206 ARDISIA ARISTOLOCHIA 



ARDISIA JAPONICA, Blume. MYRSINACE,E. 



A low evergreen shrub, i ft. or rather more high, its erect clustered 

 stems covered with dark, minute down when young. Leaves clustered in 

 one or two whorls near the top of the stem ; oval, i J to 3^ ins. long, 

 J to ij ins. wide; tapered at both ends, sharply toothed; bright dark 

 green, and nearly or quite smooth ; stalks J in. long, minutely downy. 

 Flowers white, J in. across, star-shaped, with five narrow, ovate, pointed 

 petals, the flowers occur singly or in twos or threes on short, downy 

 stalks J to f in. long, in the leaf-axils. They appear in August and 

 September, and are followed by red (in one form white), globular berries, 

 \ in. diameter. 



Native of China and Japan, and the only member of a large genus 

 grown outside in this country. Its beauty is in the glossy foliage and 

 bright fruits. It is suitable for the rock garden, in the south and west 

 of England or Ireland, but is not wholly hardy at Kew. It first flowered 

 in Knight's nursery at Chelsea in 1834. 



ARISTOLOCHIA. BIRTHWORTS. ARISTOLOCHIACE^:. 



Although the most remarkable of the plants which constitute this genus 

 are found in tropical countries, some half a dozen woody, climbing species 

 can be grown in the open air in Britain which present so remarkable a 

 flower-structure and are, withal, so vigorous in growth, that one or more 

 of them ought to be seen in every garden. Leaves alternate, mostly 

 heart-shaped. The flower has no corolla ; the calyx (or perianth) is more 

 or less tubular, curiously inflated, and bent so as to resemble a siphon 

 or Dutch pipe. Some of the flowers of tropical Aristolochias are fly-traps ; 

 the insect is attracted by a foetid odour, /and enters the tube, which is 

 clothed with hairs pointing downwards ; these hairs offer no obstacle to 

 the ingress of the fly, but effectually bar its return. 



The hardy species like a good loamy soil, and can be increased by 

 division or by cuttings. They are suitable for the various positions 

 adapted for climbers. 



A. ALTISSIMA, Desfontaines. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 6586.) 



Chiefly of botanical interest, and not very hardy, this species is not common 

 in gardens, although one sees it occasionally cultivated in the south and west 

 country. It has Smilax-like leaves, with three or five prominent veins, heart" 

 shaped, 2 to 4 ins. long, bright green, and quite smooth, as are also the slender, 

 six-ribbed stems. Flowers solitary on slender stalks I to i| ins. long ; calyx 

 yellow-brown, striped with darker lines, ij ins. long, bladder-like at the base, 

 the upper part somewhat funnel-shaped, but doubled back on itself, expanding 

 at the mouth into one ovate, oblique lobe. Seed-vessel oblong, i \ ins. long, 

 | in. wide, minutely downy. 



Native of S.E. Europe, and N. Africa. At Kew it has to be grown against 

 a wall, and even there in .severe winters is cut to the ground. During the 



