THE HONEYSUCKLE. 119 



tration, this style of leafage being called by the botanists 

 "connate." Of the common L.periclymenum there are several 

 varieties known Dutch, Belgian, oak-leaved, late-red, &c., 

 all of which have some degree of special merit ; but the 

 variegated-leaved variety is worthless. One of the very 

 best for a good place in the garden is L. sempervirens, the 

 trumpet honeysuckle, an American species, with bold heads 

 of scarlet flowers, which are inodorous. Under the name 

 Lonicera brachypoda we may group half a dozen garden 

 varieties, such as L. Chinensis and L. Japonica; and here 

 we find one of the most beautiful of the family in that 

 called Aureo-reticulata, which is exquisitely rich in its 

 leafage, and well worth attentive observation. It will be 

 noticed that at one time the leaves are lobed like those of 

 the oak-tree, and at another time they are simply ovate or 

 elliptical, without lobes, for they alter in form as they grow, 

 and they are always richly painted with bright-green lines 

 on a ground of gold-yellow or full deep orange, which 

 acquires rich tinges of red when the chills of autumn check 

 the growth. Wherever this plant can be accommodated 

 with a trellis, or can be carried by an arch over a walk, 

 or have careful training up a wall to a height of ten to 

 twenty feet, it should be allowed "a chance." It will 

 grow grandly and flower sweetly, and if it happens to be 

 the only plant of Japan you possess, it will compel you 

 to cherish agreeable thoughts of that interesting country, 

 from which we have derived a very large proportion of 

 our most valued garden flowers. 



The winter-flowering honeysuckle (L.fragrantissima) is 

 an extremely useful but altogether unattractive shrub. It 

 grows in a style similar to a lilac, and does not climb or 

 riot at all. Its light green leafage is agreeable in summer ; 



