288 CARAGANA 



smooth, cylindric, and carrying three to five oblong seeds, the calyx adhering 

 at the base. 



Native of Siberia ; introduced in 1752. This is the commonest of the 

 Caraganas in gardens, and is a vigorous, free-growing shrub. Its long, 

 sparsely-branched shoots give it a distinct appearance, and although not one 

 of the showiest of the broom family it is very pretty in early May, when the 

 yellow flowers are associated with the tender green, almost fully formed 

 leaves. It produces good seed in abundance. The species shows several 

 different forms, especially in habit, of which the following are the most 

 distinct : 



Var. CUNEIFOLIA. The Caragana sold in continental nurseries as C. 

 cuneifolia, Dippel^ is only a dwarfer form of C. arborescens. The leaflets are 

 more uniformly wedge-shaped, the flowers are on shorter stalks, and the pod 

 is smaller. 



Var. LORBERGII, Koehne. A remarkable variety with very narrowly linear, 

 pointed leaflets, gV to iS m - wide, J to f in. long. The wing-petals and the 

 standard one are also much narrowed. In flower beauty this variety is inferior 

 to the type, but the remarkable foliage (resembling the final subdivisions of a 

 fennel leaf) makes it well worth growing. Introduced to cultivation from 

 Germany about 1906. 



Var. NANA. A dwarf, stunted bush, with stiff, contorted branches which 

 grow very slowly. It is usually grafted on the type, from which it does not 

 differ in leaf or flower. A quaint-looking shrub. 



Var. PENDULA. A variety with stiffly pendent branches, but not ungrace- 

 ful ; usually grafted on standards of the type. Foliage and flower the same. 



Var. REDOWSKI. A remarkable shrub, with long, serpentine branches, 

 which will sometimes grow for several years without dividing. It thus acquires 

 a thin and open, but not ungraceful habit, and is altogether a striking plant. 

 Whether the C. Redowski mentioned by De Candolle in his Memoir on 

 Leguminosce, published in 1825, is the same as this is uncertain. It never 

 appears to have been properly described. The plant is at Kew, but its history 

 is not known. 



C. BoiSli, C. K. Schneider^ was introduced to France by Mr Maurice de 

 Vilmorin, and was figured in his Fruticetum Vilmorinia?mm^ p. 57, as C. 

 microphylla var. crasse-aculeata. It is, however, scarcely specifically distinct 

 from C. arborescens, differing chiefly in the longer teeth of the calyx, and in 

 the downy ovary and young fruit. The alleged greater persistence of the 

 leaves is not very apparent in this country. It has about the same garden 

 value as C. arborescens. 



C. AURANTIACA, Koehne. 



A deciduous shrub about 4 ft. high, with graceful, ultimately pendulous 

 leafy- branches, long, slender, but little divided, and armed with triple spines 

 Leaves very shortly stalked, consisting of four narrow, linear leaflets, \ to \ in. 

 long, \ in. wide. Flowers f in. long, produced singly on a stalk J in. long, 

 orange yellow ; calyx ^ in. king, bell-shaped, with five triangular, minutely 

 ciliated teeth. Pod I to \\ ins. long, smooth, rather cylindrical, pointed, 

 carrying four to six seeds. 



Native of Central Asia ; introduced in 1887 as a variety of C. pygmaea, of 

 which it was at first regarded merely as a deeper coloured form. It differs 

 also in the more taper-pointed leaflets and in the shorter calyx. This and 

 C. pygmaea are probably the prettiest of all Caraganas. Its habit is graceful, 

 and it blossoms with great profusion, the flowers hanging thickly from the 

 under-side of the branch in a long row, three or four to the inch. It blossoms in 

 May and June, and can be easily propagated by late summer cuttings. ^ 



