Beautiful Flowering Shrubs 



The fourth species named at the head of this 

 chapter, E. philippiana, is a more recent introduction. 

 It was found in Valdivia by Richard Pearce (collector 

 to Messrs. Veitch), and sent home by him about 1873. 



When we turn to examine their individual charac- 

 teristics, we find that all the Escallonias have simple 

 leaves rather thick and very resinous, with resin glands 

 scattered all over the leafs tissue, fragrant and often 

 gummy to the touch. The margins are very finely 

 notched, and the leaves alternate on the stem. All, 

 except E. philippiana, are evergreen. The blossoms 

 are set in clusters on the ends of the branches. In 

 E. macrantha they are crimson, and there may be 

 forty or more together, the youngest at the top. The 

 buds are long rounded objects, specially vivid at their 

 blunt tip, and clasped at the base by a five-pointed 

 calyx, whose green is tinged with redness. The 

 clusters are drooping, and the flowers tend to face 

 downwards. As they open, the upper part of the five 

 separate petals turns back until the circumference of 

 the face of the flower is the size of a threepenny bit. 

 Behind it is the red petal tube, with the points of the 

 calyx now standing a little away from it. At the 

 mouth of the wide tube the yellow heads of six 

 stamens can be seen. On pulling off the petals the 

 stamens are found standing in a ring round a seed- 

 case with a green-topped column. After fertilisation 



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