44 LONICERA 



L. FRAGRANTISSIMA, Lindley and Paxton. 



(Flower Garden, iii., fig. 268.) 



An evergreen, partially evergreen, or deciduous bush, 6 to 8 ft. high, smooth 

 except lor the bristly margins of the young leaves and sometimes the midrib. 

 Leaves oval, rather stiff and leathery, I to 2 ins. long, two-thirds as wide ; 

 broadly wedge-shaped at both ends, but terminated by a short bristle-like tip, 

 and bristly on the margins when young ; dark dull green above, rather 

 glaucous beneath ; stalk ^-in. or less long. Flowers produced from December 

 to March in several pairs at the joints, creamy white, very fragrant, f in. long ; 

 stalk smooth, in. long. 



Native of China ; introduced by Fortune in 1845. This is not a showy 

 plant, but is valued in gardens for its early, charmingly fragrant blossoms. It 

 varies from deciduous to evergreen, according to the severity of the winter, 

 but is rarely devoid of foliage. Often confused with L. Standishii, it is, never- 

 theless, very distinct in the absence of bristles on the young shoots, flower- 

 stalks, and corolla ; the leaf, too, is shorter, and the apex is not drawn out as in 

 L. Standishii. L. fragrantissima, which is the superior shrub, commences to 

 grow very early in the year. Both are distinct in their early flowering from all 

 the rest of the honeysuckles. 



L. GiRALDll, Rehder. 



(Dot. Mag., t. 8236.) 



An evergreen climber forming a dense tangle of twining branches, thickly 

 clothed with yellowish erect hairs when young. Leaves narrowly oblong, 

 with a lance-shaped apex and a heart-shaped base ; i^ to 3^ ins. long, 

 \ to i in. wide ; densely hairy on both sides ; stalk \ in. or less long, hairy. 

 Flowers purplish red, borne in a short terminal panicle i^r ins. across ; 

 corolla two-lipped, f in. wide, yellowish hairy outside ; the tube slender, 

 Tf in. long ; the entire flower I in. long ; bracts inconspicuous. Fruit purplish 

 black. 



Native of Szechuen, China, whence it was introduced to France in 1899, 

 and first grown by Mr Maurice de Vilmorin. I first saw it growing against 

 a wall in the garden of Mr Phillipe de Vilmorin at Verrieres-le-Buisson, near 

 Paris, in June 1908, then in flower. Plants were obtained for Kew the 

 following autumn, and these, so far as I am aware, represent its first 

 introduction to Britain. As I saw it, it was a striking honeysuckle forming 

 a dense thicket, the whole plant having a yellowish tinge, very downy, 

 the rather small flower clusters striking in the contrast of lurid red corolla 

 and yellow stamens. It is hardy in the west of England, but may need 

 wall protection in colder places. 



L. HECKROTTII, Rehder. 



A deciduous shrub, of loose, spreading, scarcely climbing habit, thought 

 by Rehder to be a hybrid between L. sempervirens and L. italica. It 

 is a strikingly handsoVne honeysuckle, its leaves being oblong or oval, 

 smooth, scarcely stalked, i^ to i\ ins. long, glaucous beneath. The upper- 

 most pairs are united by their bases (connate). Flowers i^ ins. long, rich 

 pink outside, yellow within ; produced in whorls on a rather long-stalked, 

 terminal spike. Corolla-tube not downy outside, slender, slightly hairy 

 inside. Blossoms from June onwards. This hybrid originated or was first 

 noticed in the United States, but its history is unrecorded. It is quite 

 hardy, and one of the best of its type of honeysuckle, 



