EMPETRUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. EPILOBIUM. 



457 



even without the protection of a wall. 

 At Coombe Royal, in South Devon, it 

 grows quite 20 feet high, and is a 

 spectacle of wondrous beauty about 

 the end of April or the beginning of 

 May, when every twig carries a cluster 

 of fiery flowers. Even on the favoured 

 Devonshire coast a sharp late frost 

 will sometimes injure the flowers. It 

 thrives near the coast in Southern 

 Ireland and in Wicklow at Mr Acton's, 

 but soon perishes in less favoured 

 places. 



EMPETRUM ( Crowberry) . E. ni- 

 grum is a small evergreen Heath-like 

 bush, of the easiest culture, which 

 may be associated with the dwarfer 

 rock shrubs. It is a native plant, and 

 the badge of the Scotch clan M'Lean. 

 There are several other varieties, but 

 the plants have less flower beauty 

 than many other mountain shrublets. 



ENKIANTHUS. E. campanulatus 

 is a graceful shrub, native of North- 

 ern Japan. It has slender branches 

 covered with a light brown bark, and 

 campanulate flowers produced in a 

 pendulous cluster, and of a pale rosy- 

 red colour, with three darker lines on 

 each of the five sections of the corolla. 



E. CERNUUS. A little-known species 

 only recently introduced from Japan, 

 where it is said to be a bush 6 to 8 feet 

 high. The reddish flowers are campanu- 

 late, and slightly five-lobed. Syn., Meis- 

 teria cernua. 



E. JAPONICUS. A rare shrub, first dis- 

 covered by Sir Rutherford Alcock near 

 Nagasaki, Japan, in 1859, and afterwards 

 introduced by Messrs Standish. The 

 leaves turn to a beautiful deep orange 

 colour before falling in autumn. The 

 pendent flowers are pure white, globose, 

 and contracted to a much narrower mouth 

 than in E. campanulatus. 



EOMECON (Cyclamen Poppy}. E. 

 chionanthus is a hardy perennial Poppy- 

 wort. The root-stocks are usually as 

 thick as the finger ; they run freely 

 underground and increase rapidly. 

 The flowers, 2 to 3 inches in diameter, 

 are pure white, with a bunch of yellow 

 anthers in the centre ; several borne 

 on stems about i foot high. It is apt 

 to grow too freely in good soil. China. 



EPHEDRA (Shrubby Horsetail). 

 ; Curious greyish, wiry, trailing bushes 

 of S. Europe and N. Africa, rare in our 

 gardens, but hardy here and there, as 

 in the Cambridge Botanic Gardens, 

 where there is light, warm soil. 



All these plants resemble to a certain 

 extent the Equisetums, and though 

 they are leafless, or nearly so, the bright 



green colour of the bark makes them 

 conspicuous at all seasons. E. dis- 

 tachya is a native of the southern part 

 of France and Spain, in sandy soils on 

 the seashore, a yard or more high, 

 forming a spreading mass of bright 

 green cylindrical branches distinct 

 from all hardy shrubs ; the berries, 

 which do not always appear in this 

 country, are red. It is also known as 

 E. nebrodensis. E. vulgaris is a 

 smaller plant, and one that will resist 

 more cold, as it is a native of Siberia, 

 also some of the more southern districts 

 of Asia. Other species are found in 

 different parts of the world. 



EPIG-ffiA (Mayflower). A small 

 Evergreen found in sandy soil in the 

 shade of Pines in many parts of N. 

 America, E. repens having pretty 

 rose-tinted flowers in small clusters, 

 which exhale a rich odour, and appear 

 in spring. Its natural home is under 

 trees, and it would be well to plant 

 some of it in the shade of Pines or 

 shrubs. It is a charming plant, 

 thriving best in sandy or peaty soil 

 under shrubs, growing only a few 

 inches high. 



Epigcea. repens (Mayflower). 



EPILOBIUM (French Willow). Few 

 of these plants are worthy of cultiva- 

 tion, but some are important, and the 

 best perhaps is the showy crimson 

 native E. angustifolium, of which there 

 is a pure white variety. This plant 

 runs in a border so quickly as soon to 

 become a troublesome weed,, but is 

 fine when allowed to run wild in a 



