114 



OSTEOMELES -OSTRYA 



mild winters. It makes a very delightful wall plant It can be increased 

 by cuttings made of moderately ripened wood placed in gentle heat. Seed 

 only ripens in favourable years. 



O. SUBROTUNDA, C. Koch. 



A dwarf, slow-growing, evergreen shrub, the tortuous branches covered 

 with silky down when young. Leaves pinnate, f to i^ ins. long, composed 



of four and a half to eight and a half 

 pairs of leaflets, the main-stalk hairy 

 and grooved above. Leaflets obovate 

 or oblong, \ to J in. long, stalkless, 

 the apex broad and rounded ; lower 

 surface silky-hairy, the upper one less 

 hairy and shining. Flowers white, 

 in. across, borne in axillary leafy 

 corymbs. 



Native of China ; first introduced 

 to the Jardin des Plantes at Paris 

 from Japan (of which country it may 

 also be a native), thence to Kew in 

 1894. The original plant, growing 

 on a south wall and perfectly healthy, 

 is still only about 3 ft. high, and has 

 never flowered. Botanically, this 

 species is, no doubt, closely allied 

 to the two species discussed in the 

 preceding note, but its stunted 

 branches, slow growth, and obovate 

 smaller leaflets amply distinguish it. 

 Increased by cuttings. Not very 

 hardy in the open. 



OSTRYA. HOP HORNBEAM. 



CORYLACE^:. 



Four species of Ostrya are 



usually recognised, three of which 

 are in cultivation. They are curi- 

 ously isolated in nature, one species 

 occurring in Europe and Asia 

 Minor, one in Eastern Asia, one 

 in Western and one in Eastern N. 

 America. They are medium-sized 

 trees, with deciduous, alternate, 

 parallel-nerved leaves, quite closely related to the hornbeams (Car- 

 pinus), and in the foliage especially similar. The chief botanical 

 differences are in the female flowers and fruits. In both genera the 

 female flowers are borne on slender catkins, and in pairs at the base of 

 deciduous scales. In Ostrya, however, each flower is set in a bag-like 

 husk (involucre), which at first is open at the top, but closes up after 

 fertilisation takes place. The husk afterwards grows very considerably, 

 and is the pale, membranous, ovate, flattish, bladder-like organ which, 



OSTEOMELES SCHW 



