COTONEASTER 407 



Native of the Himalaya up to 10,000 ft. This is one of the most useful of 

 Cotoneasters, and one of the most graceful. It has been largely planted 

 on the margins of the islands of the lake at Kew, where the branches overhang 

 the water and have the elegance of a willow, with the added attractions of 

 abundant flowers and fruits. As a flowering shrub, this is one of the prettiest 

 in the genus, but its fruits have not the bright colour that gives to many 

 Cotoneasters their greatest charm. The wood is strong and elastic, and 

 is valued in its native regions for making walking-sticks and spear-shafts. 

 The species is variable in the shape and amount of down on the leaves, 

 and no clear line can be drawn between it and C. affinis, which has woolly 

 leaves. 



Var. OBTUSA, Dippel. The name has been given to distinguish a form 

 whose leaves are rounded instead of pointed at the apex. 



C. BULL AT A, Bois. 

 (C. moupinensh var. floribunda, Stapf ; Bot. Mag., t. 8284.) 



A deciduous shrub, 10 to 12 ft. (perhaps more) high, of rather spare habit ; 

 the branches few, long and arching, bark blackish brown covered with dark 

 hairs when young. Leaves ovate or oblong ; \\ to 3^ ins. long, about half 

 as wide ; pointed, dark green and slightly hairy above, paler and felted beneath 

 with grey or yellowish down ; between the veins the leaf-blade has a swollen 

 (bullate) appearance ; stalk ^ in. long. Flowers in corymbs of from ten 

 to thirty ; each corymb I to 2 ins. across, borne on short leafy branches ; 

 stalks downy. Petals rosy white, soon falling ; calyx hairy, with short 

 triangular lobes. Fruit brilliant red, pear-shaped or round, \ in. wide. 



Native of W. China and Thibet ; first cultivated in Europe about 1898, 

 by Mr Maurice de Vilmorin at Les Barres, in France. It is undoubtedly 

 one of the finest of the species newly introduced. Of flower-beauty it has 

 none, for it has rarely more than two or three flowers expanded on one 

 cluster at a time, and the petals fall almost as soon as they open. But 

 it is very handsome indeed in fruit, the clusters, many of them 2 ins. across, 

 being set on the shoot about I in. apart in opposite rows. 



Wilson, in 1903, found a big-leaved form var. MACROPHYLLA in 

 W. Szechuen, its leaves up to 6 ins. long, its calyx smooth- except on the 

 margins ; this is probably in cultivation. 



C. BUXIFOLIA, Wallich. 



An evergreen bush up to 10 or 12 ft. high, with long, arching, sparsely 

 branched stems and downy young bark. Leaves \ to i in. long, oval or 

 obovate, dark green and usually smooth above, greyish and woolly beneath, 

 sometimes rounded at the apex, sometimes with a short, abrupt point ; 

 stalk \ in. or less long. Flowers white, \ in. across, produced in clusters 

 of two to eight, terminating short twigs less than i in. long. Fruit round, 

 red, j in. diameter. 



Native of the Nilghiri Hills; introduced in 1824. This species and 

 C. microphylla are undoubtedly closely allied and may be merely states 

 of the same species, but C. buxifolia can be distinguished by its larger 

 leaves and by its more vigorous habit. For some purposes it is one of 

 the most useful of Cotoneasters or even evergreens, being pretty in habit, 

 flower, and fruit. There is a mass at Kew 10 ft. high and 50 ft. through, 

 forming a dense, impenetrable tangle of stems, from the main body of which 

 stand out in every direction long, whip-like branches which give a very 

 graceful and distinct effect. For covering tall iron or any unsightly fences 



