24 LIGUSTRUM 



L. CORIACEUM, Carriere. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 75I9-) 



An exceedingly stiff-habited evergreen shrub, 4 to 6 ft. or perhaps more 

 high ; young shoots short, stunted, covered with very minute dark down the 

 first season. Leaves crowded, I to 2^ ins. long, from two-thirds to fully as 

 wide ; broadly oval or round, very blunt or notched at the apex, dark glossy 

 green, thick and leathery ; stalk in. long. Flowers white, in erect pyramidal 

 panicles 2 or 3 ins. high, and as much through at the base. Fruit black, 

 globose, about in. diameter. 



Native of Japan ; found by Robt. Fortune in a garden there, and introduced 

 in 1860. It is in all probability a stunted form of L. japonicum obtained under 

 cultivation in Japan, and non-existent in a wild state. It is now grown in 

 many gardens in the south, but surely as a curiosity only, for its flowers have 

 little beauty, and it has no elegance of habit or foliage. It is fairly hardy, but 

 grows better in the south and west than elsewhere. 



Var. INVOLUTUM. A form of freer growth ; leaves more incurved. 



L. DELAY A VAN UM, Hariot. DELAVAY'S PRIVET. 



An evergreen shrub, probably 5 or 6 ft. high, with long graceful branches 

 covered with a dense coat of short down which persists on the year-old 

 branches. Leaves oval, \ to I j ins. long, j to in. wide ; tapering towards 

 both ends, quite smooth except for some minute down on the midrib above ; 

 dark shining green ; stalk ^ in. long. Panicle very downy, flowers white ; 

 calyx smooth ; fruit egg-shaped. 



Native of Yunnan, China ; raised by Mr Maurice de Vilmorin from seed 

 sent to him by the late Abbe Delavay in 1890. In its small state this is a 

 pretty, small-leaved, flat-branching bush with the habit of a dwarf Cotoneaster. 

 As it gets older it makes a rounded elegant bush. I have not yet seen it in 

 flower in this country. Allied to L. strongylophyllum, it is apparently hardier. 



L. HENRYI, Hemsley. HENRY'S PRIVET. 



An evergreen bush, probably 4 to 6 ft. high, of neat habit especially when 

 young ; young shoots very downy. Leaves smooth, variously shaped, from 

 roundish ovate or almost round to ovate-lanceolate, f to iij? ins. long, incon- 

 spicuously veined, of an almost black, shining green above. Flowers white, 

 scented, in short-stalked terminal pyramidal panicles 2 to 6 ins. long. Corolla 

 j in. long ; calyx and individual flower-stalk smooth. Fruit oblong, black, 

 J in. long. 



Native of Central China ; discovered by Henry ; introduced by Wilson in 

 1901 for Messrs Veitch. We only know it yet as a small shrub, but in that 

 state it makes a neat and pleasing evergreen, effective because of the black- 

 green lustre of its leaves. Perhaps not absolutely hardy in severe winters. 



L. I BOT A, Siebold. 



A deciduous shrub, dense with luxuriant leafage but of graceful habit, 

 ultimately 8 to 10 ft. high ; twigs downy. Leaves oval or slightly obovate, 

 i to 2 ins. long, \ to i in. wide, always tapered at the apex ; smooth except on 

 the midrib beneath, and on the margins when young. Flowers white, pro- 

 duced in July in terminal, nodding clusters \\ ins. long on short side twigs. 

 Calyx bell-shaped, scarcely toothed, downy ; corolla \ in. long. Fruit globose, 

 ultimately black, but at first covered with a purplish bloom. 



