TREES AND SHRUBS 129 



spoil all the freshness of the newly developed 

 blossoms. The balls of blossom, in shape remind- 

 ing one of huge guelder roses, start by being a 

 greenish-white, which gradually turns to a deep 

 dull pink, and in death to a most unsightly brown. 

 Astrapcea viscaria attains to the size of a large 

 tree, and in April bears a burden of pink blossoms, 

 also in round balls ; it is a native of Madagascar, 

 which seems to be the home of so many of the 

 most beautiful flowering trees. 



Among purple flowering shrubs, for the beauty of 

 its individual flowers and purity of colour, Lasian- 

 dra or Pleroma macrantha, with its large deep violet- 

 purple blossoms, deserves a place in every garden. 

 The plant cannot be reckoned amongst the most 

 showy of the flowering shrubs, as it does not bear 

 many blossoms fully expanded at the same time, 

 though, as the flowers are very freely produced at 

 the ends of the branchlets, its flowering season is a 

 prolonged one. The plant appears to be a native of 

 Brazil, which is another home of many of the most 

 beautiful of flowering shrubs. 



Wigandia macrophylla attains to the size of a 

 small tree ; its large, loose heads of lilac-purple 

 flowers, somewhat resembling paulonia blossoms, 

 and its handsome foliage, combine to make it 



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