COTONEASTER 415 



to fourteen pairs ; leaf-stalk about in. long. Corymbs about I in. wide, carry- 

 ing nine to fifteen flowers ; stalks and calyx woolly, the teeth of the latter 

 triangular^ Fruit roundish, about j in. diameter, bright red, containing 

 usually three stones. 



Introduced by Wilson (No. H33a) from Western China in 1908, and again 

 in 1910. A very graceful, distinct, and attractive evergreen, highly recom- 

 mended by its collector for the beauty of its fruit. 



Var. RUGOSA, Rehder and Wilson (C. rugosa, Pritzel}. In this variety the 

 leaves are larger, up to 3 ins. long and i^ ins. wide, the veins numbering six 

 to twelve pairs. The fruit is coral red, larger than in var. floccosa, and 

 contains usually two stones. The plant is more vigorous, coarser looking, 

 and with bigger leaves than var. floccosa, but in many respects similar. 



Introduced by Wilson (No. 335) in 1907 from W. Hupeh, where he found 

 it 9 ft. high. 



C. SlMONSir, Baker. 



A deciduous, sometimes semi-evergreen shrub of erect, somewhat stiff habit, 

 and up to 10 or 12 ft. high ; young branches covered with a dense, brown 

 wool. Leaves arranged in opposite rows, f to I in. long, A to in. diameter ; 

 oval, roundish, or somewhat lozenge-shaped, tapering equally towards both 

 ends ; dark green, glossy and smooth above except for scattered silky hairs 

 when young, paler and hairy beneath ; stalks less than \ in. long. Flowers 

 white, \ in. diameter, produced usually two to four together on very short 

 woolly stalks from small twigs. Fruit scarlet, \ to ^ in. long ; about the 

 size and shape of common haws. 



Native of the Khasia Mountains. The introduction of this shrub is not 

 recorded, and for a long time its origin was doubtful. Its native home was 

 definitely ascertained in 1886, when it was found by the late Mr C. B. Clarke 

 at Lailankote, in the Khasia. It had, no doubt, been introduced by, and 

 named after, a Mr Simons, who had collected largely in the Khasia Mountains 

 many years previously. . C. Simonsii is a handsome vigorous shrub, very 

 suitable for grouping in shrubberies, where it is well able to take care of itself. 

 It differs from rotundifolia in having more flowers in a cluster. 



C. THYM^EFOLIA, Baker. 



A dwarf or prostrate, close-habited, evergreen shrub, with numerous rigid 

 branches, rather woolly when young. Leaves \ to in. long, narrowly 

 obovate, always blunt at the apex, recurved at the margins, deep shining green 

 above, whitish and woolly beneath ; they are narrower than in C. microphylla, 

 and are made to appear still more so by the curling under of the margins. 

 Besides being narrower, they also differ in being uniformly blunt at the apex 

 and broadest towards the end. Flowers pinkish white, mostly solitary, in. 

 across. Fruit round, \ in. diameter, bright red. 



Native of the Himalaya at high elevations, perhaps merely an alpine form of 

 C. microphylla. I do not think it is anything more than a variation of that 

 species, smaller in all its parts. Young plants raised at Kew some years ago 

 from seed of C. thymaefolia varied considerably, but some were in no way 

 distinguishable from C. microphylla. As the parent plant, however, was 

 growing in the same border as typical C. microphylla, and may have been 

 hybridised by bees, this is not conclusive evidence of their specific identity. 

 Still C. thymaefolia as known in gardens a close, tight, bright - leaved 

 evergreen should always be propagated by cuttings. It is a quaint and 

 interesting plant, very well adapted for the rock garden or a choice selection 

 of miniature shrubs. 



