626 HYDRANGEA 



especially beneath. Flowers sterile only on the margin of the corymb, their 

 sepals ovate to oval, I to i^ ins. long, blue or pink. 



H. JAPONICA, Siebold (H. hortensis var. Lindleyi). Of the same type as 

 acuminata, of which it is no doubt a form, having dull dark green, ovate, oval 

 or slightly obovate, coarsely toothed leaves, tapered at the points and with 

 curly hairs on the midrib and chief veins below ; more or less downy beneath 

 Flowers sterile only at the margin of the corymb, white and rosy pink ; the 

 small central ones deeper mauve-pink. 



H. STELLATA, Siebold. Leaves smaller than in the two preceding, but also 

 dull green, hairy on both sides, coarsely toothed, especially towards the apex. 

 Flowers pinkish, rosy or white, with numerous small, narrowly oval sepals ; 

 sometimes called " flore pleno " on that account. There are numerous other 

 varieties, but they belong to the greenhouse rather than the outdoor garden. 



A curious circumstance in connection with the flowering of Hydrangea 

 hortensis is the changing of the colour from pink to blue and vice versa, 

 although pink is, apparently, the normal colour. In some places the flowers 

 are uniformly and regularly blue, in others they never become that colour, and 

 plants that have for years borne blue flowers will produce pink ones when 

 they are removed to places where the flowers usually come pink. No satis- 

 factory explanation has been yet offered for this peculiarity, although it appears 

 almost certain that it is due to the presence in the soil of some ingredient of a 

 ferruginous nature. But alum applied as a weak solution to plants in pots is 

 also said to induce blueness. Iron filings mixed with the soil are also relied 

 on for the same purpose. A preparation called " Cyanol " is successfully used. 

 It is difficult to explain why, as sometimes happens, pink and blue flowers are 

 borne on the same plant at the same time. 



The name of this shrub has caused some confusion owing to its having 

 been called now H. hortensis, now H. Hortensia ; the older and proper name 

 is no doubt "hortensis," given to the plant in 1792 by Sir James E. Smith 

 (Icon. Pict., t. 12). "Hortensia" was originally applied to this shrub as a 

 generic name (H. opuloides, Lamarck] in 1789. With regard to the supposed 

 connection between this shrub and Queen Hortense, the following extract from 

 L'lnventaire des Cultures de Trianon, p. 29, a book by Le Comte Jaubert, 

 published in Paris in 1876, will be of interest : 



It is generally believed that the Hortensia bears the name of Queen Hortense, 

 daughter of the Empress Josephine, and for this reason it was used sometimes under the 

 Second Empire as a political emblem. This is a serious error. This plant was dedicated 

 to Madame Hortense Lepante, wife of a celebrated clockmaker of Paris, and a friend of 

 the botanist [Lamarck.] 



H. INVOLUCRATA, Siebold. 



A low, deciduous, semi-shrubby plant, usually less than \\ ft. high, but 

 perhaps higher in milder climates ; young shoots, leaves, flower-stalks, and 

 ovary covered with bristly, pale down. Leaves ovate-oblong, rounded or 

 tapered at the base, slender-pointed, margined with numerous fine, bristle-like 

 teeth ; 3 to 6 ins. long, I to 2^ ins. wide ; roughened, especially above ; stalk 

 j to i in. long. Corymb 3 to 5 ins. across, enclosed in the bud state by about 

 six large broadly ovate bracts, the largest about I in. long, covered with a felt 

 of appressed whitish down. Sterile flowers at the margin of the corymb, 

 I to i in. across, the three to five sepals white or blue-white, slightly downy. 

 Small fertile flowers blue. Blossoms from August to October. 



Native of Japan. The distinguishing feature of this species is the whorl of 

 bracts (involucre) at the base of the inflorescence, which persists through the 

 flowering. It is very pretty when in bloom, the blue (sometimes rosy lilac) 

 fertile flowers making an effective contrast with the large sterile whitish ones. 



