OCTOBER 113 



and fifty years ago, and being the plant on which the 

 genus was founded. As it comes from the West Indies 

 it will almost certainly not be hardy, but it grows 

 readily from cuttings, and will make a lovely plant for 

 the summer borders, as its beautiful waxy orange- 

 scarlet flowers cannot easily be surpassed. And a 

 most beautiful shrub for the late autumn is Carppteris 

 mastacanihus. It is a shrub about five feet high, now 

 covered with a profusion of pale blue flowers. It is a 

 native of Canton, and is considered to be rather ten- 

 der ; but in this part of England it appears to be quite 

 hardy, and the leaves have a delicate and to me a plea- 

 sant scent. In its native country it is used in the 

 manufacture of mastic, but I believe it does not enter 

 into the mastic used in England, which is entirely 

 produced from the European Pistacia. The perennial 

 sunflowers have been, and still are, very good ; and 

 among them I like especially the Helianthus giganteus, a 

 plant that in good soil will reach ten feet in height, 

 and produce for many weeks an abundance of flowers 

 of the purest yellow. As a North American plant it is 

 very hardy, and is now becoming common. It seems 

 to be very popular for the gardens of railway stations, 

 in several of which I have seen it in great abundance. 

 I also like the H. orgi/alis from the Eocky Mountains, 

 which is as tall as the other, and though the flowers 



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