Beautiful Flowering Shrubs 



than in the last species, this autumn colour change is 

 most ornamental and a noticeable gain to the garden, 

 and, in fact, would justify the shrub being planted for 

 that alone, even were the flowering not the pretty sight 

 it is. It also produces its rosettes of white flowers very 

 early in the spring, only just second, indeed, to the 

 S. arguta and S. Thunbergi. The double-flowered form 

 of this shrub, 5. /. flore pleno, is the one usually seen, 

 and this form in its native country of China is commonly 

 planted on graves. It was first sent to England from 

 northern China by Robert Fortune in 1845, and proved 

 to be a fine hardy shrub, where the floral "doubling" 

 was particularly regular and perfect. 



3. Spircza Henryi, though not as yet often seen, since 

 it is a new species introduced only in 1900, is, however, 

 difficult to rival for beauty, and apparently quite easy to 

 grow. Its name recalls that Imperial Maritime officer 

 in China, Augustine Henry, who was one of the first to 

 give the outside world an inkling of the great richness 

 of the flora of Central and Western China collecting 

 over three thousand species and who is thus worthily 

 commemorated. On the borderland of China and Tibet 

 this shrub is one of the commonest seen, its "yard-long 

 flat sprays of pure white" decking the country far and 

 wide. Its leaves of simple outline are among those that 

 are used to make " tea," for in that land of tea it by no 



means follows that the genuine tea plant is a necessary 



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