ABELIA. CAPRIFOLIACE^. 



A GENUS of shrubs named in honour of Mr Clarke Abel, who first 

 discovered A. chinensis whilst attached to Lord Amherst's embassy 

 to China in 1816-17. About half a dozen species are at present in 

 cultivation, which come from China, Japan, the Himalaya, and Mexico. 

 Leaves opposite, or in threes; corolla tubular to bell-shaped; calyx 

 composed of two to five sepals, which remain long on the plants 

 after the corolla has fallen ; stamens four. 



With two or three exceptions, the Abelias are scarcely hardy enough 

 to succeed in the average climate of the British Isles unless wall 

 protection be given ; but provided the situation is warm enough, they 

 are not in any way difficult to cultivate. They like an open, loamy soil, 

 and can very easily be increased by means of cuttings made of half- 

 ripened wood in July; these should be placed in pots of sandy soil, 

 and plunged in a frame where there is a little bottom heat. The 

 species are very much confused in gardens, but the following key to 

 the cultivated species will assist in their identification. 



i. SEPALS UNIFORMLY FIVE. 



Chinensis. Corolla in. long ; flowers in pairs ; stamens much protruded. 

 Floribunda. Corolla i^ to 2 ins. long ; stamens of about the same length. 

 Spathulata. Corolla f in. long ; stamens shorter than corolla ; floweis in pairs. 

 Triflora. Sepals very narrow, linear, feathered. 



2. SEPALS USUALLY TWO. 

 Uniflora and Engleriana. 



3. SEPALS TWO TO FIVE. 

 Grandiflora. A hybrid (chinensis x uniflora). 



A. CHINENSIS, R. Brown. 



(A. rupestris, Lindley, Bot. Reg., vol. 32, t. 8.) 



A deciduous shrub 3 or 4 ft. high, of spreading habit, the young branches 

 covered with minute reddish down. Leaves ovate, pointed, tapered or rounded 

 at the base, f to i| ins. long, \ to i in. wide, toothed (sometimes obscurely so), 

 downy at the base of the midrib beneath, and with few or many hairs scattered 

 over the upper surface. Flowers white, fragrant, produced during summer and 

 autumn in forking clusters from the terminal leaf-axils, the whole forming a 

 short terminal panicle ; the flowers are mostly in pairs on each stalk. Corolla 

 ^ in. long, scarcely as wide, funnel-shaped, hairy inside. Calyx composed of 

 five rosy-tinted, slightly downy sepals, each \ in. long and obovate. Stamens 

 protruded. 



113 H 



