200 AR AU JI A A RBUTUS 



ARAUJIA SERICOFERA, Brotero., ASCLEPIADACEvE. 



(Physianthus albens, Martins, Bot. Mag., t. 3201.) 



An evergreen climber of very vigorous growth, the stems twining, 

 covered with pale down when young. Leaves opposite, ovate-oblong, 

 pointed, the base cut off squarely or broadly wedge-shaped ; 2 to 4 ins. 

 long, | to 2 ins. broad; pale green, and clothed beneath with a pale 

 minute felt; stalk \ to i| ins. long. Flowers fragrant, borne two to eight 

 together on racemes about 2 ins. long, produced at the joints of the stem, 

 not in either of the leaf-axils, but at the side between the leaf-stalks. 

 Corolla white, swollen at the base, the tube \ in. long, \ in. wide, opening 

 at the top into five spreading lobes, and there i to i J ins. across. Calyx 

 with five ovate lobes \ in. long. Fruit a large grooved pod, 5 ins. long, 

 2 to 3 ins. wide at the base, tapering slightly towards the end ; each seed 

 with a tuft of silky hairs i in. or more long attached at the end. 



Native of S. America ; introduced by Tweedie from Buenos Ayres in 

 1830. It is not hardy at Kew, and even against a wall does not long 

 survive, but at Pendell Court in Surrey it used to grow and flower. 

 Where it is warm enough, as in the Channel Islands, it flowers and 

 produces its curious large fruits freely. It likes a good loamy soil, and 

 can be increased by cuttings as well as by seed. Flowers in late summer. 



ARBUTUS. ERICACEAE. 



A group of evergreen trees and shrubs, of which three species are 

 hardy in the average climate of the British Isles. They have alternate, 

 leathery leaves, and bear their flowers in terminal panicles ; corolla 

 pitcher-shaped, white or pink ; calyx five-lobed, persisting through the 

 fruiting stage ; stamens ten. The fruit is an edible but not very palatable 

 drupe, roundish, orange-red, and very ornamental when ripe, enclosing 

 numerous seeds. 



The arbutuses are exceptionally attractive evergreens in their foliage, 

 which is healthy dark green, and abundant, also ornamental in flower and 

 fruit. A. Unedo thrives on a limestone, as well as other formations, and 

 may thus be included among the few ericaceous plants that can be grown 

 where lime is present. Still it, like the others, succeeds very well in 

 peaty or loamy soil. Wherever possible all the species should be raised 

 from seed, but the named varieties have to be grafted on seedlings of 

 A. Unedo. They transplant rather badly, and are best grown in pots 

 until finally planted out, which should be done as soon as possible. 

 Besides the species more fully noticed below, there is a fourth and more 

 tender one from Chile, viz. : 



A. FURIENS, Hooker. It is a shrub whose leaves are \\ to 2\ ins. long, 

 \ to | in. wide, ovate, pointed, finely toothed ; bristly, leathery, and hard in 

 texture ; dark glossy green above, pallid green beneath. Flowers in axillary, 

 hairy racemes i^ to 2 ins. long, dull white ; each blossom -^ in. long, 

 densely set on the stalk. It is not hardy at Kew, but is grown out-of-doors 



