168 PIERIS PINUS 



Native of Japan. This shrub is not so hardy as P. floribunda, from which 

 it is easily distinguished by the leaves being narrower and more tapering 

 at the base, by the pendulous inflorescence, and by the absence of hairs 

 on the young wood and flower-stalks. If flowers in March and April, and 

 is often injured by frost. At its best it is a very beautiful shrub. It should 

 be given a sheltered spot, with a western exposure. 



Var. VARIEGATA has narrower leaves than the type, edged, especially 

 towards the apex,* with yellowish white. Well grown, it is one of the most 

 striking of variegated evergreens. 



P. MARIANA, Bentham and J. D. Hooker. 



(Andromeda mariana, Linnceus, Bot. Mag., t. 1579.) 



A deciduous shrub, 3 or 4 ft. high, with rather stiff, open branches ; 

 young shoots smooth. Leaves thin, but rather leathery ; i^ to 3 ins. long, 

 B- to i^ ins. wide ; oval, tapering towards both ends, smooth, not toothed ; 

 veins rather prominent beneath ; stalk in. or less long. Flowers nodding, 

 borne in June at the naked ends of the previous year's shoots, below which 

 the new growths spring ; they are arranged at each joint in a cluster 

 of four to eight blossoms. Corolla white, or tinged with red, cylindrical, 

 about ^ in. long, with five small teeth ; calyx-lobes lanceolate ; flower-stalks 

 ^ in. long, smooth. 



Native of the eastern United States ; introduced in 1736, but never very 

 common. It is really a very hardy shrub, and succeeds admirably, planted 

 in large masses, at the Arnold Arboretum, Mass., where the winters are 

 much more severe than ours. But it does not thrive so well with us, owing 

 no doubt to our lack of summer sun, through which the growths ripen badly. 

 I saw it in June 1910 at the Arnold Arboretum almost rivalling Zenobia 

 speciosa in beauty. 



P. NITIDA, Bentham and J. D. Hooker. 



(Andromeda nitida, Bartram ; A. coriacea, Ailon, Bot. Mag., t. 1095.) 



An evergreen shrub, 6 ft. or more high, with smooth branches and 

 smooth, leathery, shining green, scarcely stalked 'leaves, which are 

 I to 3^ ins. long, f to i^ ins. wide ; narrowly oval, tapering at both ends ; 

 the margins not toothed, but thickened or slightly decurved. A vein traverses 

 the leaf parallel with, and close to, the margin. Flowers produced in June 

 and July in short clusters from the leaf-axils, four to eight together. Corolla 

 white, tinged with red, cylindrical, J to in. long, rather inflated at the base, 

 and slightly tapering thence to the narrow orifice, where are five tiny, erect 

 lobes ; calyx-lobes linear-lanceolate, shining, reddish, in. long. 



Native of the south-eastern United States ; introduced in 1765, but very 

 rare on account of its tenderness. It is only suited for the milder parts of 

 Great Britain. Very distinct because of its thick lustrous leaves with their 

 thickened edges and marginal vein, and its long, narrow calyx-lobes. 



PINUS. PINE. CONIFERS. 



Among coniferous trees the pines constitute by far the most important 

 group, regarded either from the point of view of number of species or 

 that of economic value. As timber trees they easily predominate over 



