604 HALIMODENDRON HAMAMELIS 



leaflets. The latter are f to ij ins. long, J to J in. wide; oblanceolate, 

 stalkless, tapering to the base, and covered with a minute, grey down. 

 Flowers two to four together on racemes 2 ins. long, produced from short 

 leafy spurs on the old wood ; each flower f in. long, with pale purplish 

 pink petals and a bell-shaped, five-toothed, downy calyx. Pod J to i in. 

 long, -J to J in. wide, inflated, produced on a stalk protruding beyond 

 the persistent calyx. 



Native of Siberia; introduced by Dr Wm. Pitcairn in 1779. Owing 

 to its susceptibility to damp when grown on its own roots (which makes 

 it difficult to raise from seed in this country), this shrub should be grafted 

 on Caragana arborescens, to which it is nearly allied. Standards 4 to 

 5 ft. high should be chosen so as to display the very graceful habit of 

 the plant. In this way it forms a small round-headed tree whose lower 

 branches are pendent. It flowers in June and July, and very freely on 

 well-ripened wood. At such times its elegance of growth, its abundant 

 flowers, and handsome grey foliage render it very attractive. 



Var. PURPUREUM, Zabel, has deeper rosy purple flowers. 



HAMAMELIS. WITCH-HAZELS. HAMAMELIDACE^:. 



A remarkable and beautiful genus of small trees and shrubs, consisting 

 of four species, all very hardy in Britain. They are distinguished very 

 readily from all other hardy shrubs by the thin, narrow, yellow petals, 

 sometimes f in. long, and only ~$ to -^ in. wide. The leaves are 

 alternate, and much resemble those of our native hazel. This resemblance 

 led the early settlers in N. America to use branches of H. virginiana 

 as divining-rods as hazel twigs were (and still are) at home; to its 

 supposed magic property it owes its popular name. The parts of the 

 flower are in four. 



The witch-hazels like a good, but not very heavy loam, and are 

 benefited in a young or not well-rooted state if peat and leaf-soil are 

 added. When established this is not necessary. The quaint habit of 

 the species is one of their charms, but without interfering with this it is 

 worth while to train up a leading shoot to obtain height, especially if the 

 plants, as they often do, assume and retain a low, sprawling mode of 

 growth. The Asiatic species graft easily on H. virginiana. It is best 

 to establish a quantity of seedlings of the latter in pots, and put on 

 the scions about the beginning of April, they should then be placed in 

 gentle heat. Seeds, it must be remembered, frequently take two years 

 to germinate. 



H. JAPONICA, Siebold. JAPANESE WITCH-HAZEL. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 6659.) 



A deciduous, spreading shrub or small tree, often sparsely branched ; the 

 quite young twigs furnished with stellate hairs. Leaves oval, ovate or obovate, 

 2 to 3^ ins. long, ij to 2^ ins. wide, with wavy margins, base unequal and 

 sometimes slightly heart-shaped ; the five to eight pairs of parallel veins run 

 forward at an acute angle from the midrib ; lower surface densely covered 



