38 MY SHRUBS 



naked wood in March, and the white variety sets handsome, 

 orange-coloured berries, that make the plant striking when autumn 

 comes. D.pontica is hardy, and handsome and sweet ; D. laureola 

 Phillipii has a particularly attractive arrangement of foliage from 

 which the green flowers peep in January. D. oleoides is a very 

 neat and trim dwarf Daphne, with pink flowers and an excellent 

 constitution. 



Daphniphyllum never interested me. It suggests a rhododen- 

 dron without blossoms, for the blossom is nought. D. glaucescens, 

 however, has beautiful foliage, and I should admit this shrub were 

 space available. 



The delightful Darwinias, named after Dr. Darwin who wrote 

 *' The Botanic Garden," a poem of ancient repute, I do not find in 

 catalogues. Doubtless these fine things from Australia will not 

 dwell out of doors with us ; but one would like to learn where 

 they may be seen under glass. 



Over Datura I draw a veil. We do not get on, and are therefore 

 better apart. 



Decaisnea Fargesii, from Sutchuen, is still an infant, but makes 

 good growth, and will some day give me yellow flowers and blue 

 fruits. A Berber is can do as much, and indeed Decaisnea belongs 

 to that race. It is deciduous, and the species D. insignis, from 

 the Sikkim Himalayas, is honoured with a star by Nicholson and 

 credited with edible fruits. Most fruits are edible for that matter, 

 but when the lord of creation uses the word he means, of course, 

 his own palate and stomach. After all, " edible '' is quite a relative 

 term. A schoolboy will assimilate what the middle-aged man of 

 letters would shudder to approach. Curiously enough, a whole- 

 hearted service to art ruins the digestion. Ask any artist worthy 



