.");<) AKHOKI. I l.M AM) FKUTlCETr.M. PART III. 



>' ' -. (. ''./: . ., S-I-. Lea\t.-> ovate-elliptical, or lanceo- 

 late, coriaceous, quite smooth, serrated. Flowers 

 liiieciou-, dispo-vd in short racemes. (Don's 

 Mill., h. p. :;<>. ) An t vernrecn shrub, a native 

 of the M>nt!i of Furope and the north of Africa; 

 in cultivation, in Finland, from the days of Par- 

 kinson, in 1 <;;. There are several varieties. 



K. A > f'Hlciiricfi llort. Par. Tin- Halt-uric 

 Alntcritu:;. Leave.s roumlish. The /I'ham- 

 1111^ rotundifolius of J)umont. "\\ e take 

 this ;.s the 1 first \;:riet\, assuming the 

 species to be what is Jailed A', .f. lati- 

 f< );:!i>, which is the commonest variety in 



K. A. 3 hixjjanha llort. J*ar. The Sfmn'^li Alatcrnu*. Leaves 



ovate, ;i little toothed. 

 H. A. ! fi'i/iix iHfiru/atM. The o\<\-bfati'lu-d-It'ared Alatt-rmts. 



H. A. ."; f'7/ix nt'ircix. The i.'oA/-edged-/<:'tf m/ Al<ttci-)inx. 



o K. A. (i /'I'l/ii* aru.t.'ntcix. The xi/ce/'-vdacd-leavcd Aldtciniix. This 

 variety, which is very conspicuous from the large proportion of 

 the leaves which is white, is more tender than some of the other 

 varieties, it ncnerallv does best against a wall, and is well worth 

 a place there, on account of its splendid appearance, especially in 

 winter. 



K . A. 7 iiir^it^tif'clia, s\non. R. Clusi/ Willd. The narrow-leaved 

 Alatcrnits. Fiiiured in Mill. Icon., t. Hi. fig. ^. This variety is so dis- 

 tinct, that it is by main authors considered as a species. There 

 are two suhvarieties of it, the gold-striped-leaved, and the silvcr- 

 striped-Icaved. Tli'. -v are all of remarkably free growth, more 



]*/,//, I/i.-ifi.n/, iSv. Tire alaternns is a den.sely branched shrub, growing 

 to the heiiiht of I .; ft . or '20 it. in slielterevl situations, but always preserving 

 tin- character of a bu>h, unless careiulU trained to a siiiLik' sti'iu. The leaves 

 are alternate, shining, and oiten tihuulular at the. base, and serrated in some 

 varieties, but entire in others. The llouers are IUIIIKTOUS, male or female, or 

 imperfect hermaphrodites, on the .same or different individuals j and hence* 

 th" plant U .seldom seen in Kinjaud bearing fruit. It is abundant in the south 

 of 1-lurojie, and wa> obsvrvi-d l>y Sir James Smitli, in Italy, soinetime.s only a 

 foot or t \s o in heiijlit, and at others as hiiji as a low tree. Mvelvn, also, 

 ob-crved it there; and ays that its blossoms, \\hich arc- jiroduc'c-d from April 

 to .In ne, at io i'i| an " earh and marvellous relief to bees." Lively n boasts that 

 In- \\.is the first \\lio brought the alaternns into list; aiul rejintation in F.ng- 

 laml, and th..t hi- iiad projj.ii^ated it from Cornwall to Cumberland. Parkin- 

 Mi;!, ho\\r\cr, first introduced it; and he commends it for the beauty and 

 \rrdnre of the leaves, "abiding (jiiite fresh all the year." In his time it 

 was called evergreen pri\ft. The 1 plant is mentioned bv IMinv and by Dios- 

 corides, both as medicinal and as beini; used in d\ein<, r . Clusius states that in 

 Portugal the bark is used to dye a red, and the wood to d\e a blackish blue. 

 In British gardens, this shrub is particularly valuable for the rapidity of its 

 iMov.ih in alim >t anv -oil and situation, more especially the narrow-leaved 

 variety. About the cud of the seventeenth centnr\,it was one of the few 

 ev< r^iveus generally |ilanted, not only for hedges and to conceal objects, but 

 to dot he \\ all-, an 1 to be clip] ted into artificial shapes. In London and Wise's 

 l{<-lti r, I ( iunli ni-i\ published in I7()(i, it is recommended to <:row the al at em us 

 in i a-cs ( !H)\CS ), tor on lamenting gardens and court-yards ; and, when clipped 

 into the fnii of a bo\\ 1 or ball, for placing in the borders of parterres. 

 " \<>:< -ivc it \\hat shape vmi think fit b\ the IK Ip of \ our shears, which, being 

 \\cli guided, will make this shrub i>\' a very agreeable figure." (Rct.Gard.^ 



