CERCIDIPHYLLUM CERCIS 333 



opposite, but sometimes alternate towards the base of the shoot, broadly 

 ovate or heart-shaped, 2 to 4 ins. long, slightly scalloped on the margin, 

 and glabrous except when young. The branch in its second year 

 develops at each joint a short or almost obsolete twig, carrying a single 

 leaf and flowers. The male and female flowers are borne on separate 

 trees, but neither possesses any beauty ; the males consist of a minute 

 calyx and an indefinite number of stamens J in. long ; the females of four 

 larger, but still very small, green, fringed sepals, and four to six carpels. 

 The fruits are small pods, J to J in. long, borne usually two to four 

 together on a short stalk. 



This tree for a long time was thought to be confined to Japan, where 

 it is the largest of deciduous trees, reaching its finest development in the 

 island of Yezo ; but Wilson found it in China in 1910. One tree, still 

 living, but with its top fallen away, he found to be 55 ft. in girth of trunk. 

 The timber is light, straight-grained and yellowish, and is highly valued. 

 The finest trees I have seen in Europe are in the Imperial Garden at 

 Sans Souci, near Berlin, where it was, in 1908, a singularly elegant tree 

 30 ft. high, with slender, spreading, arching branches. It succeeds 

 equally well in the Royal Garden at Hanover. Still finer trees, but of 

 denser habit, are in the Arnold Arboretum, Mass., and in Mr Thayer's 

 grounds at Lancaster in the same State. It evidently needs a continental 

 climate. At Kew, where it was introduced in 1881, it still remains a 

 mere shrub. Like so many N. Asiatic trees transplanted to this country, 

 it commences to grow early in spring, and its young shoots are almost 

 invariably ruined by frost ; sometimes even the second growths meet the 

 same fate. The leaves die off rich red or yellow. The tree is certainly 

 worth trying in upland districts, or where late spring frosts do not prevail. 

 The generic name refers to the resemblance of the leaves to those of the 

 Judas-tree (Cercis). 



s 



CERCIS. LEGUMINOS^. 



The members of this genus, seven in number, constitute a very 

 distinct and homogeneous group of hardy leguminous trees and shrubs, 

 whose resemblances to each other are as marked as are their differences 

 from the rest of the natural order to which they belong. The leaves 

 furnish the most distinctive feature of the genus, being alternate, simple, 

 entire, prominently five- or seven-nerved, broad and rounded, with a 

 heart-shaped base, and from 2 to 6 ins. long. The flowers in most of 

 the species come in fasciculate clusters on wood one to many years old ; 

 but one Chinese species (C. racemosa) has them in racemes. The petals 

 are nearly equal, but arranged somewhat after the fashion of a pea-shaped 

 flower. 



Few t shrubs or small trees are more beautiful than the hardy species 

 of Cercis at their best. They enjoy and merit generous conditions at the 

 root, and succeed best in a deep, sandy loam, and should have as sunny 

 a position as possible. Plants should be given a permanent position 

 whilst still young, as the long, thick roots are liable to decay after the 

 inevitable injury involved in transplanting old trees by ordinary means. 



