RHODOTYPOS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



RHUS. 



767 



an inch long, thickly clustered on the 

 twigs, the margins set with slender hairs. 

 It flowers towards the end of April and 

 the beginning of May, and produces its 

 blossoms in clusters at the ends of the 



Rhodotbamnus chamaecistus. 



shoots. From two to four flowers are in 

 the cluster, and each is about \\ inches 

 in diameter, the free portions of the petals 

 fully expanded. The colour is a pale 

 clear pink with a ring of a deeper shade 

 in the centre. A feature of the flower also 

 is the long stamens. It is by no means 

 rare in a wild state, being found in the 

 Tyrol (often in large patches) as well as 

 in Carniola. In cultivating this plant, full 

 exposure of the foliage to sunlight, com- 

 bined with cool, uniformly moist conditions 

 at the roots are necessary. It should be 

 planted in a sunny position in a crevice 

 or small pocket between the stones, which 

 keep the roots permanently moist and 

 protected from the hot sun that the leaves 

 enjoy. The compost should consist mainly 

 of good loam, to which a small proportion 

 of peat may be added, and which should 

 be free from calcareous matter. Syn. 

 Rhododendron chanicecistns. 



KHODOTYPOS ( White Jew's Mallow}. 

 R. Kerrioides is a summer-leafing shrub 

 from Japan, with a growth and foliage 

 recalling the familiar old Jew's Mallow 

 on cottage- walls, but with white flowers. 

 It is of slender growth, but makes a 

 vigorous bush when well grown, and is 

 usually 5 or 6 ft. high, though against a 

 wall it reaches a height of 10 or 12 ft. 

 It flowers in May, and keeps in bloom a 

 considerable time. 



RHUS (Sumach}. Low trees shrubs 

 or climbers with an acrid juice usually 

 hardy and remarkable for their elegant 



and picturesque growth, and often bril- 

 liantly coloured leaves in autumn. Such 

 good qualities as they have are rarely 

 shown in our gardens where they are 

 indeed often absent save one or two of 

 the commoner kinds, and these never 

 grouped or shown in any right way, but 

 perhaps half starved in the conventional 

 muddleof the shrubbery. Severalkindsare 

 poisonous and should not be planted near 

 the house or much in the garden, and, 

 if so planted, should be handled with 

 great care, as accidents in gardens are 

 not rare from men handling them not 

 suspecting danger, and their poisonous 

 character is well known and feared in 

 their native countries. The Sumachs are 

 not difficult as to soil or cultivation, 

 thriving in ordinary garden soils, and 

 rather enjoying poor and dry soils, some 

 of them being suitable, therefore, for 

 grouping on dry banks where little else 

 will grow. They may be increased by 

 root cuttings, layers, and also by seed. 



R. AROMATIC A (Fragrant Sumach}. A 

 hardy shrub with trifoliate leaves, a native of 

 rocky woods in Canada and New England, 

 and through Eastern America, especially along 

 the mountains. It has pale yellow flowers in 

 short dense clusters, formed in autumn but 

 flowering in spring before the leaves appear. 

 Syn. R. canadensis. 



R. COPALUNA (Mountain Sumach}. A 

 shrub or small tree with pinnate leaves turning 

 a fine colour in autumn in its own country, as 



Rhus copallina. 



they probably would in ours in full sun in warm 

 soil. New England, Canada, and southward 

 and westward. 



R. COTINOIDES (American Smoke Tree}. A 

 small tree with oval leaves, and somewhat like 

 our European kind to which it is related, but 

 has larger and thinner leaves, taking also a 

 fine colour in autumn, of a beautiful scarlet, 

 suffused with orange and crimson. A native 



