768 RHUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



RIBES. 



of Missouri, Indian territory and eastwards. 

 It should be planted in dry, warm soil and 

 sunny positions. 



R. COTINUS ( Venetian Sumach}. A beauti- 

 ful and distinct shrub, long cultivated though 

 not always well placed, the simple leaves 

 taking a fine colour in autumn and the curious 



The Venetian Sumach (Rhus cotinus). 



inflorescence giving a very pretty effect. 

 There is a purple variety which is an improve- 

 ment, and a pendulous variety less important. 

 The Venetian Sumach looks very well as a 

 group in a sunny open situation. Southern 

 and Central Europe, and the East. 



R. GLABRA (Scarlet Sumach]. A distinct 

 very hardy, bushy kind with smooth rather 

 small leaves, thriving in any poor dry soil, the 

 leaves taking a very brilliant colour in autumn. 

 Var. laciniata is very distinct, the leaflets 

 longer and of much greater breadth than in 

 R. Glabra itself, but they are cut up into 

 narrow pinnate segments, combining the beauty 

 of the finest Grevillea with that of a Fern- 

 frond. When unfolding they remind one of a 

 finely-cut umbelliferous plant in spring ; when 

 fully grown the midribs are red ; and in 

 autumn the leaves glow off into a bright colour 

 after the fashion of American shrubs. The 

 wild plant is much rarer in cultivation than the 

 cut-leaved variety. 



R. OSBECKII. A fine kind with pinnate 

 leaves much finer than the others, striking 

 foliage, also turning in good seasons and warm 

 soils a good orange colour in autumn. This is 

 one of the kinds that might be cut down 

 annually where plentiful, so as to get the fine ef- 

 fect of the foliage on the young vigorous stems. 



R. RADICANS (Poison Ivy}. A distinct 

 woody climber very common in the North 

 American hedgerows and copses and also up 

 trees. Its leaves give it somewhat the charac- 

 ter of a Virginian Creeper and some unprinci- 

 pled nurserymen sent it out with a new name 

 as Ampelopsis Ho^gi under which it has been 

 distributed in many gardens. It is a most 

 poisonous plant in its own country and also 

 in ours, accidents taking place from it in 

 gardens, and the cause of the illness is not 

 always known. If kept at all in the garden it 

 should be in rough places where it would not 

 have to be handled or pruned. Syn. R. Toxi- 

 codendron. 



R. TYPHINA (Stags Horn Sumach}. In its 

 own country often a small tree or shrub, in 

 ours generally a loose shrub common in gardens. 

 The leaves often take a fine colour in autumn, 

 and, as the plant is common it may be grown 



Rhus typhina. 



as a fine-leaved plant by cutting back a few 

 plants every spring, and confining the growth 

 to one or two shoots. It is a native of sandy 

 or rocky soil from Nova Scotia and Canada 

 southwards. 



R. VERNIX (Poison Stimach). This is a 

 shrub or, in its own country, a small tree with 

 pinnate leaves, and growing in swamps in 

 southern Ontario and the coast district of the 

 Eastern States. It is a very poisonous plant 

 and must not, naturally, be brought much into 

 the garden. The leaves are glossy and smooth, 

 and turn a fine colour in autumn. 



R. VERNICIFERA is the famous Lacquer 

 Tree of Japan, but we have not yet proved 

 that it will do in our country. 



KIBES (Currant}. The favourite old 

 Crimson-flowering Currant (R. sangui- 

 neum) is typical of the few species that 

 can be called ornamental shrubs. This 

 shrub is so common that I need only 

 allude to the fine varieties of it that 

 are to be obtained from the best nurseries. 



