SOLANUM SOPHORA 519 



2\ to 5 ins. long, mostly less than half as wide, taper-pointed; rounded 

 or wedge-shaped, rarely heart-shaped at the base; minutely downy on 

 both surfaces; stalk J to f in, long. Flowers delicate bluish purple, 

 fragrant, produced from June to September in long-stalked corymbs, 

 3 to 6 ins. across. Each flower is i to ij ins. wide, the corolla with five 

 ovate lobes, the yellow anthers closely packed in the centre. Fruit 

 globose, \ to J in. wide. 



Native of Chile ; introduced about 1830. This>beautiful plant is only 

 seen at its best in the milder counties of Great Britain, and few plants, 

 even there, are more graceful and lovely. On a south wall at Kew it 

 has grown and flowered for many years, but never with the vigour and 

 profusion one sees in Devonshire and similar localities. It will grow 

 20 ft. or more high if given support. The most beautiful effect I have 

 seen produced by it was where it had been planted against the wall of a 

 low shed, over the roof of which it had clambered. It may be pruned 

 back in spring before growth commences. Where the climate is suitable 

 it may be treated as a loose-habited, wide-spreading shrub, by pruning 

 hard back annually. It will thrive in poor soil. 



In the gardens of the south-west a beautiful display is made in autumn 

 by SOLANUM JASMINOIDES, Paxton, a native of Brazil. It produces its 

 pure white flowers in great profusion. It is a climber of more slender 

 growth than S. crispum and will grow in similar situations, but it is more 

 tender. 



Of the British bittersweet (S. DULCAMARA, Linnaus) there is a 

 variegated form rather handsomely marked with clear creamy white. The 

 soft, semi-woody shoots grow 6 to 8 ft. high, but die back very much 

 in winter, and the base only remains woody. The red berries are 

 poisonous, and the plant may not be desirable where there are children. 

 The flowers are violet-blue, and the leaves frequently unequally lobed 

 at the base. 



All these three species are easily increased by summer cuttings. 



SOPHORA. LEGUMINOS^E. 



Trees or shrubs with unequally pinnate leaves ; flowers produced in 

 racemes or panicles ; fruit a pod of the necklace pattern, that is, much 

 constricted between each seed. The cultivated species fall into two well- 

 marked groups : ist, SOPHORA (proper), whose flowers are pea-shaped 

 (or papilionaceous); 2nd, EDWARDSIA, whose leaves have smaller and 

 usually more numerous leaflets, and whose flowers are much larger, 

 not papilionaceous, but rather tubular, owing to all the petals pointing 

 forward. The genus is represented on both hemispheres, above and 

 below the equator. The hardy or nearly hardy species come from 

 N. Asia, New Zealand, and Chile. One species, S. tetraptera, with 

 curiously winged fruits, is found in both the two latter countries a 

 remarkable phenomenon in plant distribution. The Sophoras all like 

 a good loamy soil and a sunny position. The shrubby species can be 

 increased by cuttings ; those which make trees are better from seed. 



