PERAPHYLLUM--PERXETTYA 127 



entire, tapering to a short stalk at the base, rather more abruptly to the 

 point; downy beneath when young, becoming smooth. On the young 

 shoots the leaves are alternate ; on one-year-old shoots they are in tufts. 

 Flowers in short-stalked corymbs, produced in April and May with the 

 leaves from the joints of the previous summer's wood ; there are from one 

 to three flowers in the cluster, each -f in. diameter ; calyx and flower-stalk 

 silky; petals white, orbicular. Fruit a berry, J to J in. diameter, globose, 

 yellowish, edible. 



Native of Western N. America on dry hillsides ; introduced to Kew 

 in 1870. It is closely allied to the Amelanchiers, but differs in the 

 narrow entire leaves, longer calyx-tube, and rounded petals. In English 

 gardens it must be regarded more as a curiosity (being the only species 

 of its genus) than as an ornamental shrub, for it flowers indifferently and 

 rarely bears fruit. It comes from regions (Colorado, Utah, California, 

 etc.) where the summers are infinitely hotter and brighter than ours, and 

 this summer heat, no doubt, is what it misses here. It is, however, quite 

 hardy, and can be increased by layers. 



PERIPLOCA GR^ECA, Linnceus. SILK VINE. ASCLEPIADACE^:. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 2289.) 



A deciduous climber of vigorous, twining habit, reaching 20 to 30 ft. 

 in height ; stems brown, quite smooth, exuding a milky juice when cut. 

 Leaves opposite, mostly oval or ovate; 2 to 4 ins. long, about half as 

 wide ; not toothed, pointed at the apex, rounded or wedge-shaped at the 

 base, with prominent parallel veins merging into a marginal one; stalk 

 \ to \ in. long. Cymes 2 or 3 ins. across, terminating short lateral shoots, 

 produced in July and August, and consisting of eight to twelve flowers. 

 Flowers i in. across, the corolla composed of five narrow, oblong 

 segments, T 3 F in. wide, rounded at the end and downy, especially at the 

 edges, brownish purple inside, greenish yellow outside; calyx J in. across, 

 with five ovate lobes. Seed-pods in pairs ; cylindrical, 5 ins. long, \ in. 

 wide, tapering to a point ; full of seeds, each with a remarkable tuft of 

 silky hairs at the end ij in. long. 



Native of S.E. Europe (Greece, etc.); cultivated since the sixteenth 

 century. It thrives in any soil of moderate quality, and requires a 

 sunny position. Best propagated by division of the root in spring. It 

 is a free-growing, hardy climber, interesting in its curious flowers, and 

 may be used for pergolas, etc. The milk that exudes from the broken 

 stems is poisonous, and in the south of Europe it is believed to be 

 injurious to health to inhale the heavy odour of the flowers. 



PERNETTYA MUCRONATA, Gaudichaud. ERICACEAE. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 8023.) 



An evergreen shrub, 2 to 5 ft. high, spreading freely by suckers and 

 forming ultimately a dense, low thicket ; young branches thin and wiry, 



