The Weigelas 



beautiful shrubs of Northern China and a precious 

 "find" even in that home of beautiful shrubs of aza- 

 leas, forsythias, honeysuckles, and wistarias. Prophesy- 

 ing great things of it, he sent specimens home to 

 England, where it was also warmly appreciated. The 

 name Weigela then given to it was no doubt in 

 honour of the German botanist Weigel. 



Weigela belongs to the honeysuckle family the 

 Caprifoliacece a curiously assorted group of plants 

 which have little family resemblance to one another, as 

 one realises when one recalls the members of it the 

 elder, the honeysuckle, the guelder rose, the little 

 green moschatel, and the Weigelas ; and now they are 

 placed in the Diervilla group of that family, and, in 

 fact, are more often referred to as " Diervillas," though 

 the old name still clings to them. 



In spring Weigela rosea shows buds set in pairs 

 down the vigorous shoots. Each bud is long and 

 narrow, and the brackets on which they are placed are 

 in two parallel lines, the parellelism being very marked 

 and characteristic. A pair of brown scales form the 

 coat of the bud, and within them lie the leaves, their 

 edges slightly rolled inwards, an older leaf enfolding a 

 younger. Their backs are plentifully covered with hairs, 

 which are specially thickly placed along the veins. As 

 the leaves enlarge and separate one from another they roll 

 up into tight coils, which coils, as April days lengthen, 



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