OSMANTHUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



OSMUNDA. 



60 3 



the margins of ponds and fountain- 

 basins, or in the wettest part of the 

 bog garden. N. America. 



OSMANTHUS. Handsome ever- 

 green shrubs, few hardy in our islands ; 

 but some of these are of value : 



O. AQUIFOLIUM. Botanically all forms 

 of the Osmanthus in Britain are of this 

 species. They can scarcely be called 

 varieties, for it is not unusual to see a 

 plant with two so-called varieties on one 

 branch. For convenience, however, and 

 especially as they keep true to character 

 in the majority of instances, the common 

 nursery names are given here. O. aqui- 

 folium is a native of China and Japan. In 

 some of its forms it is curiously like the 

 Holly, and is frequently mistaken for it, 

 but it is of looser growth and less thickly 

 furnished with leaves, and is of dwarfer 

 and more shrubby habit. The generally 

 accepted typical form of this species is the 

 one with the largest and broadest leaves. 

 In this the leaves are 3 to 4 inches long, 

 of oblong or oval shape, pointed or 

 toothed, but not so deeply as the smaller- 

 leaved forms known as ilicifolius. They 

 are a deep green colour and very firm 

 texture. This plant is, according to my 

 experience, the least hardy of this set. It 

 flowers in autumn, and the blossoms are 

 fragrant. 



O. DELAVAYI. A charming species 

 from Yunnan, China, which will be welcome 

 should it prove generally hardy. An 

 evergreen reaching 4 to 6 feet high, the 

 branches freely furnished with dark 

 leathery, glossy, small green leaves, which, 

 with its terminal clusters of white Bouvar- 

 dia-like fragrant flowers, distinguishes it 

 from all the other species of the genus. 

 Light loamy soils in warm well-drained 

 situations. 



O. ILICIFOLIUS. This is by far the most 

 common and useful kind, and is, more- 

 over, a valuable shrub for town planting. 

 The leaves are usually much smaller than 

 those of the plant just described, and may 

 be easily recognised by their deep lobing. 

 The largest specimen at Kew is 9 feet 

 high, with a spreading base and foliage of 

 the deepest and glossiest green. The 

 leaves average i| inches to 2 inches in 

 length, and are cut half-way to the mid- 

 rib into several sharply-pointed lobes. 

 Some of them are quite entire, others 

 lobed on one side only, but most of them 

 have the upper half lobed, the lower half 

 entire. 



O. PURPURASCENS. The young leaves 

 of this variety are tinged with purple, 

 especially on the under side. It is un- 

 doubtedly the best of all the Osmanthuses 

 for outdoor work, being much hardier than 

 the variegated forms. At Kew there is a 

 group of this purple-leaved variety near 



the Palm House, amongst which is planted 

 Lilium candidum, and nothing could more 

 happily set off the beauty of this Lily. 



O. MYRTIFOI.IUS. There is this Osman- 

 thus at Kew, the lower part of which is 

 ilicifolius, the upper part myrtifolius. It 

 appears, however, to be itself constant, 

 and when grown on its own roots I have 

 never noticed any reversion. It makes a 

 neat bush, with leaves like those of the 

 Myrtle in shape, but larger and firmer in 

 texture. 



O. ROTUNDIFOLIUS. This is the dwarf - 

 est and one of the most distinct. Its 

 leaves are very stiff and leathery, and dis- 

 tinguish the variety by their more or less 

 obovate outline. The margins are not 

 distinctly serrated, but have a very 

 shallow irregular lobing. 



The Osmanthuses may all be propa- 

 gated by cuttings, and although it 

 takes longer to obtain plants on their 

 own roots they are much to be pre- 

 ferred to those grafted on the Privet. 

 Cuttings should be taken in August 

 when the wood has become firm, and 

 they may be struck in a cool propa- 

 gating frame. W. J. B. 



OSMUNDA (Royal Fern}. So- called 

 ' ' flowering ' ' Ferns made familiar by 

 our native Royal Fern (O. regalis}, 

 which is found in many bogs and 

 marshy woods, and is well worth 

 cultivating, as it is the largest and 

 most striking of our native Ferns, 

 sometimes attaining a height of 8 feet. 

 It should be planted in moist peaty 

 soil, and the most suitable spots are 

 half-shady places on the banks of 

 streams or of pieces of water. When 

 exposed to the full sun it does well, 

 with its roots in a constantly moist, 

 porous, moss-covered soil, if sheltered 

 from strong winds. In shady positions 

 and in deep bog soil it attains a great 

 size. A gross feeder, revelling in 

 richly manured soils. 



The various N. American Osmun- 

 das may be associated with it. O. 

 cinnamomea is an elegant N. Ameri- 

 can Fern with pale green fronds ; 

 the variety angustata is smaller, and 

 the fronds are less inclined to droop. 

 This species, like O. regalis, is decidu- 

 ous. O. Claytoniana is another deci- 

 duous species, and has vivid green 

 fronds, 2 to 3 feet high. O. interrupta 

 is the same. O. gracilis is a native 

 of Canada, somewhat resembling a 

 dwarf form of our Royal Fern, the 

 fronds about 2 feet high. O. specta- 

 bilis is a slender form of O. regalis ; 

 its fronds are smaller, and the young 

 ones come up reddish-purple. These 



