonia cannot be advised for planting, except by ex- 

 perts, much above Washington. 



Although indigenous to the United States, and here 

 first found, it is not now known to be growing wild in any 

 part of the country. There are only two forms worthy of 



