358 



Caprifoliaceae. 



Abelia. 

 (Family Caprifoliaceae). 



Rather small and soft-wooded 

 shrubs: typically deciduous in the 

 North. Twigs round or some- 

 what 4-sided, very slender, puber- 

 ulent: pith small, excavated. 

 Buds small, solitary, sessile or 

 somewhat developing the first 

 season, ovoid, with about 2 pairs 

 of rather loose scales. Leaf-scars 

 U-shaped, somewhat raised, with 

 connecting cross-line: bundle- 

 traces 3: stipule-scars lacking. 



Winter-character references: 

 Abelia rupestris. Schneider, f. 

 196. A. serrata. Shirasawa, 281, 

 pi. 12. 



As far north at least as Wash- 

 ington, where it is used effect- 

 ively at the foot of the steps west 

 of the Capitol, Abelia is one of 

 the most attractive of compact 

 small-leaved shrubs, and flowers well into the autumn. The 

 most comprehensive analysis of the species of this genus, as 

 of other genera cultivable in cool-temperate climates, is 

 given in Schneider's Handbuch der Laubholzkunde, which, 

 like his Dendrologische Winterstudien, 

 fully illustrated. 



1. Half-evergreen: leaves small, ovate. 

 Truly deciduous. 



2. Leaves small (under 2.5 cm.). 

 Leaves medium (3-4 cm.). 

 Leaves large for the genus (4-5 cm.) 



is adequately and skil- 



(1). 



A. chinensis. 



A. fioribunda. 



A. grandiflora. 



A. triflora. 



