THE TERNSTRCEMIA, LINDEN, AND RUE FAMILIES. 



THE chiefly tropical family, Ternstroemiacese, which, in North America, is represented only 

 by Gordonia and Stuartia, trees and shrubs of the southern states, in Japan appears in eight 

 genera, in which are a number of interesting plants, although none of them become very large 

 trees. Of these, Camellia Japonica is horticulturally the most important, for its relative, 

 Camellia theifera, the Tea-plant, is evidently a Chinese or Assam introduction, and not a native 

 of Japan. In southern Japan the Camellia is a common forest-plant from the sea-level to an 

 altitude of 2,500 feet, on the east coast growing as far north as latitude thirty-six, and nearly 

 two degrees farther on the west coast. Here it is a dwarf bush only two or three feet high, 

 although where the soil and climate favor it, the Camellia becomes a tree thirty or forty feet 

 tall, with a handsome straight trunk a foot in diameter, covered with smooth pale bark hardly 

 distinguishable from that of the Beech. In its wild state the flower of the Camellia is red, 

 and does not fully expand, the corolla retaining the shape of a cup until it falls. In Japan, 

 certainly less attention has been paid to the improvement of the Camellia than in Europe and 

 America, although double-flowered varieties are known ; and as an ornamental plant it does 

 not appear to be particularly popular with the Japanese ; it is sometimes planted, however, in 

 temple and city gardens, especially in Tokyo, where it is not an uncommon plant, and where 

 beautiful old specimens are to be seen. 



Tsubaki, by which name Camellia Japonica is known in Japan, is more valued for the oil 

 which is pressed from its seeds than for the beauty of its flowers. This oil, which the other 

 species of Camellia also produce, is used by the women in dressing their hair, and is an article 

 of much commercial importance. The wood of Camellia is close-grained, moderately hard, 

 and light-colored, turning pink with exposure ; it is cut into combs, although less valued for 

 this purpose than boxwood, and is manufactured into numerous small articles of domestic use. 

 Sasan-kuwa, Camellia Sasanqua, a small bushy tree of southern Japan and China, is perhaps 

 more commonly encountered in Japanese gardens than the Tsubaki, and in the first week of 

 November it was just beginning to open its delicate pink flowers in the gardens of Nikko, 

 although the night temperature was nearly down to the freezing point. 



Ternstroemia Japonica and Cleyera ochnacea are small bushy trees scattered from India to 

 southern Japan, \vhere they are considered sacred by votaries of the Shinto religion, and are 

 therefore planted in the grounds of Shinto temples and in most private gardens. The ever- 

 green foliage of these two plants is handsome, especially that of Ternstreemia, but the flowers 

 and fruit possess little beauty, and they owe their chief interest to their association with 

 Japanese civilization. 



Eurya Japonica is another member of the family, of wide range from Ceylon and India to 

 China, the Fejee Islands, and Japan, where it is exceedingly common in the southern islands 

 and in Hondo as far north, at least, as the Hakone Mountains. It is usually a shrub only a 



