MARGYRICARPUS -MEDIC AGO 77 



MARGYRICARPUS SETOSUS, Ruts and Pavon. PEARL FRUIT. 



ROSACES. 



A low, prostrate shrub, with smooth, pale, straw-coloured branches, 

 nearly covered by large, similarly coloured, clasping stipules. Leaves 

 pinnate, about J in. long; leaflets green, finely linear, \ to \ in. long; 

 stipules membranous, furnished at the edges with white, silky hairs. 

 Flowers solitary, stalkless, very inconspicuous, without a corolla; produced 

 singly in the leaf-axils. Fruit a small white berry, about the size of a 

 peppercorn, with a pleasant acid flavour. 



Native of the mountains of Chile, on dry mountain-sides. This 

 curious little shrub may be grown by those interested in out-of-the-way 

 plants ; but beyond its finely cut leaves it has little to recommend it, 

 although when its pearl-like fruits are borne freely it is striking. It 

 appears to be hardy except during the hardest winters. It should have 

 a sunny position on the rock garden, and not a rich soil. I have seen it 

 bearing fruit freely in Mr Notcutt's nursery at Woodbridge, where probably 

 the dry, sunny East Anglian climate suits it. 



MARSDENIA ERECTA, R. Brown. ASCLEPIADACE^. 



(Cynanchum erectum, Linn&us.) 



A deciduous climber, with slender, twining stems, 20 ft. or more high, 

 furnished with a little loose down when young. Leaves opposite, heart- 

 shaped, ij to 2j ins. long, from two-thirds to as much wide; with short, 

 abrupt points; pale rather glaucous green, with a little loose down on 

 the midrib and veins beneath; stalk J to ij ins. long. Corymbs terminal 

 and axillary, the latter often in pairs, but only borne in the axil of one of 

 each pair of leaves, 2 to 4 ins. long, erect. Flowers white, J in. across, 

 sweetly scented, the five segments of the corolla narrow oblong, J in. 

 long, rounded at the end. Calyx-lobes ovate, transparent at the margins. 

 Fruit narrowly cone-shaped or spindle-shaped, 3 ins. long, J in. wide at 

 the base, tapering to a point ; each seed has a brush-like attachment of 

 silky white hairs i in. long. 



Native of S.E. Europe and Asia Minor; cultivated in England in the 

 sixteenth century, but long regarded as a greenhouse plant. It is the 

 hardiest member of a large genus, and succeeds very well against a sunny 

 wall, but is liable to be killed in the open. It is not quite so hardy as 

 its ally, Periploca groeca. When cut, the stems exude a milky juice, 

 which has a blistering effect on the skin, and is very poisonous taken 

 internally. 



MED 1C AGO ARBOREA, Linnceus. MOON TREFOIL. 



LEGUMINOS.E. 



This shrub is chiefly interesting as a woody member of a genus 

 represented in the British flora by about half a dozen herbaceous plants 



