752 PYRUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PYXIDANTHERA. 



wide-spreading head of slender branches, 

 loaded every May with a profusion of 

 flowers of a pale pink when expanded, 

 and of a brilliant crimson in the bud, 

 when they are most beautiful. No gar- 

 den is well planted if this tree is wanting, 

 as it is hardy, grows rapidly anywhere, 

 and costs little to buy. There are a few 

 varieties of it, one called Halleana having 

 larger and more richly-tinted blossoms. 

 The North American Sweet-scented Crab 

 Apple (P. M. coronaria) is a lovely little 

 tree with large pale pink deliciously- 

 scented flowers. There are other orna- 

 mental Apples in the section Malus, but 

 the foregoing include the finest and the 

 most readily obtainable. The charming 



Pyrus arbutifolia pumila. 



Pyrus Maulei is allied to the handsome 

 P. japonica. Of the true Pears as 

 ornamental trees little can be said. They 

 are a good deal like orchard and garden 

 Pears in growth and flower, and their fruits 

 are not remarkable. One or two, how- 

 ever, may be planted for ornament. One 

 is P. Bollwylleriana, from Central Europe, 

 which produces in spring an abundance 

 of small white blooms in clusters ; and 

 another, P. Salicifolia (the Willow-leaved 

 Pear), which is well worthy of planting on 

 account of its distinct and beautiful foli- 

 age, has leaves of silvery whiteness. P. 

 olaeagnifolia, or Oleaster-leaved Pear is 

 another Eastern species with hoary leaves. 

 Of the Sorbus section the common 

 Mountain Ash (P. Aucuparia) is a familiar 

 example, but it is too common to need 

 description. There is a rare kind with 

 yellow berries (fructu luteo), another kind 

 with weeping branches (pendula), a third 

 of erect growth (fastigiata), and a fourth 

 with variegated leaves. The last, how- 

 ever, is not very ornamental, as the 

 variegation is seldom distinct. Other 



species worthy of attention are P. S. 

 americana, the American Mountain Ash, 

 which is a good deal like our own Mountain 

 Ash ; and P. S. hybrida, a tree of very dis- 

 tinct growth, with a dense pyramidal head. 

 The leaves of P. S. hybrida are intermediate 

 between those of P. S. Aucuparia and P. 

 Aria (the White Beam). The true Service 

 Tree, P. S. domestica, used to be more 



The true Service Tree (Pyrus domestica). 



frequently planted than now. It is a hand- 

 some tree with elegant foliage. Of the 

 White Beam (P. Aria) there are some 

 very handsome kinds. Even our native 

 White Beam is ornamental. Like the 

 Mountain Ash, it is also one of the best 

 trees for planting in exposed places on 

 poor soil, and no tree thrives so well on 

 chalk. Its broad silvery foliage makes 

 it show in the landscape, and it is a valu- 

 able park tree. Its allies and varieties 

 include some beautiful trees, such as lati- 

 folia, with leaves which are broader than 

 the type and quite as silvery. P. A. 

 Hosti is a handsome tree, both in foliage 

 and flower. Its leaves are large and 

 silvery, and its delicate rose-pink flowers 

 are in broad flat clusters. It is a Central 

 European tree, perfectly hardy, and about 

 10 ft. high. The Himalayan Beam Tree, 

 P. vestita (called also P. lanata and nepal- 

 ensis) is extremely fine, but is not hardy 

 everywhere. Its very large leaves are like 

 those of the Loquat, and are of silvery 

 whiteness. Where it thrives it is 20 to 

 30 ft. high. 



PYXIDANTHERA (Pine Barren 

 Beauty']. P. barbulata is a curious little 

 American evergreen shrub, smaller than 

 many Mosses, flowering in summer, rose- 

 coloured in bud, white when open, the 

 effect of the rosy buds and the white flowers 

 on the dense dwarf cushions being singu- 

 larly pretty : it is plentiful in the sandy 

 dry "Pine barrens" between New Jersey 

 and North Carolina and often found on 

 little mounds in low, but not wet, places. 

 It is a charming plant for the rock-garden, 



