PHYLLODOCE PHYLLOSTACHYS 149 



Native of Western N. America ; introduced in 1810. It is the most 

 useful of the members of this genus, being quite hardy and thriving in any 

 position suitable for heaths. A group of plants well in bloom makes one of 

 the daintiest of spring pictures.. It is, of course, quite distinct from its 

 neighbour, the racemed P. Breweri ; and from P. caerulea and P. amabilis it 

 differs in the colour of the corolla and the glabrous calyx. 



PHYLLOTHAMNUS ERECTUS. C. K. Schneider. 



ERICACEAE. 



(Bryanthus erectus, Lindley ; Phyllodoce erecta, Drude.') 



A dwarf evergreen bush, 6 to 10 ins. high, with numerous erect, 

 very leafy branches, minutely downy when young. Leaves alternate, 

 \ to I in. long, linear, tapering towards each end, recurved slightly at 

 the margins, finely toothed, deep glossy green, crowded on the branchlets. 

 Flowers solitary on slender, downy, glandular stalks ^ to J in. long; 

 produced in April in a cluster of four to ten at the end of each twig. 

 Corolla delicate rose, broadly funnel-shaped, J in. across, with five 

 triangular, pointed lobes. Calyx-lobes ovate, \ in. long, smooth; style 

 protruded. 



A hybrid raised about 1845 m trie nursery of Messrs Cunningham 

 &: Eraser at Comely Bank, Edinburgh (still noted for the cultivation of 

 this class of shrub), between Rhodothamnus Chamaecistus and, so its 

 raisers stated, Phyllodoce cserulea. The general belief is, however, that 

 P. empetriformis was the other parent. It is a very pretty shrub, but 

 requires considerable care to keep it in permanent health in the south, 

 where the dry heats of July and August cause it to suffer. A cool, moist 

 spot in the rock garden where the soil is peaty may be recommended 

 for it. It is usually known in gardens as " Bryanthus," but being a 

 bigeneric hybrid with neither of its parents a true Bryanthus, the name 

 here adopted is to be preferred. 



PHYLLOSTACHYS. GRAMINE^:. 



For a general discussion of the bamboos belonging to this genus, see 

 ARUNDINARIA. The distinctive characters of Phyllostachys are in the 

 stems, which are always more or less zigzag and flattened on each side 

 alternately above the joint; and in the two or three branches only at 

 each joint, those at the base of the stem developing first. The dwarf 

 P. ruscifolia may eventually prove to belong to a different genus. 



P. AUREA, Riviere. 



(Bambusa aurea, Hort.*) 



Stems pale yellowish green, 10 to 15 ft. high in this country, stiffly erect, 

 growing in tufts and spreading slowly, the joints often 5 or 6 ins. apart, except 



