118 OXYDENDRUM-PACHYSANDRA 



quite smooth ; midrib sometimes bristly beneath ; entire or minutely 

 toothed, thin in texture, dark green, sometimes turning red in autumn ; 

 leaf-stalk J to i in. long. Flowers white, \ in. long, cylindrical, but 

 narrowing towards the mouth, produced during July and August in a 

 lax panicle 6 to 10 ins. long, composed of several slender racemes from 

 the end of the shoot or the terminal leaf-axils; flower-stalks, calyx, and 

 corolla downy, the two latter five-lobed; stamens ten, enclosed within 

 the corolla. Fruit a dry, woody, five-celled capsule, many-seeded. 



Native of Eastern N. America; introduced in 1752. It is the only 

 species of its genus. Belonging to the heath family, this tree thrives 

 under the same conditions as azaleas and rhododendrons. The finest 

 specimens I have seen are in Mr Waterer's nursery at Knap Hill, near 

 Woking, where they are about 30 ft. high, with well-formed trunks and 

 a slender head of branches. It is usually propagated by seed obtained 

 from the United States. The leaves have a pleasant acid taste, to which 

 its popular and scientific names refer. 



PACHYSANDRA. EUPHORBIACE^:. 



A group of four or five species of curious semi-woody plants of tufted 

 habit, allied to Buxus, but very distinct in general appearance, being in 

 habit low and more or less prostrate. Leaves dullish green, alternate, 

 mostly aggregated near the apex of the season's growth. Flowers uni- 

 sexual on erect spikes, the males numerous, the females solitary or few; 

 both sexes on the same spike, the females at the base. Petals none; 

 sepals and stamens four in the male ; sepals four to six, and ovary three- 

 celled in the female. Fruit a three-celled capsule, with the styles 

 persisting at the top like three curved horns. The generic name is in 

 allusion to the thick stamens. 



The Pachysandras thrive in any moist soil, and do not mind shade ; 

 they make neat tufts, but are of only moderate decorative value. Easily 

 increased by summer cuttings. The three following species are easily 

 differentiated by their inflorescence as follows : 



1. Axillaris. Inflorescences in the leaf-axils. 



2. Procumbens. Inflorescences clustered at the naked base of the stem. 



3. Terminate. Inflorescences solitary at the end of the stem. 



P. AXILLARIS, Francket. 



An evergreen, semi-woody plant with prostrate root-stocks, from which 

 rise the young stems 4 to 10 ins. high, at first minutely downy. Leaves 

 -three to six near the summit of each stem ; ovate, broadly wedge-shaped or 

 rounded and entire at the base, coarsely toothed at the upper part, 2 to 4 ins. 

 long, i^ to 2j ins. wide. Flowers white, produced in April in erect spikes 

 | to i in. long, from the axils of the leaves. Fruit about the size of a pea, 

 with the three long, curly-ended styles persisting at the top. 



Native of China ; discovered in Yunnan by the Abbe Delavay ; introduced 

 by Wilson in 1901. Of little beauty, it may by lovers of curiosities be given 

 a place in some shady corner of the rock garden. 



