952 



GRISELINIA. 



SUPPLEMENT. 



HAMAMELIS MOLLIS. 



which are charming in midwinter after such 

 tints have mostly disappeared. The fragrant 

 white flowers come in succession from July 

 to September, their broad-cupped petals set 

 off by golden stamens. 



G. pubescens is similar in general effect, but 

 loses its leaves in winter and is smaller, hardly 

 exceeding a low shrub with us. It may be 

 known by its thinner leaves coated underneath 

 with a pale down ; the shorter stems of its 

 nairy flowers ; and the thin smooth bark of 

 the stems. The flowers are larger and less 

 fragrant than in G. Lasiantfms, 3 ins. or more 

 across ; in the States they come early in 

 August but with us not much before Sep- 

 tember, and beginning late they are less 

 abundant. The leaves turn a fine scarlet in 

 autumn. While somewhat hardier than the 

 Loblolly Bay, it is perhaps more difficult to 

 manage in other ways. 



. G. grandis, a tender kind with creamy- 

 white flowers and glossy leaves, is grown upon 

 walls in a few of the warmest gardens of 

 Cornwall, but it is really a greenhouse plant. 



GRISELINIA. There are certain ex- 

 posed spots in our shore-gardens where 

 even the toughest of shrubs are apt to 

 fail, and in this little group we have the 

 best of all plants for such a position, 

 hardier than the Euonymus and the 

 Escallonias, thriving in any soil, and fully 

 sea-proof. The greenish flowers are in- 

 significant, and the fruits, like clusters of 

 small Ivy berries, are seldom seen in this 

 country, but the fleshy leaves are so unlike 

 any others in appearance that these are 

 among the most distinct of evergreens. 

 Of compact and fairly rapid growth, they 

 make dense bushes of 6 to 10 ft., freely 

 branched to the ground, and of so good a 

 shape that they may be almost left alone. 

 The leaves are of a light glossy green, set 

 upon tough yellow stems, irregularly 

 rounded or wedge-shaped, and with a 

 graceful droop. While hardy far into the 

 north near the sea, the Griselinias fail 

 inland save in quite the warmest places, 

 and are tender round London even upon 

 sheltered walls. The glossy leaves are 

 always attractive and seldom attacked by 

 insects, and, when safe from frost, the 

 shoots will cover a wall where even Ivy 

 fails. There are two species, both from 

 New Zealand : 



G. littoralis, which reaches a height of 

 30 ft., with wedge-shaped leaves, greyish 

 beneath, where the veins show very faintly. 

 The appearance of the sexes (which are apart) 

 is very different, the male plant bearing small 

 oval leaves of dark green, with an erect habit, 

 and the female much larger and broader 

 leaves of yellow-green, and of a more diffuse 

 habit. 



G. lucida is the finer kind in its very glossy 

 pale green leaves, which are most unevenly 



divided by the midrib. It is of smaller growth 

 than littoralis, reaching only 10 or 12 ft. with 

 leaves more fleshy and the veins very distinct 

 on the under side. G. macrophylla is a robust 

 natural form of this, with much larger bright 

 green leaves, so thick as to be almost suc- 

 culent. This makes a handsome bushy tree 

 of 20 to 25ft., in the gardens of Devon and 

 Cornwall. 



Cuttings of G. littoralis, made in August 

 and put under glasses in a cool house or frame 

 strike freely in six or eight weeks, the half- 

 ripened weaker side-shoots rooting better than 

 the stronger tips. G. lucida is of difficult in- 

 crease by cuttings ; it is therefore usual to graft 

 it upon year-old plants of littoralis, choosing 

 the same month and similar conditions for the 

 work. The lower shoots of all the kinds will 

 also root slowly if layered, but where seed is 

 obtainable this is quite the best means of in- 

 crease, the plants sowing themselves in 

 favoured spots. The sexes being apart how- 

 ever in Griselinia, the plants are sterile unless 

 the male and female forms are planted together. 



GUEVINA AVELLANA (Chilian 

 Nut}. An evergreen tree of about 30 ft. 

 in its native land, and here confined to 

 favoured gardens in Devon and Cornwall, 

 the finest specimen in Britain being pro- 

 bably at Greenway on the river Dart, 

 where it flowers and fruits freely. The 

 blossoms, at their best in September, are 

 carried as erect spikes of about 4 in., 

 each spike holding about a score of small 

 ivory-white flowers with reflexing petals 

 and protruding stamens. Although freely 

 borne, they are not at all showy, the 

 feature of the tree being its fruits, over 



2 ins. in circumference, which become red 

 and eventually purple. They contain 

 Almond-like seeds of mild and somewhat 

 oily taste, which are eaten in Chili and 

 Peru, where the fleshy envelope is made a 

 substitute for the Pomegranate. The 

 foliage is very handsome, the great leaves, 

 often 2 ft. in length, being divided into 

 many deep green leaflets. Increase by 

 layers and by seeds which, however, do 

 not germinate freely. 



HAMAMELIS MOLLIS. This, 

 which first found its way into Messrs. 

 Veitch's collection with other Chinese 

 plants, was first recognised as a new 

 species by the late Mr. Geo. Nicholson. 

 It is hardy in England and grows freely. 

 It differs from the other kinds in its 

 much larger leaves, 5 in. long by 



3 in. wide, of a distinct shape and 

 covered on the under side with a dense 

 felt-like coating of hairs (hence the name). 

 Its flowers resemble those of the Japanese 

 kinds, but the yellow petals are somewhat 

 larger and less waved. The flowers are 

 the brightest of all the forms in colour 1 " 



