PHELLODENDRON 131 



PHELLODENDRON. RUTACK.T, 



A small genus of deciduous trees found in N.E. Asia, with opposite, 

 pinnate leaves which give off a rather aromatic odour when crushed, and 

 whose leaf-stalks, swollen at the base, completely hide the bud. The 

 inner bark is yellow. Male and female flowers appear on different trees, 

 'but both are inconspicuous ; the fruits are roundish, about the size of 

 large peas, juicy and aromatic, with a black, tough skin. The chief 

 attraction of the Phellodendrons is in their foliage and often picturesque 

 habit. P. japonicum has fruited in this country, and the seed germinates 

 freely. When seeds are not available, cuttings taken from the tree in 

 July may be rooted in gentle heat ; they should be made of short twigs 

 with a " heel " of older wood. These trees are gross feeders, and like a 

 deep rich loam. 



P. AMURENSE, Ruprecht. 



A deciduous tree, 20 to 40 ft. high, of stiff habit, with a trunk I ft. or more 

 in diameter, corky-barked; young shoots smooth. Leaves pinnate, 10 to 15 

 ins. long, with five to eleven leaflets which are i\ to 4^ ins. long, ovate or 

 ovate-lanceolate, long-pointed, hairy only on the margin and at the base of 

 the midrib, glossy green above. Panicles erect, 3 ins. high, ii to 3 ins. wide ; 

 few-branched. Flowers small, yellow green, j in. long. Fruit about ^ in. in 

 diameter, black. 



Native of Amurland, Manchuria, etc. Although in a wild state this tree 

 is perhaps handsomer than P. japonicum, it is not so in cultivation here. Like 

 many other trees from the same habitat, it is very liable to have its young 

 shoots injured by late frosts. This induces excessive branching and an 

 unnaturally dwarfed, bushy habit. It has been in cultivation at Kew for over 

 thirty years. There is a fine tree 40 ft. high in Spath's nursery near Berlin ; 

 and it thrives well in the Arnold Arboretum, Mass., but both these places have 

 a more decided winter and a later spring than ours. It is distinguished from 

 the following species by its bright green leaves and the silvery down on the 

 winter buds. 



P. JAPONICUM, Maximowicz* 



A deciduous, bushy-headed tree, of stiff habit, 20 to 35 ft. high, its trunk 

 8 to 12 ins. in thickness. Leaves 10 to 15 ins. long, pinnate, with seven 

 to fifteen leaflets, which are very downy beneath, dull green, and soon 

 nearly or quite smooth above, broadly ovate, pointed, oblique at the base, 2 

 to 3 ins. long, with a short stalk. Panicle of male flowers about 4 ins. long, 

 and 2 ins. wide, erect ; the female one more slender. Flower J in. across, 

 yellowish green. Fruits orange-shaped, black, each nearly in. across, borne 

 on an erect downy panicle. 



Native of China and Japan; introduced about 1870. It is distinguished 

 from the other species by the thick, greyish down beneath the leaflets, and by 

 their broader proportions. A well-grown tree is handsome when in full leaf 

 and fruit. It flowers in July. 



P. CHINENSE, C. K. &A**&5fr.--Amongst the new plants introduced by 

 Wilson from W. China is a Phellodendron which has been given this name. 

 It is allied to P. japonicum, and has the same dull-surfaced leaflets, but they 

 are longer, more oblong-lanceolate, and the fruit clusters are only I to 2 ins. 

 wide and 2 to 3^ ins. long, closely set to the main-stalk ; ovary downy. (In 



