186 ALNUS AMELANCHIER 



long, f to 3 ins. wide, unevenly and sharply toothed, rounded or broadly 

 wedge-shaped at the base, mostly abruptly pointed ; dark green and smooth 

 above, green and downy on the midrib and veins beneath ; stalk about ^ in. 

 long. Male catkins opening in April and May with the leaves, 2 to 3 ins. long. 

 Fruits f in. long, oval, slender-stalked, borne in loose racemes. 



Native of Europe, N. America, and N. China ; usually wild in mountainous 

 regions. The American plant was introduced in 1782 (as "Betula crispa") ; 

 the European one, according to Loudon, in 1820. It is a vigorous and 

 exceptionally hardy shrub, of no special ornamental value, but useful for 

 furnishing cold, damp spots. 



Var. MOLLIS, Beck) has both surfaces of the leaves and the young shoots 

 covered with grey down. 



Var. PARVIFOLIA, Dippel (A. brembana, Rota). A curiously dwarfed 

 mountain state of A. viridis, growing I or 2 ft. high, and forming little close 

 mounds. Adult plants have leaves ^ to I in. long. This dwarfed condition, 

 however, is merely due to the climate under which it exists. A plant intro- 

 duced to Kew twenty years ago gradually lost its dwarf character, and is now 

 no longer distinguishable fiom ordinary A. viridis. Found on the Swiss 

 Alps, etc. 



AMELANCHIER. ROSACES 



A genus of shrubs and small trees found wild in Europe, Asia, and 

 most abundantly in N. America. The name is an adaptation of 

 "amelancier," an old name for A. vulgaris in Savoy. The species are 

 all deciduous, and have alternate, simple leaves, white flowers, and small 

 black or purplish fruits, globose, or pear-shaped, and containing five or 

 ten seeds. The attractions of the Amelanchiers are in the pure whiteness 

 and abundance of the flowers, their graceful form, and in the fine shades 

 ofVed, and sometimes yellow, the leaves assume before they fall. 

 Although a compact small genus, there is considerable difficulty in 

 distinguishing the American kinds, owing to the existence of forms 

 intermediate between, or slightly differing from, the recognised types. 



Their cultivation is easy, as they will thrive in any soil that is not too 

 dry and poor on the one hand, or water-logged on the other. They may 

 be raised from seed, by layers, or by division. The practice of grafting 

 them on the hawthorn, more common in Britain once than it is now, but 

 still usual on the Continent, should be strictly avoided. 



A. ALNIFOLIA, Nuttall. WESTERN SHAD BUSH. 



(Garden and Forest, 1888, p. 185.) 



A small tree, up to 20 or 25 ft. high, of erect-branching habit, sometimes a 

 shrub ; branchlets usually smooth, except when quite y<-ung. Leaves broadly 

 ovate or roundish ; i to i ins. long, nearly as wide, often heart-shaped at the 

 base, covered with loose floss when they first expand, soon becoming quite 

 smooth ; the margin toothed only on the terminal half. Flowers on erect 

 racemes 2 ins. long, the stalks clothed with greyish wool ; petals white, 

 narrowly oblng, about \ in. long ; calyx woolly, with five triangular lobes. 

 Fruit of the size and shape of black currants, dark purple, \ to \ in. diameter, 

 sweet, and of excellent eating when ripe. 



Native of Western N. America ; seeds of which were first sent to this 

 country by Douglas in 1826-27. One of the most ornamental of the Amelan- 



