PICRASMA- PIERIS 165 



PICK ASM A AILANTHOIDES, Plane/ton. SIMARUBACE^:. 

 (P. quassioides, Bennett, in part.) 



A slender, deciduous tree, 20 to 40 ft. high, with very handsome 

 young bark of a reddish brown, conspicuously marked with yellow spots. 

 Leaves pinnate, 10 to 15 ins. long, glabrous, consisting of nine to 

 thirteen leaflets, which are glossy green, i to 4 ins. long, ovate, unequal 

 at the base, round or pointed af the apex, sharp-toothed at the margin, 

 and with a very short stalk. Flowers green, J in. across, in a lax, 

 branching corymb 6 to 8 ins. long, and often nearly as wide; stalks 

 downy. Fruit a berry, about the size of a pea, rather obovoid, with the 

 calyx still attached. 



This tree, according to some authorities, is a form of P. quassioides, 

 a species which, in that sense, is spread in a wild state from Japan and 

 China through the Himalaya as far south as Java. This is no doubt 

 extending the specific limits of P. quassioides too far. No tree from 

 Java would be as perfectly hardy in our climate as is this. The above 

 description is based on trees growing at Kew which were introduced 

 from Japan in 1890. They have flowered and borne fruit several times, 

 and young plants have been raised from the seed. They have no beauty 

 of flower or fruit, but of the foliage in autumn Sargent observes, " few 

 Japanese plants I saw are as beautiful as this small tree." The leaves 

 turn first orange then scarlet. The whole tree is permeated by a singularly 

 bitter principle. Its nearest ally among hardy trees is Ailanthus. 



PIERIS. ERICACEAE. 



A genus of about ten species, the hardy ones of which are found in 

 N. America, Himalaya, Japan, and China. They are evergreen or 

 deciduous shrubs, sometimes tree-like, with alternate leaves; flowers in 

 terminal or axillary racemes or panicles, produced on the growth of the 

 previous year. Corolla more or less pitcher-shaped, five-toothed; calyx 

 five-lobed and persistent ; stamens ten. Seed-vessel a globose capsule. 



All the Pierises are handsome shrubs of neat habit, and great freedom 

 in blossoming. They need the same conditions and treatment as 

 Rhododendron ; that is, either a peaty soil or a light loam improved by 

 the addition of decayed leaves. They are also moisture-lovers at the 

 root. Propagation is effected by seed, but more quickly by layering, for 

 the purpose of which stools of P. japonica and P. floribunda are laid down 

 in nurseries. These two species, as well as P. formosa, flower early in 

 spring, and it is an advantage if they can be given a western exposure 

 with shelter on the north and east sides. 



P. FLORIBUNDA, Bentham. 



(Andromeda floribunda, Pursh ; Bot Mag., t, 1566.") 



An evergreen shrub, from 3 to 6 ft, high, of bushy, rounded habit, and 

 when in good condition furnished right to the ground, the branches rather 



