196 ANTHYLLIS APHANANTHE 



shaped, pale yellow, crowded in rounded heads at the end of short twigs ; each 

 head of flowers is to I in. across ; calyx silky hairy, J in. long. 



Native of S.W. Europe and the Mediterranean region ; cultivated in England 

 since the middle of the seventeenth century. It is too tender to thrive in the 

 open ground, but makes a charming shrub for a wall, where its sheen of silvery 

 grey and (in May and June) clusters of yellow flowers are very effective. At Kew 

 it is occasionally injured even growing against a wall. Seeds are said sometimes 

 to ripen in this country, but the plant has, as a rule, to be increased by cuttings. 



A. HERMAN NLE, Linnceus. HERMANN'S KIDNEY VETCH. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 2576.) 



A deciduous shrub, of low, bushy habit, \\ to 2 ft., perhaps more, high ; 

 branches crooked or zigzag, covered with short greyish down, and ending in a 

 spine. Leaves simple (or occasionally trifoliolate), linear-obovate, to i in. 

 long, \ in. or less wide, clothed more or less with silky hairs ; apex rounded ; 

 base tapering. Flowers yellow, three to five together in axillary, very shortly 

 stalked clusters, each flower about \ in. long ; calyx green, tubular, \ in. long. 



Native of the Mediterranean region from Corsica eastwards to Turkey. It 

 was in cultivation early in the eighteenth century, and is said to have been not 

 uncommon up to the great frost of 1739-40, when most of the plants were 

 destroyed. I have known it in Kew for over twenty years without protection, 

 and although occasionally injured on the upper growth in severe winters it has 

 never been killed. It is a much-branched, twiggy bush of greyish aspect, 

 flowering freely in June and July, and very pretty then. It is a suitable plant 

 for a sunny place in the rock garden. As it rarely ripens its seeds here, it has 

 to be increased by cuttings. They should be put in sandy soil under cloches 

 in August. 



APHANANTHE ASPERA, Planchon. URTICACE^:. 



(Celtis Muku, Siebold.} 



A deciduous tree, 60 to 70 ft. high, allied, and similar in appearance to 

 the nettle trees (Celtis) ; young shoots at first covered with flattened hairs, 

 which mostly fall away before the leaves do. Leaves alternate, ovate, 

 long- and taper-pointed; the base wedge-shaped, rounded, or (on very 

 vigorous shoots) heart-shaped, often oblique; ij to 4 ins. long, f to 2 ins. 

 wide; prominently parallel-veined, distinctly three-nerved at the base. 

 When young both surfaces are densely covered with minute, flattened 

 hairs which fall away from the upper surface, leaving it bright green and 

 slightly rough, persisting more or less on the midrib and veins beneath ; 

 stalk J to J in. long. Flowers unisexual, very small ; the males numerous, 

 crowded in slender, stalked, cymose clusters at the base of the young 

 side twigs; females solitary at the end. Fruit a roundish oval drupe, 

 J to J in. long, black-purple. 



Native of Japan and probably China ; introduced from the former 

 country to Kew in 1895. It differs from Celtis in the invariably uni- 

 sexual flowers. As a garden tree it does not promise much, and judging 

 by its behaviour at Kew, where it makes long, succulent growths, 

 frequently cut back during winter, it needs more summer sun than our 

 climate affords. It has little or no flower beauty. 



