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AKAUCARIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. ARCTOSTAPHYLOS. 



A. chinensis. A handsome hardy 

 shrub, with very large much-divided spiny 

 leaves, resembling those of the Angelica 

 Tree of North America. In this country 

 it attains the height of from 6 to 12 ft. 

 In a well-drained deep loam it thrives 

 vigorously. May be useful in a flower- 

 garden where tender fine-leaved plants 

 will not thrive. Syn. Dimorphanthns 

 mandschuricus. 



A. Sieboldi. A shrubby species, with 

 fine green leaves, nearly hardy, and a 

 handsome bush on dry soils and near 

 the sea. It may be used in the flower 

 garden or the pleasure-ground, for isolated 

 specimens on the turf, or for association 

 with fine-leaved plants ; but it soon turns 

 yellow and unhappy-looking if exposed 

 to much sunshine. It is also hardier in 

 the shade, its foliage browning badly if 

 caught too suddenly by the sun after hard 

 frosts. Syn. Fatsia Japonica. 



A. spinosa (Angelica Tree} is the oldest 

 species in our gardens. Its small white 

 flowers appear in autumn in great panicles. 

 This fine shrub has often been put in 

 exposed places, but is better where its 

 great leaves will not be torn, and in every 

 size may be used in the flower garden 

 or pleasure ground. Cuttings of the 

 roots. N. America. 



AKAUCARIA (Monkey-Puzzle}. A 

 noble group of Cone-bearing trees, most 

 of which, unfortunately, are too tender for 

 our winters. A. imbricata (the Monkey- 

 Puzzle Tree) is a native of Chili, and the 

 only species which does at all well in 

 favourable situations. As a rule it soon 

 presents an unhappy appearance, and is 

 therefore not to be recommended for 

 planting. It was killed by thousands in 

 the nurseries and gardens in the severe 

 winter of 1860, and it is no way worthy 

 of its popularity in the garden, being 

 really a forest tree of a climate very 

 different from ours. 



AEBUTUS (Strawberry Tree). Ever- 

 green shrubs of much beauty, both of 

 flower and form of leaf or bush, but 

 coming from warmer countries thrive 

 only on our sea shore or warmer 

 districts and on warm soils. The beau- 

 tiful A. Unedo grows 20 ft. high or more 

 in the coast districts, but inland it is 

 cut down in severe winters. There are 

 varieties of it, one of the best being A. 

 Croomet, which has longer and broader 

 leaves than the common kind. The 

 variety rubra has almost bright scarlet 

 flowers in autumn. One variety has double 

 flowers, and there are a number of so- 

 called varieties differing only a little in the 

 form of the leaf. S. Europe, and also wild 



in the south of Ireland. The other species 

 are not so important as flowering trees, 

 though good evergreens where they will 

 face the climate. A. Andrachne, with 

 smooth ruddy-tinged bark, is hardy in the 

 south and coast districts ; about London it 

 reaches a height of over -15 ft. It grows 

 wild in Greece, and is a very old tree in 

 gardens. The fine Californian Arbuhts 

 are not hardy with us. These shrubs 



Aralia spinosa. From a photograph sent by Mr. 

 C. L. Mayor, Paignton, Devon. 



succeed best in a deep light loam, and 

 will thrive on chalky soils much better 

 than many other evergreen shrubs. 

 In planting them, a warm sheltered 

 position is best. In the south and west 

 of England, and in Ireland, the fruits are 

 freely borne, and a large specimen is 

 very handsome in fruit. 



AECTOSTAPHYLOS (Bear-berry}. 

 Mostly trailing alpine evergreens of the 

 Heath order, of which few are in cultivation. 



