506 EL.E AGNUS 



reddish glistening /scales. Leaves oval to narrowly ovate, i| to 2| ins. long, 

 | to i^ ins. wide ; wedge-shaped at the base, rounded or pointed at the apex ; 

 both surfaces white and lustrous with silvery scales ; stalk in. long. Flowers 

 produced during May in great profusion in the leaf-axils of the young twigs, 

 often three in each axil ; they are drooping, in. long, with a stalk in. long ; 

 narrow tubular, shining and silvery outside, yellow on the inside of the four 

 pointed lobes ; very fragra'nt. Fruit roundish, egg-shaped, silvery, in. long 

 with a dry, mealy flesh, said to be edible. _ 



The only species native of N. America, reaching from the Hudson Bay 

 Territory and British Columbia to the Central United States ; introduced in 

 1813. This shrub is one of the most striking of those with silvery foliage, and 

 when laden with its yellow, delightfully fragrant flowers, few others are more 

 pleasing. It is increased by taking off the sucker growths by which it spreads. 

 There is a great confusion in gardens and nurseries between this plant and 

 Shepherdia argentea, which seems to have existed in Loudon's time. London 

 does not seem to have known the true plant. There is one simple distinction 

 between them : the Elaeagnus has alternate leaves, the Shepherdia opposite 

 ones. The latter, moreover, is far from being as fine a shrub. 



v 



*E. GLABRA, Thunberg. 



There is much confusion in gardens between this species and E. pungens ; 

 but E. glabra differs from E. pungens in the following respects. It is not 

 thorny, its longer-pointed leaves are of thinner texture, their lower surface 

 brown and^ shining with a metallic lustre (E. pungens is whitish and dull 

 beneath) ; and it is of more rambling, even climbing habit. For the rest, 

 E. glabra is a vigorous evergreen shrub, with us 15 to 20 ft. high, but twice 

 as much on trees and houses in the south of Europe. The flowers appear in 

 October and November, and are funnel-shaped, white, clothed with brownish 

 scales, fragrant. Young shoots slender, covered with brown, glossy scales. 



Native of Japan and China. There appears to be no variegated form of 

 E. glabra in cultivation. 



E. MACROPHYLLA, Thunberg* 

 (Bot. Mag., t. 7638.) 



A robust evergreen shrub of rounded, spreading habit, reaching at present 

 8 to 12 ft. in height in this country ; usually wider than high ; young shoots 

 silvery white, with a dense coat of scales. Leaves ovate to broadly oval, 

 rounded at the base, pointed ; 2 to 4^- ins. long, \\ to 2| ins. wide, silvery all 

 over when young, but afterwards dark lustrous green and slightly scaly above, 

 always of a beautiful silvery metallic lustre beneath ; stalk \ to f in long. 

 Flowers produced during October and November, usually in clusters of four to 

 six in the leaf-axils ; they are about ^ in. long and wide, each on a stalk ^ in. 

 long ; silvery scaly, shaped like a fuchsia, nodding, very fragrant, the four 

 segments triangular. Fruit oval, in. long, red, scaly, the perianth persisting 

 at the top. 



Native of the Corean Archipelago and Japan, described by Thunberg in 

 1784 ; introduced by Maries for Messrs Veitch in 1879. It is perfectly hardy, 

 and flowers annually at a time of year when few blossoms remain out-of-doors. 

 It is the largest leaved and handsomest of evergreen oleasters, and is very 

 effective in spring before the young silvery leaves lose their sheen. Allied to 

 pungens and glabra, it is very distinct from them in the broader silvery leaves 

 and broader more bell-shaped flowers. 



