MORUS MUEHLEN 7 BECKIA 87 



the value of its fruit, as food for poultry and hogs. Several named varieties 

 are also cultivated there for human use. It is distinguished from alba and 

 nigra by the leaves being much more downy beneath. 



MUEHLENBECKIA. POLYGONACE^:. 



A genus of about fifteen species of shrubs or semi-woody climbers, 

 chiefly Australasian, some South American. Leaves alternate, stalked; 

 flowers small, greenish or whitish, of little or no ornament, the sexes 

 sometimes on separate plants. Perianth deeply five-lobed, stamens 

 eight; fruit a nutlet, three-angled, and enclosed in the perianth, which 

 persists and sometimes becomes fleshy. The species are so variable that 

 it is difficult to define their limits, but I believe there to be only two 

 species commonly grown out-of-doors in this country, viz., M. axillaris, 

 a tiny creeping shrub, and M. complexa, a climber. The latter is some- 

 times met with as "australis" and "adpressa," names which really belong 

 to species with much larger leaves up to 3 ins. long. M. AUSTRALIS, 

 Meissner, is from New Zealand, and M. ADPRESSA, Meissner (nearly allied 

 to it), is Australian; both have panicled inflorescences, and neither is 

 likely to be hardy, except ip our very mildest localities. Of the real 

 M. VARIANS I am able to ascertain little. It was described by Meissner 

 in 1852 as having panicled inflorescences 3 to 4 ins. long; its country 

 unknown. Cheeseman in his recent Monograph of the New Zealand 

 Flora does not mention it. It is, perhaps, a form of australis or adpressa, 

 with smaller, often fiddle shaped leaves, usually i to ij ins. long. 



M. AXILLARIS, Meissner. 



(M. nana, Hort.~) 



A tiny, deciduous, creeping shrub, I or 2 ins. high, forming a dense mat 

 upon the ground of thin wiry branches, and spreading indefinitely by 

 underground stems. It will, however, climb a few inches high if support 

 be available. Young shoots minutely downy. Leaves ovate to round, 

 \ to \ in. long, smooth, not toothed ; the stalk scarcely so long. Flowers 

 pale green, very tiny, produced singly or in pairs in the axils of the terminal 

 leaves during July. 



Native of the mountainous districts of New Zealand, Tasmania, and 

 Australia. This little shrub, which is one of the very dwarfest in cultivation, 

 may be recommended to lovers of curiosities. Its flowers are scarcely 

 perceptible, but its thread-like stems, tiny round leaves, and matted growth, 

 make it interesting. It may be grown on some rock garden ledge. Easily 

 increased by division or cuttings. 



M. COMPLEXA, Meissner. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 8449.) 



A climbing deciduous shrub, forming dense masses of slender, wiry, 

 much interlaced stems ; minutely warted when youug. Leaves very 

 variable in shape and size, being roundish, heart-shaped, oblong and fiddle- 

 shaped, sometimes on the same plant ; they are thin, dull green, quite smooth, 



