CHAP. LXIII. C'APRIFOLIA'CE^E. FIBU'RNUM. 1033 



never open unless thevare sheltered. This is quite a distinct variety, 

 with fewer and more spreading branches than the common kind, and 

 much larger leaves, which are shining. There is a subvariety of it 

 with leaves more or less variegated with white. It is a native 

 about Algiers, and on Mount Atlas. A plant of this variety, at Bal- 

 nuldery, the seat of the Earl of Meath, near Bray, was, in 1825, 

 10 ft. high, and 120 ft. in circumference. (Dub. Phil. Jottrn., i. p. 4:1*.) 



V. T. 4- virgfifa Ait., 1. c., C/lus. Hist., No. iii., with a fig. Leaves 

 oblong-lanceolate, pilose on the margins, as well as on the under 

 surface. It is a native of Italy, about Rome and Tivoli, &c. 



* V. T. 5 stricta Hort. has a somewhat erect and fastigiate habit. 

 There is a handsome plant of this variety in the Horticultural So- 

 ciety's Garden, which, in 1835, was 6ft. high. There is also a va- 

 riegated subvariety. 



Description, $c. The laurustinus, in its different varieties, forms tufted 

 truly evergreen shrubs, prolific in flowers; and in airy situations on dry soils, 

 where they have room to attain a large size, they become the most con- 

 spicuous ornaments of British gardens during winter and early spring. They 

 do not thrive well in the smoke of cities ; nevertheless they are to be seen 

 nowhere finer than in the front gardens of small villas, from 5 to 20 miles 

 from the metropolis; where they are in flower from November till April, 

 and sometimes also during April, May, and June. Its blossoms are white, 

 and so abundant as to give a gay appearance to the plants even in midwinter, 

 an effect which is greatly heightened by the lively shining green of the foliage, 

 and by the varied and picturesque forms of the compact tufting of the branches. 

 These plants are admirably adapted for forming flower-garden hedges, and for 

 varying the low iron palisades, pales, or brick walls, which separate the front 

 gardens of street and suburban houses. The leaves, however, in these cases, 

 should be removed as soon as they fall ; as, when they dry, they have a remark- 

 ably fetid odour. In its native country, the laurustinus is invariably found in 

 dry soils of some depth and substance; and it does not appear that it 

 delights in the shade of other trees, like the common laurel, the holly, and the 

 box. In British nurseries, it is frequently, for ex- 

 pedition's sake, increased by layers ; but all the va- 7 . 9 

 rieties are readily propagated by cuttings, taken off 

 in autumn, and planted in a sandy soil, on a north- 

 ern border. In two years, these cuttings will form 

 saleable plants of the smallest size. The variety 

 r. T. lucida, being somewhat more difficult to 

 strike than the others, is generally increased by 

 layers. Price of plants, in the London nurseries, 

 from 6d. to 1*. each ; at Bollwyller, from 50 cents 

 to 2 francs. 



A. Half-hardy Species of Viburnum belonging to 

 the Section Tiniis. 



V. rvgdsum Pers., V. Tlnus var. stricta Ait., V. strictum 

 Link, V. rfgidum Vent., (Bot. Reg., t 370. ; Bot. Cab., t 859. and 

 our fig. 779.) is a frame shrub very like V. Tin us, but differing in 

 the leaves, which are longer and hairy all over. It is a native of 

 the Canaries ; and was introduced in 1795 ; flowering from De- 

 cember to March. Trained against a wall, it grows to the height of 6 ft., and requires little or no 

 protection. 



ii. Viburnum Tourn. 



Synonymcs. Lentago Dec. Prod., 4. p. 421. ; /'iburmim Ma-nch 3/c///., p. 505. 



Serf. Char., $c. Leaves deciduous. All the flowers fertile, and equal in shape 

 and size, except in V. lantanoides. Corolla rotate. Fruit oval. 



tt 2. V. LEXTA'GO L. The Lentago, or pliant-branched, Viburnum. 

 Identification. Lin. Sp., p. 384. ; Dec. Prod., 4. p. 325. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 440. ; Lodd. Cat.ed. 1836. 

 Synonyme*. '1 ree Viburnum, Canada Viburnum ; Viorne a Rameaux pcndans, Viorne luisante Fr 

 Birn Bliitteriger Schnecball, Get: ; CcimdischeSchwalkenbeer Strauch, Schwalken Strauch Hat/nc 

 Sngrmtog* Wats. Dend. Brit, t.21. ; Schmidt Baum., 3. t. 17fi., ex Ra-m. et Schultes Syst., 6. 

 p. 6.77. ; our/?"'. 780. ; and the plate in Vol. II. 



