650 VIBURNUM 



panicles. At Coombe Wood it has proved quite hardy since its introduction. 

 It was given a first-class certificate by the Royal Hort. Society in September 

 1910, for its beauty in fruit. 



V. HESSEI, Koehne. 



A deciduous shrub allied to V. Wrightii, but of dwarfer habit and more 

 densely branched. Leaves roundish or broadly ovate, 2^ to 3 ins. long, 

 2 to 2|- ins. broad; rounded or slightly heart-shaped at the base, slender- 

 pointed, with short broad teeth; hairy in the vein-axils beneath. Flowers 

 pure white in short-stalked cymes f to if ins. across. Fruits coral red, 

 about j in. wide. 



First described in a German periodical in 1909, this plant was put into 

 commerce by Mr Hesse, of Weener in Hanover, the following winter. It 

 is apparently a dwarf form of V. Wrightii, or a closely allied species. We 

 know little of it or of its value in gardens as yet. A native, no doubt, of 

 China. 



V. HUPEHENSE, Rehder. 



A deciduous shrub, the young shoots stellately hairy the first year, 

 purplish brown the second. Leaves roundish ovate, long-pointed, truncate 

 or slightly heart-shaped at the base, coarsely toothed, dark green and 

 covered with loose stellate down above, paler and more downy beneath; 

 2 to 3 ins. long, i| to 2^ ins. wide; veins in seven or eight pairs; leaf-stalk 

 grooved, | to f in. long, densely downy; stipules narrowly lanceolate, downy. 

 Corymbs about 2 ins. wide, the main and secondary flower-stalks covered 

 densely with stellate down; branches of the corymb usually five. Fruit egg- 

 shaped, red, to f in. long. 



Native of Hupeh, China; discovered by Henry; introduced by Wilson in 

 1908. I do not know that it has yet flowered in cultivation, but it will no 

 doubt soon do so. The above description is adapted from the original one 

 of Mr Rehder, who observes that it is most nearly related to V. dilatatum 

 (from which it differs in its orbicular-ovate leaves, and stipuled leaf-stalks), 

 and to V. betulifolium, from which it is distinct in being downy on both 

 leaf surfaces. 



V. JAPONICUM, Sprengel. 



(V. macrophyllum, Blume.') 



A sturdy, evergreen bush, 4 to 6 ft. high in this country, with thick, 

 smooth young shoots. Leaves leathery, usually ovate (sometimes very 

 broadly so), but also roundish, oval or obovate; 3 to 6 ins. long, half to 

 nearly as much wide; abruptly pointed or with a short, -slender apex; the 

 base entire and rounded or tapering, the terminal part remotely and 

 shallowly toothed or merely wavy; both surfaces quite smooth, the upper 

 one dark glossy green, the lower one paler but with innumerable tiny dark 

 dots; stalk ^ to i|- ins. long. Flowers uniformly perfect, white, very 

 fragrant, produced in rounded short-stalked, often seven-rayed cymes 3 to 

 4^ ins. across. Fruit round-oval, ^ in. long, red. 



Native of Japan; probably first introduced by Maries in 1879. Richard 

 Oldham, who collected it in Nagasaki in 1862, describes it as "a small 

 tree on the hills," but it gives no promise of being more than a sturdy bush 

 with us. It appears to be quite hardy at Kew, but grows slowly in the open, 

 and is no doubt happier in a warmer climate. On a wall it makes a pleasing 

 and striking evergreen. This species has been much confused in gardens 

 with V. odoratissimum (the V. Awafuki of gardens), but it may be distin- 



