640 HYPERICUM 1DESIA 



H. URALUM, Don. 

 (Bot. Mag., t. 2375 ; H. patulum var. uralum, f 



A semi-evergreen shrub, 2 to 3 ft. high, with slightly two-edged, much- 

 branched stems. Leaves ovate or oval, i to i| ins. long, dull green above, 

 glaucous green beneath ; with a faint orange-like aroma when crushed. 

 Flowers produced during August and September in terminal cymes of three 

 to fifteen flowers, each flower i in. across, golden yellow ; petals round, 

 concave, overlapping ; sepals roundish oval, green, fy in. long ; stamens in 

 five bundles, styles five ; fruit five-celled. 



Native of Nepal ; introduced in 1820. The specific name has nothing to 

 do with the Ural Mountains ; it is an adaptation of the Nepalese name for 

 this shrub, " Urala swa." Nearly allied to H. patulum, it is a much freer- 

 growing shrub, with thinner leaves and a hardier constitution, but it is not so 

 handsome in flower. 



HYSSOPUS OFFICINALIS, Linnaus. HYSSOP. LABIATE. 



A low, partially evergreen, aromatic bush, quite woody at the base, 

 ij to 2 ft. high; shoots erect, green, square, covered when young with 

 minute down. Leaves opposite, linear or narrowly oval, \ to ij ins. 

 long, T Y to \ in. wide ; tapered at both ends, very minutely toothed, or 

 roughened at the edges, rich green, glandular-punctate on both surfaces. 

 Flowers produced in close, axillary whorls on the shoots of the year, 

 forming a terminal panicle, and commencing to open about midsummer 

 and continuing until September. From six to twelve or more flowers 

 appear in each whorl, and they of a bluish purple shade in the type, 

 about J in. long, two-lipped. The leaves and young shoots have a 

 pleasant mint-like scent. 



Native of S. Europe, in the Mediterranean region, and W. Asia. 

 Cultivated as a medicinal herb in England since 1548, probably long 

 before. An infusion of hyssop is an old-fashioned remedy for removing 

 phlegm. It is an easily cultivated plant requiring a warm, light soil, and 

 is easily increased by cuttings during the summer and autumn. There is 

 a white-flowered variety. 



IDES I A POLYCARPA, Maximowicz. BIXACE/E. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 6794 ; Polycarpa Maximovviczii, Linden.'} 



The genus Idesia consists, so far as is at present known, of one species, 

 a medium-sized, deciduous tree, and commemorates E. I. Ides, a bi^ch- 

 man who travelled in China early in the eighteenth century. The 

 branches of I. polycarpa usually grow out from the trunk horizontally, 

 and the younger ones have a large core of pith. Leaves dark green and 

 quite smooth "above, glaucous beneath, and hairy at the base where the 

 main veins join the stalk ; heart-shaped, contracted at the apex to a 

 short point, rather distantly toothed, and ordinarily about 6 ins. long by 

 5 ins. wide, but occasionally half as large again; leaf-stalk usually thiee- 



