382 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



with some protection during winter ; and a few of them, when once esta- 

 blished, with no protection whatever. They are all readily propagated by 

 layers, which, for the commoner sorts, are made from stools planted in cold- 

 pits. They are also propagated by cuttings of the ripe wood, planted in 

 autumn, and kept in a cool frame through the winter, being put into heat 

 when they begin to grow in the spring. Grafting, inarching, and budding 

 are employed for propagating the sorts that are comparatively rare. Various 

 new sorts have been raised from seeds ripened in this country. 

 An excellent work has been published on the Cameltioe, by Messrs. 



Chandler and Booth, entitled Illustrations and Descriptions of the Camellica: ; 



in which many of the finest varieties are figured, and scientifically described. 



Another work, on the same genus, is in course of publication by the Messrs. 



Baumann, at Bollwyller. 



* 1. C. JAPO'NICA L. The Japanese Camellia, or the red single-Jloircred 



Camellia. 



Identification. Lin. 9p., 982. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. f>29. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 574. 



Engravings. Cav. Diss., 6. t. 160. ; Jacq. Icon, rar, 3. t. 553. ; Duh. Ed. nov., t. 71. ; Bot. Mag., 



t. 42. ; Chandl. 111., t. 1. ; Andr. Bot. Rep., t. 25. ; Lod. Bot. Cab., t. 329. and 455. ; Lois. Herb. 



A mat, t. 43, 44, 45, and 46. ; and our fig. 94. 



Spec. Char. y fyc. Leaves ovate, acuminate, acutely 

 serrated. Flowers axillary, sessile, usually solitary. 

 Ovary smooth. (Don's M.ill. y i. p. 574.) An ever- 

 green shrub or low tree, perfectly hardy in the 

 neighbourhood of London, as a standard in the 

 free soil, when once thoroughly established. 

 Geography^ History, $c. The Camellia japonica 

 is indigenous both in China and Japan, and probably 

 in other parts of Asia not yet explored by botanists. 

 In Japan, it forms a lofty tree in high esteem with the 

 Japanese for the elegance of its large flowers, which 

 there exhibit a great variety of colours, and are pro- 

 duced from October to April. The trees are uni- 

 versally planted in the Japanese gardens ; and, 

 according to Thunberg, there are there several double- 

 flowered varieties ; and, among others, a double purple. The Camellia 

 was introduced into England by Lord Petre, about or before 1739. The 

 first plants brought over were killed by being kept in a stove ; but it was 

 afterwards reimported, and kept in a conservatory. The plant began to come 

 into general estimation in England abo.ut the beginning of the present 

 century; and it has since been more extensively propagated than any other 

 genus of green-house plants, unless we except Pelargonium and .Erica. Within 

 the last 15 or 20 years plants of this species have been tried in the open air, 

 some against walls, and others as bushes ; and, provided they are protected 

 for a few years after planting, till the roots become firmly established in the 

 soil, they seem to be nearly as hardy, even in the climate of London, as the 

 common laurel. Sweet, who, it will be allowed, is a competent judge, says, 

 " the Camelh'a is not generally so much cultivated as it deserves to be, though 

 it is very hardy, standing out our severest winters when planted out against a 

 wall, or in any sheltered situation, without protection." In Devonshire ca- 

 mellias form immense evergreen bushes without any protection whatever, and 

 have even ripened seeds from which young plants have been raised. There is 

 a single red camellia at Bicton, about 2^ miles from the sea, and 83 ft. above 

 its level, which is 9 ft. 6 in. high, with the head covering a space 12 ft. 6 in. in 

 diameter. The soil and subsoil are chiefly sand, and the situation not par- 

 ticularly well sheltered. It has been planted out for 16 years, and not pro- 

 tected for the last 12 years. During the last five years, it has endured a 

 temperature of 10 Fah., without sustaining the slightest injury. At Bicton 

 there are a number of other varieties of C. japonica planted out as bushes. 

 In the Vauxhall Nursery 8 sorts have stood out against a north-west wall 

 for 8 years, and flowered freely every year without the slightest protection; 



