518 ERICA 



that the leaves are cut cleanly away without tearing the bark of the 

 cuttings. These are then put in pots of very sandy peat, surfaced with 

 silver sand when finished, and placed in slight bottom heat with a bell- 

 glass over them. They will take root in a few weeks, but need not be 

 disturbed until the following spring, when they can be treated as advised 

 for seedlings. 



E. ARBOREA, Linnceus. TREE HEATH. 



A shrub of bushy habit, or in favourable localities a tree over 20 ft. high, with 

 a distinct trunk ; young wood very hairy, the hairs branched. Leaves very 

 densely packed in whorls of threes, \ to \ in. long, smooth, linear, grooved 

 beneath. Flowers very fragrant, borne in great profusion in March and 

 April, and usually clustered near the end of short twigs that clothe the shoots 

 of the preceding year, the whole making a slender panicle up to i^ ft. in 

 length. Corolla globular, \ in. long, almost white ; sepals ovate, not half as 

 long as the corolla ; stigma much flattened, white ; flower-stalk \ in. long, 

 smooth. 



Native of S. Europe, N. Africa, and the Caucasus ; introduced in 1658. 

 This fine heath is not seen at its best near London, although it grows 8 to 10 

 ft. high there. Ultimately, however, there comes a frost that kills it. In the 

 Isle of Wight there is, or used to be, a tree in the gardens of Steephill Castle, 

 Ventnor, over 20 ft. high, with a trunk 2^ ft. in girth near the ground. There 

 is another about as high at Mt Stewart, Co. Down. Even on the Dalmatian 

 islands, where I have seen this heath wild, these dimensions are not exceeded. 

 It appears to be able to withstand about 20 of frost with impunity, if it 

 be of only one or two nights 3 duration. In former times the wood was largely 

 used at Cannes for turning and making into " briar-root " tobacco pipes a 

 corruption of the French " bruyere." It was once abundant along the coast 

 from Marseilles to Genoa. The flowers, whose odour is like that of honey, 

 remain, after fading, on the plants till June. 



Var. ALPINA, Dieck. A very distinct and valuable form of tree heath. It 

 was introduced to Kew in 1899, and has proved to be a very hardy and 

 handsome evergreen, and has never suffered in the least by any frost 

 experienced since that date. In the trying winter of 1908-9 even the smallest 

 twigs were uninjured, preserving a peculiarly fresh and vivid green all the 

 time. It is a sturdy bush, stiffer and more erect in its growth than E. arborea. 

 The young wood has the same mossy appearance, due to the abundance of 

 branched hairs. The flowers are not freely borne whilst the plant is young, 

 but afterwards they appear crowded in stiff, pyramidal panicles i ft. or more 

 long. They are rather dull white, but the beauty of the plant is as much in 

 the rich cheerful green of the plumose branches all through the winter. It is 

 now 6 to 8 ft. high at Kew. A native of the Mountains of Cuenca, in Spain, 

 at over 4500 ft. altitude. Perhaps distinct enough to rank as a species. 



E. AUSTRALIS, Linnceus. SPANISH HEATH. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 8045.) 



A shrub of rather open, ungainly habit, usually 3 or 4 ft. high, occasionally 

 twice as much ; young shoots erect, covered with a short thick down. Leaves 

 linear, \ in. long, glandular on the margins when quite young, arranged in 

 whorls of fours ; dark green above, channelled beneath. Flowers borne on the 

 previous year's growth in clusters of four or eight at the end of the shoot. 

 Corolla cylindrical, \ in. long, bright purplish red, with four rounded lobes at 

 the mouth ; calyx less than half as long as the corolla, slightly downy ; anthers 

 slightly exposed ; flower-stalk ^ m - 



