BUXUS C^ESALPINIA 279 



B. WALLICHIANA, Baillon. HIMALAYAN Box. 



An evergreen shrub not more than 6 or 8 ft. high in cultivation, but no 

 doubt considerably taller in its native country ; shoots very downy. Leaves 

 i to i\ ins. long, \ to f in. wide ; linear lanceolate, tapered at both ends, dark 

 green, not so glossy as B. sempervirens ; the base of the leaf, the midrib, and 

 the short stalk are all downy. Flowers in dense axillary clusters, opening in 

 April, and only noticeable for the yellow anthers of the males. 



Native of the north-western Himalaya ; very rare in cultivation. There is 

 a bush 6 ft. high and as much through at Kew, which is perfectly hardy, and 

 has been in its present position for over thirty years. Although it grows very 

 slowly, it is quite healthy. It is difficult to propagate by cuttings. This 

 species is readily distinguished from B. sempervirens and B. balearica by the 

 long, narrow leaves, blunt or pointed but not notched at the apex, and by the 

 much more abundant down on the stems, which persists for more than a year. 

 The timber is equal to, or greater in value than, that of the common box. 



C^ESALPINIA. LEGUMINOS^. 



Of the forty or so species of Caesalpinia known, two or three can be 

 grown in the milder parts of the kingdom, but even as far south as Kew 

 they need some shelter ' in the open air. Among hardy trees and shrubs 

 they are most nearly allied to Gymnocladus and Gleditschia. The flowers 

 are very dissimilar to those of the commoner pea-flowered type of 

 Leguminosae, the petals being almost equal in size and shape. The 

 other essential features are, the tubular, five-toothed calyx, the ten free 

 stamens, and the thick, compressed, leathery pod. 



C. GILLIESII, Wallich. 



(Poinciana Gilliesii, Hooker, Bot. Mag., t. 4006.) 



A deciduous shrub or small tree, with slender erect branches ; young shoots 

 covered with gland-tipped hairs. Leaves doubly pinnate, about 8 ins. long, 

 composed of about nine to eleven pairs of primary divisions \\ ins. long, each 

 of which carries numerous small, smooth, oblong leaflets, about j in. long and 

 ^o in wide. Racemes terminal, stiffly erect, I ft. or more long, carrying from 

 thirty to forty flowers. Each flower is borne on a downy stalk, i in. or more 

 long, the petals rich yellow, i \ ins. long, forming a rather saucer-shaped corolla. 

 Sepals | in. long ; stamens scarlet, i\ to 3 ins. long; pod 3 ins. long, f in. wide. 



Native of the Argentine Republic, especially in the province of Mendoza ; 

 introduced in 1829, but too tender to have become generally cultivated. It 

 succeeds quite well on a south wall at Kew, where it has grown 25 ft. high, 

 and flowered nearly every year in July and August. It has no chance there 

 in the open ground, but in the late Rev. Mr Ewbank's garden at Ryde, Isle 

 of Wight, it succeeded admirably. The rich yellow flowers with long scarlet 

 stamens give a singularly brilliant effect. 



C. JAPONICA, Siebold. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 8207.) 



A deciduous very thorny shrub, of straggling or scandent habit, not more 

 than about 8 ft. high when left to itself, but growing at least twice as high when 

 trained up a wall Branches not downy, armed with strong decurved thorns \ 



