514 SKIMMIA 



S. JAPONICA, Thunberg. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 8038 ; S. oblata, Moore.') 



A low evergreen bush of dense habit, up to 3 or 4 ft. high, considerably 

 more in width. Leaves mostly in a cluster towards the end of the shoot, 

 aromatic when crushed, usually 3 to 4 ins. long, f to i^ ins. wide; pale or 

 yellowish green, narrowly obovate or oval, thickly specked beneath with 

 transparent glands; leaf-stalk short, stout. Flowers in terminal panicles 



2 to 3 ins. long, male and female flowers on different plants ; fragrant, in. 

 across; petals usually four, sometimes five, dull white. Stamens four or five 

 in the male plant, absent or very much aborted in the female. Fruit globular, 

 or depressed at the top like an orange, bright red, \ in. wide. 



Native of Japan. Cultivated at Kew as long ago as 1838, this species 

 did not obtain any general attention from horticulturists until it was intro- 

 duced from Japan by Fortune in 1861. It was then called S. oblata by 

 T. Moore, under the impression that the species now known as S. Fortunei 

 was the true japonica. Subsequently it became generally cultivated in 

 gardens "for its very handsome fruits, which remain long on the branches, 

 and many seedlings were raised. These varied considerably, and a number 

 of named forms were sent out by nurserymen, some male, some female. 

 Brief mention need only be made of the garden names still in common use : 



S.fragrans and S '. fragrantissima are male forms. 



S. macrophylla. Another male form with large leaves and flower panicles. 



S. FOREMANII. A fine form with large leaves, and scarlet berries roundish 

 and pear-shaped on the same cluster, suggesting that S. Fortunei may have 

 had some part in its origin. Raised by Mr Foreman, Eskbank Nurseries, 

 Midlothian, and given a first-class certificate when first exhibited before the 

 Royal Horticultural Society in 1888. 



S. ROGERSII. A hybrid, in all probability, between S. japonica and 

 S. Fortunei, having the bisexual flowers and crimson fruits of the latter, but 

 the flattened fruits of S. japonica. 



All these forms are easily increased by cuttings, and for the purpose of 

 obtaining fruits one male need only be grown to, say, six females. In order 

 to secure a crop of berries it is advisable to fertilise the flowers artifically. 

 It is necessary, of course, to transfer the pollen from the male to the female, 

 and this is usually done by taking some fluffy material (a rabbit's tail is often 

 used), rubbing it over the male flowers as soon as the pollen is loose, and 

 then dusting over the female flowers with it (the latter are easily recognised 

 by the prominent ovary and stigma, and the absence of stamens). In some 

 districts bees for other insects will do the business themselves, but it is 

 safer to do it by hand. S. japonica grows well in the neighbourhood of 

 towns^but does not, in my experience, fruit freely there, even with artificial 

 fertilisation. 



S. L AUREOLA, Siebold. 



A low evergreen shrub, rarely seen more than 2 or 3 ft. high in this 

 country. Leaves larger than in either of the previous species, and from 



3 to 6 ins. long, the largest nearly 2 in. wide; they are produced in a cluster 

 at the end of the twig, and vary in outline from lanceolate to obovate and 

 oblong. When crushed they emit (like the young wood and flowers) a very 

 heavy, and to most people unpleasant odour. Flowers crowded in short, 

 terminal panicles about \\ ins. long, mostly unisexual, yellow or greenish 

 yellow. Fruit red, roundish, or rather longer than wide. 



Native of the Himalaya, where it is said to form large thickets up to 



