7 HE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. EMBOTHRIUM. 559 



leaves are deep green and glabrous on 

 the upper surface ; in a young state earlier 

 in the season they are silvery-gray, and 

 silvery-white beneath. The creamy-white 

 flowers are produced in the greatest pro- 

 fusion in June. In some localities the 

 plant is practically evergreen ; in the 

 neighbourhood of London, however, it 

 is at any rate during such winters as 

 the two last to all intents and purposes 

 deciduous. It is probably perfectly hardy 



if the flowers were removed. It is frequent 

 on our shores, but more abundant in the 

 north than in the south. E. condensatus 

 (Bunch Grass) is a vigorous perennial 

 Grass from British Columbia, forming a 

 dense, compact, column-like growth, and 

 more than 8 ft. high. It is covered from 

 the base almost to the top with long 

 arching leaves, and in the flowering season- 

 is crowned with erect rigid spikes 6| in- 

 long, so that it resembles an elongated ear 



Lyme Grass (Elymus arenarius). 



throughout Britain, as it withstands the 

 much severer winters of Northern Ger- 

 many without protection. In a wild 

 state it occurs from the Himalayas to 

 China and Japan. Elaeagnus parvifolia 

 is a name under which this species occurs 

 in some gardens. G. N. 



ELYMUS (Lyme Grass}. E. arenarius 

 is a wild British Grass, vigorous and dis- 

 tinct, which if planted in deep soil near 

 the margin of a shrubbery, or on a bank 

 on the Grass, makes an effective plant, 

 growing 4 ft. high, and as we should culti- 

 vate it for the leaves, there would be no loss 



of wheat. It is very ornamental, and maybe 

 grown in the same way as the Lyme Grass. 

 Other kinds might be mentioned, but 

 one or two give us the best effect of the 

 race. 



EMBOTHRIUM (Fire Bush}. E. coc- 

 cineum is a very beautiful S. American 

 evergreen shrub of the Protea family, hardy 

 in warm parts of Britain, even without 

 the protection of a wall. At Coombe 

 Royal, in South Devon, it grows quite 

 20 ft. high, and is a spectacle of won- 

 drous beauty about the end of April or 

 the beginning of May when every twig 



