488 GRISELINIA. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



GUNNER A. 



and clusters of red flowers. The 

 Grevilleas do best against a warm 

 wall in a sheltered situation. 



GRISELINIA. There are certain 

 exposed spots in our shore gardens 

 where even the toughest of shrubs are 

 apt to fail, and in this little group we 

 have the best of all plants for such a 

 position, thriving in any soil, and sea- 

 wind proof. The greenish flowers are 

 insignificant, and the fruits, like clus- 

 ters of small Ivy berries, are seldom 

 seen in this country, but the fleshy 

 leaves are so unlike any others that 

 these are among the most distinct of 

 evergreens. Of compact and fairly 

 rapid growth, they make dense bushes 

 of 6 to i o feet, freely branched to the 

 ground, and of so good a shape that 

 they may be almost left alone. Hardy 

 as they are far into the north and near 

 the sea, the Griselinias fail inland, save 

 in quite the waimest places, and are 

 tender round London even upon shel- 

 tered walls. The glossy leaves are 

 always attractive and seldom attacked 

 by insects, and, when safe from frost, 

 the shoots will cover a wall where 

 even Ivy fails. There are two species, 

 both from New Zealand : 



G. LITTORALIS. Reaches a height of 

 30 feet, with wedge-shaped leaves, greyish 

 beneath, where the veins show very faintly. 

 The appearance of the sexes (which are 

 apart) is very different, the male plant 

 bearing small oval leaves of dark green, 

 with an erect habit, and the female much 

 larger and broader leaves of yellow-green, 

 and of a more diffuse habit. 



G. LUCID A. Has very glossy pale green 

 leaves, which are most unevenly divided 

 by the mid-rib. It is of smaller growth 

 than littoralis, reaching only 10 to 12 feet, 

 with leaves more fleshy and the veins very 

 distinct on the under side. G. macro- 

 phylla is a robust natural form of this, 

 with much larger bright green leaves, so 

 thick as to be almost succulent. This 

 makes a handsome buslry tree of 20 to 

 25 feet in the gardens of Devon and 

 Cornwall. 



GUEVINA AVELLANA (Chilian 

 Nut). An evergreen tree of about 

 30 feet in its native land, and here 

 confined to favoured gardens in Devon 

 and Cornwall, the finest specimen in 

 Britain being probably at Greenway 

 on the River Dart, where it flowers 

 and fruits freely. The blossoms, at 

 their best in September, are carried 

 as erect spikes of about 4 inches, each 

 spike holding about a score of small 

 ivory - white flowers with reflexing 



petals and protruding stamens. Al- 

 though freely borne, they are not at 

 all showy, the feature of the tree being 

 its fruits, over 2 inches in circumfer- 

 ence, which become red and eventually 

 purple. They contain Almond - like 

 seeds of mild and somewhat oily taste, 

 which are eaten in Chili and Peru, 

 where the fleshy envelope is made a 

 substitute for the Pomegranate. The 

 foliage is very handsome, the great 

 leaves, often 2 feet in length, being 

 divided into many deep green leaflets. 

 Increase by layers and by seeds 

 which, however, do not germinate 

 freely. 



G U N N E R A (Prickly Rhubarb). 

 S. American plants remarkable for 

 large and handsome foliage. They are 

 hardy if slightly protected during the 

 winter by a layer of dry leaves placed 

 among the stems. Given any diversity 

 of surface it will be easy to select a 

 spot well open to the sun and yet 

 sheltered by shrubs. A large hole, 

 about 6 by 4 feet deep, should be dug 

 out, a good layer of drainage material 

 put at the bottom, and the hole filled 

 with a rich compost of loam and 

 manure. In summer the plants ought 

 to have plenty of water, and a ridge 

 of turf should be placed round them, 

 to compel the water to sink down about 

 their roots. They should also have a 

 mulching of well-rotted manure eaily 

 in every spring. They thrive on the 

 margins of ponds where their roots can 

 penetrate the moist soil, and if judici- 

 ously placed in such a position, they 

 have a fine effect. Though the two 

 kinds G. scabra and G. manicata greatly 

 resemble each other, the leaves of 

 G. manicata are more kidney-shaped 

 and attain a much larger size, often 

 measuring 4 to 6 feet across. The 

 spikes of fruit are also much longer, 

 and the secondary spikes are long and 

 flexuose, whereas in G. scabra they are 

 short and stiff. Propagated by seed 

 or division of established plants. 



G. MANICATA. Writing from Trelissick, 

 Truro, Mr W. Sangwin says : "It never 

 attains the extraordinary dimensions it is 

 capable of, unless planted in deep, rich 

 soil, with its roots in the water by the side 

 of a pond or stream. Our plant covers a 

 space fully 30 feet across, and consists of 

 from twenty-five to thirty leaves, some of 

 them over 9 feet in diameter, upon clear 

 stems 8 feet high. The crowns are as 

 large as a man's body, of a delicate pink 

 colour. Flower spikes are produced freely, 

 and should be cut as soon as seen, or 

 they will check the growth of the leaves. 



