FONTANESIA FORSYTHIA 557 



deciduous shrubs, or as some authorities hold, but one, closely allied to 

 the ashes, but with simple opposite leaves. Flowers numerous, small 

 and greenish ; petals four ; stamens two. Fruit a thin, flat capsule whose 

 two cells are surrounded by a wing. These shrubs have about the same 

 value in gardens as the privet, being easily cultivated in any soil of 

 moderate quality, and readily propagated by late summer cuttings. 



F. FORTUNEI, Carriere. 



(F. phillyreoides var. sinensis, Desbeaux?) 



A deciduous shrub, 10 to 15 ft. high in gardens, but said to become a tree 

 30 to 40 ft. high in China ; young branchlets angular, smooth. Leaves 

 lanceolate, long-pointed, I to 4^ ins. long, \ to I in. wide, entire, bright green, 

 and quite smooth. Flowers greenish white, produced in terminal, slender 

 panicles i to 2 ins. long, and in axillary shorter ones ; each flower \ in. long. 

 Fruit a flat oblong disk, in. long, with winged margins, notched at the apex. 



Native of China; found by Fortune in 1845, an d later by several other 

 collectors, near Shanghai. It is very closely allied to the following better 

 known species from Asia Minor, of which, by some authors, it is considered 

 merely a variety. The most obvious distinctions are the larger more uniformly 

 lance-shaped leaves (often oval or oblong in the other), and the more slender, 

 elongated panicles. In a note by Commander W. Perry preserved in the Kew 

 Herbarium, it is stated that the Chinese make fences round their compounds 

 with branches of this tree interlaced. These take root and form a graceful 

 hedge. 



F. PHILLYREOIDES, Labillardiere. 



A privet-like, deciduous shrub, 6 to 10 ft. high, forming a great number of 

 slender twigs, angular and smooth when young. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, 

 oval, or oblong ; -^ to 2^ ins. long, |- to % in. wide ; usually with a tapering 

 point, entire, smooth. Flowers about in. long, greenish white, very numerous 

 on terminal panicles | to I in. long, supplemented by smaller clusters in the 

 leaf-axils, produced during June on leafy twigs. A prominent feature of the 

 flower are the protruded stamens. Fruit a flat disk, roundish or oblong, two- 

 seeded, and surrounded by a membranous wing ; J to f in. long. 



Native of the Orient (Cilicia, Syria, etc.) ; introduced in 1787. This shrub 

 retains its leaves long in the autumn. It is perfectly hardy and flowers 

 copiously, and has about the same decorative value as the privet. 



Var. NANA. A form of more compact habit and slower growth. 



FORSYTHIA. OLEACE^:. 



This genus, consisting, so far as is known at present, of three or four 

 species of deciduous shrubs, commemorates Wm. Forsyth, once super- 

 intendent of the Royal Gardens at Kensington (1737-1804). They are 

 allied to the lilacs and jasmines, having opposite, trifoliolate or simple 

 leaves, angular stems, and yellow flowers produced in spring on short 

 stalks from the joints of the previous year's wood. Calyx four-lobed, 

 green ; corolla also four-lobed, the lobes uniting at the base into a short 

 tube ; stamens two, styles either long or short, both long-styled and short- 



