CHAPTER VII 



Xanthoceras sorbifolia — Syrian Oak — Eryngiums and their 

 allies — Gypsophila paniculata — Spring flowers in autumn — 

 Tenacity of plant-life. 



One of the best flowering shrubs for July is Xanthoceras 

 sorbifolia. I have had this for many years, and it has 

 frequently flowered here, but never fruited. Both in 

 flower and fruit it is a most handsome shrub ; indeed, 

 when it was first sent to me from the Jardins des 

 Plantes, in Paris, it came to me with the note that 

 it was the best of all the flowering shrubs. I should 

 be slow to pass that judgment upon any shrub, but it 

 is very beautiful ; yet, though perfectly hardy, it is 

 very seldom seen. It is one of the many good things 

 that were sent to France from Northern China by the 

 Abb^ David in 1868; it has rich green leaves some- 

 thing like the leaves of the ash, and the fruit is as 



1 This chapter, like the last, was written in the dry summer of 

 1893. 



78 



