DISTYLIUM. 



SUPPLEMENT. 



GORDON I A. 



951 



leaves are more numerous. The flowers 

 also, though much smaller, are in larger 

 clusters and pretty when abundant as in 

 a good season. Light loamy soil and a 

 sunny sheltered spot are the best con- 

 ditions. Increase by seed or layers. 



DISTYLIUM. Two species of small 

 evergreen trees allied to the Witch 

 Hazel, and much used for hedges in 

 China and Japan. D. racemosum has 

 recently been introduced and is probably 

 hardy, but still on its trial in this country. 

 The leaves are thick, leathery, and nar- 

 rowly-oblong in shape, and in one kind 

 prettily variegated. The flowers are 

 small and devoid of petals, but described 

 as glowing like red fringed buttons all 

 along the stems in early spring. Seed. 



ELLIOTTIA RACEMOSA. A de- 

 ciduous tree from 15 to 20 ft. high, form- 

 ing a pyramidal head of oblong dark 

 green leaves 4 ins. long, and large terminal 

 racemes of flowers each an inch in dia- 

 meter, and consisting of four white petals 

 borne on a short tubular hairy red-brown 

 calyx. It is closely related to Rhododen- 

 dron. So far it has proved quite hardy 

 at Kew. It is, however, exceedingly rare 

 even in its own country, where it is found 

 growing in sandy woods. Southern 

 United States. 



ESCALLONLA. Perhaps the best of 

 all the Escallonias is E. langleyensis, a 

 hybrid between E. macrantha and E. 

 philippiana. It is a shrub of rapid growth, 

 8 to 10 ft. high, with slender wand-like 

 shoots gracefully arched, bearing small 

 neat leaves of a cheerful yellow-green 

 becoming darker with age, and the stems 

 wreathed throughout their length with 

 vivid crimson flowers as large as a six- 

 pence, in July. In cold places it needs the 

 shelter of a wall, but is fairly hardy and so 

 beautiful as to be worth trying anywhere. 



EUSCAPHI S. Summer-leafing 

 shrubs from the far east, allied to Staphylea. 

 There are two kinds, but only one, E. 

 staphyleoides, is in cultivation, and that 

 little known. It grows 10 or 12 ft. high, 

 with smooth deeply-cut leaves and clusters 

 of white or yellowish flowers at the tips of 

 the shoots in early summer. In the 

 autumn these give place to red bladder- 

 like fruits of attractive appearance, filled 

 with shining black seeds. China and 

 Japan. The plant needs good soil and a 

 warm place, and is increased by seeds, or 

 cuttings of the ripened shoots rooted 

 under glass. 



FENDLERA RUPICOLA. A beau- 

 tiful shrub allied to Philadelphus, reaching 



a height of 12 ft. in its own land but 

 rarely much over 4 ft. high with us. 

 Coming from dry rocky places of Texas 

 and Colorado, it is hardy only in the 

 wanner parts of Britain, and does best 

 against a wall in light fertile soil and in a 

 sunny aspect. The neat grey leaves are 

 nearly like those of a Rock Rose, while 

 the charming pure white flowers com- 

 posed of petals set like a Maltese cross, 

 are fragrant and appear in June. Plants 

 are sometimes found in which the flowers 

 have a faint rosy flush. Increase by 

 seeds which ripen in September, or soft 

 cuttings rooted under glass. 



GORDONIA. Handsome flowering 

 shrubs allied to Camellia, rare in gardens 

 and, in the case of G.pubescens, apparently 

 extinct as a wild tree. Most of the species' 

 are tender shrubs from Asia, but two 

 fairly hardy kinds will grow with some 

 coaxing in sheltered places of the south, 

 particularly along the coast. These come 

 from the " Pine Barrens " of Virginia and 

 Florida, a region of sandy peat-bogs 

 made beautiful by dense thickets of 

 Gordonia Lasianthus in every stage of 

 growth, from that of a low shrub to trees 

 of 70 ft. or more. The long black roots 

 run out just beneath the thin peaty layers, 

 and the ground being covered deep with 

 moss, it remains moist and cool during 

 the hottest summer. G. ptibescens grew 

 under similar conditions on the banks 

 of the Altamaha River in Georgia, but 

 only two or three plants were ever 

 found, and it seems long since to have 

 disappeared altogether, those to be found 

 in gardens having all come from one tree. 



The great bar to growing the Gordonias 

 in Britain is that they make their growth 

 in autumn, too late for it to ripen, and 

 this means fewer flowers, and that when 

 the plants are injured year after year they 

 soon die. Even in the Southern States 

 the tips of the shoots are often nipped 

 without doing much harm, but with us the 

 injury is often serious. They seem to 

 need the protection and warmth of a wall, 

 and yet the dryness of such a position is 

 against them. They should therefore 

 stand in sunny and sheltered spots, with 

 a constantly moist soil of sandy peat or 

 leaf-mould, and at the same time perfect 

 drainage. It is not easy to provide these 

 conditions, but the flowers are so hand- 

 some that some trouble is well repaid. 



G. Lasianthus (Loblolly Bay) with us rarely 

 exceeds 10 or 12 ft., growing as a shapely 

 pyramid, with glossy dark green leaves almost 

 evergreen in a mild winter. Before falling 

 they take golden, crimson, and purple tints, 



