22 LEYCESTERIA LIBOCEDRUS 



wide, funnel-shaped, five-lobed, purplish, slightly hairy; calyx one-third 

 the length of the corolla, with five erect, awl-shaped, hairy lobes. Berry 

 like a small gooseberry, reddish purple, glandular-downy, about \ in. 

 long, many-seeded, surmounted by the persistent sepals ; ripe in October. 



Native of the Himalaya in shady forests; introduced in 1824. This 

 handsome shrub likes a rich soil, and, in spite of its natural habitats, a 

 sunny spot. The bracts and fruits colour better under a full exposure. 

 Birds, especially pheasants, are very fond of the berries, for which reason 

 it is sometimes planted as covert. It should be propagated by seed, 

 which ripens in such abundance and germinates so freely that an 

 enormous stock can soon be raised. 



A shrub sold in nurseries as "L. formosa variegata" is really a 

 variegated form of BOSEA AMHERSTIANA, a Himalayan shrub belonging 

 to the Amarantaceae, with small greenish flowers, bright crimson berries, 

 and alternate leaves. It is a rank-growing shrub not so hardy as 

 Leycesteria, and needing wall protection but scarcely worth it. It has 

 no relationship with Leycesteria, from which its alternate leaves at once 

 distinguish it. 



LIBOCEDRUS. CONIFERS. 



Eight species of this genus are known, which have a remarkably 

 scattered distribution : two are found in Chile, two in New Zealand, and 

 one each in Western N. America, China, New Caledonia, and New 

 Guinea. They are evergreen trees, closely allied to Thuya, with male 

 and female flowers borne on the same tree but on different catkins. 

 Leaves tiny, scale-like, more or less flattened to the branchlet. Only two 

 species have any claim to be considered hardy, and one of these is 

 doubtful. They should be grown from seed if possible, but failing seeds, 

 cuttings may be employed. 



The handsome L. MACROLEPIS, Bentham, recently introduced from 

 China, is unfortunately not hardy, but is an admirable winter-garden tree ; 

 as is also the Chilean L. DONIANA, Endlicher. From Thuya, Libocedrus 

 differs chiefly in the scales of the cone being always six or less, and in the 

 seeds being unequally winged. 



L. CHILENSIS, Endlicher. 



A tree 60 to 80 ft. high in nature, at present 20 to 50 ft. high in cultivation ; 

 bark peeling. Young trees have a pyramidal habit, the branches being much 

 divided and leafy at the ends. Leaves in four ranks, arranged in two opposite, 

 very unequal pairs ; the top and bottom ones are very small, the lateral ones 

 to ^ in. long, bluntish, dark green on the upper side of the branchlet, with 

 white stomatic bands underneath. Cones ^ in. long. 



Introduced from -Chile by Mr T. Bridges, who sent it to Messrs Low, then 

 of Clapton, in 1847. In gardens it is a very pretty small tree, with frondose, 

 laterally spreading sprays, very distinct from the vertical sprays of L. decurrens, 

 from which it differs also in the unequal size and length of the leaves and 

 their whiteness underneath. It is a rather tender tree, best suited in such 

 places as Cornwall and Devon ; at Whiteway in the latter county there is a 

 tree 48 ft. high. A couple of plants growing in a very sheltered spot at Kew 

 are healthy, but slow-growing. 



