330 CEPHALANTHUS CEPHALOTAXUS f 



paler and slightly downy on the midrib and veins beneath; stalks 

 ^ to J in. long. Flowers small, crowded in quite globular heads i to 

 ij ins. across, or, including the projecting styles, f in. more; these 

 heads are borne at the end of the shoot solitary or in fours, often 

 supplemented by others in the uppermost leaf-axils. Corolla creamy 

 white, with a slender tube and four-rounded lobes ; style very long. 



Native of the eastern United States and Canada; introduced in 1735. 

 It reaches from New Brunswick to Florida, and the same species is said 

 to occur in Cuba. It is usually found in moist situations, and in 

 cultivation is averse to dryness at the root; it thrives well in a peaty 

 soil. Flowering in August, it is desirable on that account, and although 

 not showy, is interesting as the only hardy shrubby plant, except the 

 Coprosmas and the little creeping Mitchella, of the great natural order to 

 which it belongs. It possesses bitter, tonic properties similar to those 

 of its ally, the Cinchona (Quinine) plant. It is best propagated from 

 imported seeds, the plants so raised thriving better than those raised 

 from cuttings or layers. 



CEPHALOTAXUS. TAXACE^E. 



A group of small evergreen trees and shrubs, all natives of Eastern 

 Asia and allied to the yews, which in the shape and general disposition 

 of the leaves they resemble ; 'the leaves, however, are much larger. They 

 have erect stems, from which the branches are borne in tiers, whilst the 

 branchlets are both alternate and opposite. Flowers unisexual, the sexes 

 nearly always on separate plants. Male flowers composed of four to 

 six stamens, enclosed in a bract, produced in April and May in the axils 

 of the leaves of the previous year's growth, and arranged in clusters of 

 small globose heads. Fruit olive-like in shape, consisting of a fleshy coat 

 surrounding an almond-shaped, resinous seed. The members of this 

 genus bear a considerable resemblance to the Torreyas, but differ in the 

 leaves being soft rather than 'prickly pointed, and in the flowers being 

 crowded instead of solitary in each leaf-axil. 



In gardens the species of Cephalotaxus are useful evergreens, 

 especially for semi-shaded places, where they thrive better than in full 

 sunshine. All those mentioned below are hardy and can be increased 

 by cuttings, although seed should be preferred if obtainable. Female 

 trees will sometimes develop fruit and infertile seed in the absence of 

 pollen. 



C. DRUPACEA, Siebold. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 8285.) 



A shrub of spreading habit up to 10 or 12 ft. high, sometimes a small tree in 

 a wild state 30 ft. high. Leaves f to if ins. long, about \ in. wide, linear, 

 abruptly and very finely pointed, dark green above, grey with about fifteen 

 lines of stomata each side the midrib beneath. The leaves are arranged 

 in two ranks as in the other species, but differ in being much more erect 

 instead of spreading, so that along the upper side of the twig they form 

 a narrow V-shaped trough. Male flowers yellowish, in short-stalked, globose 

 heads \ in. across, produced on the lower side of the branch from the leaf- 



