404 CORYLUS COTONEASTER 



character among cultivated hazels is the prickly burs that enclose the nut 

 clusters. In this respect it is closely similar to C. FEROX, Wallich, a Himalayan 

 species with narrower, more oblong, longer pointed leaves and less spiny burs. 

 Perhaps more tender and not in cultivation. 



COTONEASTER. ROSACES. 



A group of shrubs or occasionally trees, both deciduous and ever- 

 green, found most abundantly in the cool temperate regions of N. Asia, 

 especially in China and the Himalaya. Others occur in Europe, and one 

 is British. C. microphylla is naturalised on the chalk downs near 

 Ventnor, Isle of Wight, also in the counties of Gloucester and Somerset. 

 Seeing how fond birds are of the fruit, it is curious that more naturalised 

 species have not been found. They are closely allied to the thorns 

 (Crataegus), but are easily distinguished by the always entire, not toothed 

 nor lobed leaves, and by having no spines. The flowers are very 

 uniform in size and colour, being nearly always from \ to J in. in 

 diameter, and either pure white or rose-tinted. They are borne in 

 clusters of varying size, from those of some species that are 2 or 3 ins. 

 across, to others with only two or three flowers in the cluster ; still others 

 have solitary flowers. The flowering-time is mostly in May and June. 

 Whilst some species are very pretty then, the Cotoneasters generally are not 

 showy in blossom. Apart from habit and foliage their greatest attraction 

 is in their fruit. In the handsomest sorts this is brilliant red ; in others it 

 is yellowish or brownish, and in a considerable number it is black. They 

 are either globose, egg-shaped, or oval, and vary little in size, averaging 

 about \ in. in diameter. 



In the following descriptive notes of the cultivated Cotoneasters, I 

 have, for convenience sake, maintained the species as they are generally 

 accepted in gardens. But it is certain that several so-called species are 

 only "states" or seminal forms of others. There are microphylla and 

 thymifolia, for instance ; although distinct enough as usually seen in 

 gardens, seeds of C. thymaefolia have at Kew, produced plants not 

 distinguishable from C. microphylla. C. bacillaris and C. frigida are 

 connected by one or more intermediates, and in the considerable 

 integerrima (or vulgaris) group several species are of very doubtful 

 standing. 



No shrubs are more easily cultivated than these. They thrive in any 

 soil that is not marshy or water-logged, and are very well adapted for 

 poor soils. They can be propagated quite easily from cuttings made of 

 half-ripened wood about July, and placed in gentle heat. Seeds, too, are 

 plentiful, and can be used, but for reasons suggested above, it is not 

 advisable to use them in some cases, especially where it is ' desirable that 

 the parent plant, for its brightly coloured fruit or special habit and foliage, 

 should be propagated unchanged. The old practice of grafting them on 

 hawthorn is indefensible. 



Between the purely evergreen and the strictly deciduous kinds there 

 are others in which the persistence of the foliage during winter depends 



