PIPTANTHUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. PLATANUS. 



635 



PIPTANTHUS (Nepaul Laburnum}. 

 P. nepalensis is a Pea - flowered 

 shrub, with large deep green leaves like 

 those of the Laburnum. It is hardy 

 enough for walls, and in southern and 

 warm localities withstands our winters 

 without even this protection, but is 

 not the most desirable of plants. It 

 has evergreen foliage, and in early 

 summer long dense clusters of large 

 bright yellow flowers similar to those 

 of the Laburnum, but larger. It 

 succeeds best in light soils, and is 

 easily increased by seeds, layers, or 

 cuttings of the ripened shoots in 

 autumn. Himalayas. 



PISTACIA (Mastic Trees}. 

 Summer-leafing and evergreen trees, 

 generally not hardy enough in our 

 country to be of much value in our 

 gardens. Mr Bean mentions P. Tere- 

 binthus and P. Chinensis as adapted 

 to our climate. The latter is rarely 

 seen thriving. These two may be 

 grown in the open ground. P. Lenticus, 

 an evergreen shrub, or small tree, 

 occasionally 15 to 20 feet high, is a 

 native of the Mediterranean region, 

 and produces the resinous substance 

 known as mastic. It is tender in 

 our country, needing the protection 

 of a warm wall. 



P. VERA. A small summer-leafing 

 tree, 20 feet high, with reddish oval fruit, 

 is a native of the Levant and W. Asia. 

 It needs the protection of a warm wall, 

 and even then is occasionally injured by 

 cold. 



PITTOSPORUM. Evergreen shrubs, 

 natives of New Zealand, Australia, and 

 China, few of them in cultivation and 

 those usually only seen in southern 

 gardens or else in sheltered places 

 near the sea, where they form ever- 

 green bushes and trees of some beauty 

 and distinctness of form. P. tobira is 

 a good white flowering shrub in some 

 southern gardens, and is among the 

 plants worth growing in tubs or vases 

 for placing out in the summer. P. 

 undulatum is a graceful evergreen, and 

 P. Mayi and P. Colensoi are also very 

 pretty at Castlewellan and other 

 gardens in districts with a climate 

 allowing of the cultivation of the half- 

 hardy evergreens. 



PLAGIANTHUS. Handsome, 

 flowering shrubs of the Mallow order, 

 most of which belong to Australia, and 

 are tender, but three kinds come from 

 the mountains of New Zealand, and 

 succeed against walls in the milder 

 parts of Britain. The best is P. Lyalli, 



with woolly leaves of a long heart-shape 

 and large pure white flowers with a 

 bunch of golden stamens, drooping 

 gracefully in clusters upon long stems 

 from the tips of the previous season's 

 growth. They open in June, when the 

 plant resembles nothing so much as a 

 beautiful large-flowered Cherry. After 

 flowering the stems should be cut back 

 and trained, and free growth encour- 

 aged, which lasts far into autumn ; in 

 fact, the leaves often hang nearly all 

 winter. In our warmest gardens P. 

 Lyalli is hardy without a wall, but 

 seldom flowers so well in the open. It 

 needs a warm, well-drained soil and 

 rich feeding, and is safest screened 

 from the morning sun. Increase by 

 layers and cuttings. P. Lampeni is 

 also grown against walls, where it 

 bears a profusion of fragrant, creamy- 

 white flowers, but it is tender, and 

 probably now confined to collections. 

 P. betulinus is also rare, but appears 

 hardier than the last, and has grown 

 very rapidly to a height of 20 feet at 

 Castlewellan. It makes a graceful, 

 birch-like tree of 50 to 60 feet in New 

 Zealand, with small leaves and clusters 

 of whitish flowers. 



PLANERA (Water Elm}. At one 

 time the Zelkowas were classed with 

 Planera, but botanists now recognise 

 only one kind, P. aquatica, a tree of 

 the second size, seldom exceeding 

 50 feet in height, and rare even in its 

 own country the southern part of 

 the United States. It is hardy in 

 Britain, thriving best in sandy soils 

 beside water, but it will grow almost 

 anywhere except in hot, dry places. 

 It makes a rounded, much-branched 

 head of slender, dark grey shoots, 

 bearing small, Elm-like leaves, and 

 inconspicuous reddish flowers, which 

 appear at the same time in early spring. 

 The seeds are leathery and nut-like, 

 not winged as in the Elm. Increase 

 by seeds or layers, and not by grafting 

 on the Elm, as is too often done. 



PLATANUS (Plane). Stately sum- 

 mer - leafing trees of the East and 

 America, of rapid and vigorous growth 

 and high value in the warmer parts of 

 our islands as shade, lawn, or avenue 

 trees ; thriving, too, in the centre 

 even of smoke-polluted cities, as in 

 many of the squares in west and 

 central London, and not merely exist- 

 ing, as most trees do in such condition, 

 but attaining much beauty of form 

 and dignity there, as in Berkeley 

 Square and Lincoln's Inn Fields, 



