3G2 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. TART III. 



a 1. //. sYKi\\rrs /,. The Syrian Hibiscus, or Althtca Frutex. 



LL-nliJicatum. Lin. Sj>., I'TS ; Dei-. Prod., 1. p. 44S. ; Don's Mill., 1. 478, 



SuHonumfS. Kftinie des .laniins, />. ; Syrisrher Kibisch, G?r. 



Derieatiun. It is called Althwa from the resemblance of its flowers to those of the .flthaj a rosea. 



KHgrarifiRS. Cav. l)iss., ;). t. fi!'. f. 1. ; Hot. Mag., t. S;3. ; and our Jig. SS. 



Sjit'c.Char.,$c. Stein unarmed, arboreous. Leaves ovate, 

 wedge-shaped, 3-lobed, toothed. Pedicels hardly longer 

 than tlie leaves. Involucel 6 7-leaved. (Don's J ////., i. 

 p. 47M.) A deciduous shrub, a native of Syria and 

 Carniola, where it attains the height of 6 ft., and Mowers 

 in August and September. The flowers are large, single 

 or double, purple, white, red, or variegated. It is one 

 of our most ornamental hardy shrubs ; and, having been 

 in cultivation since 1596, the following varieties have 

 proceeded from it : 



*i H. s. ~2 foliis variegatis, the variegated-leaved Syrian 



Hibiscus, or Althaea Frutex. 

 * II. s. SJlorc var'u'grito, the variegated-flowered Syrian Hibiscus, or Althaea 



Frutex. 

 s II. ,v. -t Jiore j)iirpurco, the purple-flowered Syrian Hibiscus, QT Altha?a 



Frutex. 

 a II. ,v. 5 florc purpureo plena, the purple-double-JJowered Syrian Hibiscus, 



or Althai-a Frutex. 



^ II. .v. (3 flore ritbro, the red-lowered Syrian Hibiscus, or Althaea Frutex. 

 a H. s. 7 fore d/bo, the white-flowered Syrian Hibiscus, or Althaea Frutex. 

 & II. .v. 8 Jiore ulbo pleno, the wJiite-double-JJowercd Syrian Hibiscus, or 



Althaea Frutex. 



Description, History, $c. A deciduous shrub, from 6 ft. to 8 ft. in height, 

 with numerous upright white-barked branches ; their general character being 

 rather fastigiate than spreading. The leaves are variously lobed. The 

 flowers are axillary, large, and bell-shaped. In English gardens, these 

 flowers are produced from the middle of August to the end of September ; 

 and, when the season is dry and warm, they are succeeded by capsules con- 

 taining ripe seeds. It is a native of Syria and Carniola, and was introduced 

 into England previously to 1G^9 ; being mentioned by Parkinson, in his Para- 

 disus of that elate, as a new shrub, somewhat tender, requiring to be kept in 

 a large pot or tub in the house, or in a warm cellar. In the neighbourhood 

 of Paris, it has been known for upwards of two centuries ; and it is found 

 there, as well as about London, to be perfectly hardy. At Berlin and Vienna, 

 in ^evere winters, it requires protection. In the time of Du llamel, and of 

 Miller, there were no double-flowered varieties; but these have since been 

 procured from seeds. Double-flowered varieties are now common both in 

 Europe and America. The only use to which the shrub is applied is as a 

 irarden ornament, of which it is one of the most conspicuous ; and it is the 

 more valuable, because it produces its flowers at a time of the year when 

 few shrubs arc in bloom. It forms beautiful garden hedges, more especially 

 when the different sorts are planted in a harmonious order of succession, 

 according to their colours ; and when the plants are not clipped, but care- 

 fulls pruned with the knife. In the colder parts of Britain, and in the 

 north of Germany, few ornamental shrubs better deserve being planted 

 airainst a wall. It will grow in almost any soil not too wet; but, like all 

 the J/alviicca: 1 , seems to prefer one sandy, deep, and rich rather than 

 poor. An open airy situation, where it will ripen its wood, is essential. 

 The single-flowered varieties are propagated by seed, which come up true 

 to their respective colours; the double-flowered varieties are propagated 

 by lasers, by grafting on the common sorts, and sometimes by cuttings of 

 the ripened \\ood, planted in sand in autumn, and covered with a hand- 

 'jlass during the winter. Price, in the London nurseries : seedlings, 5.v. a 

 hundred; the different single-flowered varieties, .Ws. a hundred; and the va- 



