6 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



at the base, partly cut. Peduncles forked, shorter than the leaves. (Don's 

 Mill.) A deciduous climber of vigorous growth. Europe and Britain, in 

 hedges and copses, always indicating a calcareous soil. Height 13 ft. to 

 30 ft.; in rich soil, and in a sheltered situation, 50 ft. to 100 ft. Flowers 

 white ; August, September. Fruit white ; ripe from October to February. 

 Leaves long retained, and dying off' black or dark brown. 



so 



The stems are woody, more 

 than those of any other species, an- 

 gular, climbing to the height of 20 

 or 30 feetj or upwards, and hanging 

 down from rocky cliffs, ruins, or the 

 branches of trees; or being supported 

 by, and forming tufts on, the upper 

 surface of other shrubs or low trees, 

 which they often so completely 

 cover as to have the appearance of 

 bushes at a distance. The footstalks 

 of the leaves are twined about what- 

 ever object they approach, and after- 

 wards become hard and persistent, 

 like the tendrils of a vine. The leaflets are either (juite entire, or unequally cut ; 

 sometimes very coarsely so. The panicles are axillary and terminal, many- 

 ffowered and downy. The flowers are of a greenish white colour, with little 

 show; but they have a sweet almond-like scent. The seeds {Jig. 5.) have 

 long, wavy, feathery, and silky tails, forming beautiful tufts, most conspicuous 

 in wet weather. The French gardeners use the twigs instead of withs, for tying 

 vip their plants ; and make very neat baskets of them when peeled, and also bee- 

 hives. The twigs are in the best state for making these articles in winter; and 

 their flexibility is increased by holding them to the fire before using them. In 

 gardens and plantations the plant is valuable for the rapidity with which it may 

 be made to cover naked walls, unsightly roofs of sheds, or low buildings and 

 arbours ; and for a variety of similar purposes. 



Fruit of C Vitalba. 



J, 5. C. viKGiNiA^NA L. The Virginian Clematis. 



Jdentification. Linn. Amoen., p. 275. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 4. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 5. ; Tor. and Gray, 



1. p. 8. 

 Synonymes. C. canadensis trifoFia ripens Tourn. ; C. canadensis Mill. Diet. No. 5., Salisb. Prod. 



371.; C cordiiblia. Moench. Supp. lOi. ; C. triternkta. Hort. ; the broad-leaved Canada Virgin's 



Bower; Clematite de Virginie, i^>-.; VirginischeWaldrebe, Ger. 

 Engravings. Den. Brit, (the male plant), t.74. ; and our Jig. G. 



Spec. Char., ^-c. Flowers panicled, dioecious. Leaves 

 ternate; leaflets cordate, acute, grossly toothed, 

 or lobed. {Don's Mill.) A deciduous climber. 

 Canada to Florida, in hedges and near rivers. 

 Height 10 ft. to 15 ft. Introduced in 1767. 

 Flowers white ; August, September. Fruit white. 

 Decaying foliage brown or black. 



Variety. 



i C.v. 2 bractedta Dec. C. hractehta Maenck. 

 Leaflets ovate-lanceolate, entire. 



The general appearance of this plant is like that 

 of C. Vitalba; but it is less robust in all its 

 parts, and less ligneous in its stems and branches ; 



and it is also somewhat more tender. Panic es 6. n^matis virginiina. 



trichotomously divided, with small leaves at the divisions. Sepals 4, white, 

 obovate, exceeding the stamens. Flowers often dioecious or polygamous. {Tor. 

 and Gray.) Miller states that it seldom ripens seeds in England ; but, as it is 

 dioecious, it is possible that he possessed only the male plant. 



