ARBUTUS- ARCTOSTAPHYLOS 203 



quickly; a tree at Kew raised from seed in 1894 is now 22 ft. high, with a 

 trunk 30 ins. in girth. 



A. UNEDO, Linnceus. STRAWBERRY TREE. 



(Gardeners' Chronicle, 1878, ii., fig. 115.) 



An evergreen tree, from 15 to 30 ft. high, occasionally 40 ft. in its native 

 districts in Ireland, but nearly always a wide-topped shrub under cultivation ; 

 young shoots glandular-hairy. Leaves smooth, 2 to 4 ins. long, \ to if ins. 

 wide, narrowly oval or obovate, tapering towards both ends, toothed, dark 

 shining green and leathery; stalk J in. long, glandular. Flowers produced 

 from October to December in drooping panicles 2 ins. long and wide. Corolla 

 white or pinkish, pitcher-shaped, in. long, with small, rounded, reflexed 

 lobes at the mouth ; calyx-lobes small, triangular, edged with minute hairs. 

 Fruit globose, strawberry-like, f in. across, orange red, rough on the surface. 

 It ripens during the autumn following the production of the flowers, at the 

 same time as the succeeding crop of blossom. 



Native of the Mediterranean regions and S.W. Ireland, especially on the 

 islands and shores of the Lakes of Killarney, where it attains its largest 

 dimensions. I have seen it wild also in Dalmatia (on calcareous ground), 

 where, however, it was always scrub not more than 10 ft. high. It is quite 

 hardy in the warmer parts of England, and has withstood 30 of frost at 

 Kew without injury. Both it and its varieties are of especial value through 

 flowering so late in the season. 



Var. COMPACTA. A dwarf bush which does not flower freely. 



Var. INTEGERRIMA, Sims (Bot. Mag., t. 2319). A distinct shrub with quite 

 entire leaves, which, as in the type, vary from narrow-oval to obovate. 



Var. RUBRA, Alton (Croomei). A very pretty variety with deep pink 

 flowers, usually a low, rather spreading bush. Found wild by the Irish 

 botanist, Mackay, near Glengariff, about 1835, but known fifty years previously 

 to Aiton. 



The strawberry tree is one of the few ericaceous plants which will thrive 

 on limestone. Distinguished from the other species by its hairy twigs, 



ARCTOSTAPHYLOS. ERICACEAE. 



Some four or five species of Arctostaphylos are cultivated in gardens, 

 one of which is deciduous, the others evergreen. They vary from small 

 trees to creeping shrubs, and are widely spread over the northern hemi- 

 sphere, being most abundant in regard to number of types and largest 

 in size in Western N. America. Leaves alternate, of leathery texture, 

 except in A. alpina. Flowers globose to pitcher-shaped, \ in. or less 

 long, narrowed at the mouth, where are five small teeth; produced in 

 short, terminal, drooping racemes. Fruit a berry with one to five bony 

 seeds. Most nearly allied to Arbutus among hardy shrubs. 



All the following species are worthy of cultivation, especially the 

 W. American ones, of -which several beautiful species have yet to be 

 introduced. They love such a soil as suits rhododendrons. Imported 

 seeds from California are frequently difficult to get to germinate, and 

 Miss Alice Eastwood, a well-known Californian botanist, believes that it 

 is advisable to subject the seeds to heat before they are sown. This may 

 best be done by immersing them in water at boiling-point for ten to 



