AUCUBA AZARA 229 



A. HIMALAICA, Hooker jil. In many respects this does not differ from 

 A japonica, but it is certainly not so useful a shrub. I do not, indeed, think 

 the true plant is in cultivation, and may possibly not be hardy. It has much 

 narrower leaves, 5 to 8 ins. long by I to \\ ins. wide, toothed much more 

 finely, and lower down the leaf than in the common Aucuba ; often the young 

 shoots and young leaves are hairy. The petals are more pointed ; berry 

 scarlet, i in. long. 



Native of the eastern Himalaya at 5000 to 9000 ft., also of China. A plant 

 in cultivation is sometimes called " himalaica," which is really only the long, 

 narrow-leaved form of green A. japonica properly var. salicifolia. 



AZARA. BIXACE/E. 



A genus of more or less tender shrubs, evergreen, and natives of 

 Chile. Leaves alternate, and often arranged in pairs at each joint of the 

 branchlet, one of the pair much the larger. The flowers have no petals, 

 but abundant stamens, and are usually fragrant. A. microphylla may be 

 grown in the open, but the others require the protection of a south or 

 west wall. All can be propagated by cuttings made of ripened wood 

 placed in gentle heat. 



A. DEN TATA, Ruiz. 

 (Bot. Reg., u 1788.) 



An evergreen shrub, 8 to 12 ft. high, sometimes a low tree, with downy 

 branchlets. Leaves solitary, in pairs, or in threes at each joint, the largest 

 ones ovate or oval, I to i| ins. long, deep shining green above, very downy 

 beneath ; the smaller ones are from one-eight to one-third the size of the 

 larger ; both are toothed. Flowers fragrant, borne on short, branching 

 corymbs, the yellow stamens, as in A. Gilliesii, giving the flower whatever 

 beauty it possesses. A tender shrub, only hardy against a wall at Kew ; 

 introduced from Chile about 1830. The leaves have a bitter taste. In 

 some of the gardens in the milder parts of our islands may occasionally 

 be seen A. SERRATA, Ruiz, but A. dentata is sometimes grown under the 

 name. The true A. serrata has downy branchlets like A. dentata, but the 

 leaves are larger, not felted beneath, often nearly smooth. The inflorescence 

 too is very distinct, the flowers being arranged in a globose umbel borne 

 at the end of a slender, downy stalk, up to ii ins. long. Native of Chile. 



A. GILLIESII, Hooker. 

 (Bot. Mag., t. 5178.) 



An evergreen shrub or small tree. Leaves holly-like, pointed, ovate or 

 oval, ii to 3 ins. long, with distant teeth, deep lustrous green, pale beneath, 

 smooth. Flowers densely crowded on racemes scarcely i In. long, springing 

 from the axils of the leaves. Each flower is small, creamy yellow, the beauty 

 of the raceme being due entirely to the numerous comparatively long stamens, 

 which hide the remainder of the flower. This charming shrub, a native of 

 Chile, is the most ornamental of cultivated Azaras in its blossoms, but is, 

 unfortunately, not hardy enough to succeed in the open at Kew. Even 

 against a wall it is sometimes cut down by a severe frost. It flowers in April 

 and May, and may be recommended for the south-western counties. 



