68 



Weigelia rosea and Forsythia viridissima. 



FORSYTHIA VIRIDISSIMA. 



Mr. Fortune discovered this fine shrub in the north of 

 China ; and sent it home among the first lot of plants which 

 he shipped from Shanghai. He gives the following account 

 of it :— 



"It is a deciduous shrub, with very dark green leaves, 

 which are prettily serrated at the margin. It grows about 

 eight or ten feet high, in 

 the north of China, and 

 sheds its leaves in autumn. 

 It then remains dormant, 

 like any of the deciduous 

 shrubs of Europe ; but is 

 remarkable for the number 

 of large prominent buds, 

 which are scattered along 

 the young stems, produced 

 the summer before. Ear- 

 ly in spring, these buds, 

 which are flower buds, 

 gradually unfold them- 

 selves, and present a pro- 

 fusion of bright yellow 

 flowers all over the shrub, 

 which is highly ornamen- 

 tal. 



" I first discovered it 

 growing in the same gar- 

 den with Weigelm rosea, 

 which, I have said in 

 another place, belonged to 

 a Chinese Mandarin, in 



the island of Chusan, and pig, 5. Forsythia viridissima. 



was gene^rally called the ' Grotto Garden ' by the English. 

 Like the Weigelia, it is a great favorite with the Chinese, 

 and is generally grown in all the gardens of the rich, in the 

 north of China. I afterwards found it wild, amongst the 



