XXVI 

 THE COTONEASTERS 



Cotoneaster buxifolia . ^ . . . Box-leaved Cotoneaster 



frigida 



horizonlalis 



microphylla 



pannosa 



rotundifolia 



rugosa Henryi 



interrigima, or vulgaris 



f~ "1HE Cotoneasters' chief claim to a place in any 

 garden rests largely on the note of gaiety that 

 -*- their thick clusters of brilliant fruits give in 

 the drab days of winter. Rich crimson, orange-red, or 

 brightest scarlet, the little round berries are often 

 massed so closely together that the whole branches are 

 studded with them as with jewels. They vary in size 

 those of C. rotundifolia are the largest with a dia- 

 meter of half an inch and they vary in hue, but in 

 our selected garden species they are always a vivid and 

 grateful piece of colour. The flowers of the Coton- 

 easters, on the other hand, know nothing of this vivid- 

 ness of colour. Invariably they are white or slightly 

 suffused with a pale blush, and small. But massed in 

 their clusters and gleaming in their paleness they show 



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