1910] Hall: Studies in Ornamental Trees and Shrubs. 21 



THE BOTTLE-BRUSH GROUP OF ORNAMENTALS. 



Bottle-brushes are eminently adapted to shrubbery and orna- 

 mental planting in California. They are rapid growers, hardy, 

 endure considerable drought and abuse, and many of them are 

 among the most showy of our cultivated shrubs. 



It has been found, however, that the best sorts are not the 

 ones most generally grown and that selection must be made with 

 regard to the surrounding vegetation and to the particular needs. 

 It is also to be remembered that what at first appears to be an 

 undesirable form may become one of the best if given proper 

 treatment, especially as regards pruning. It is hoped that the 

 following notes will be of some assistance in these matters, but 

 the chief aim has been to give an account whereby the different 

 species may be determined. There is perhaps no group of. orna- 

 mentals, generally planted in California, in which there is a 

 greater confusion as to names, and the current horticultural 

 publications are of but little assistance. 



The most elaborate account of this group is to be found in 

 Bentham's Flora Australiensis, and this work has formed the 

 basis for my own determinations, aided by more recent scat- 

 tered papers, a comparison of herbarium specimens from Aus- 

 tralia, and certain critical notes very kindly supplied by Dr. 

 J. H. Maiden, the Government Botanist of New South Wales. 



The members of the Bottle-brush group are mostly Aus- 

 tralian trees and shrubs belonging to the Myrtle Family (Myr- 

 taceae), which may be characterized as follows: 



Botanical Description of the Myrtaceae. 



Leaves simple, entire, containing oil or resins which are mostly fra- 

 grant and commonly give a dotted appearance to the leaf: calyx-tube 

 adnate to the ovary, 4- or 5-toothed, or the teeth wanting: petals as 

 many as the calyx-teeth, sometimes wanting, sometimes united into a cap 

 and falling away together: stamens numerous, attached to a disk lining 

 the calyx-tube and above the ovary: style simple, with a small round or 

 flat stigma: ovary inferior, mostly 2- to several-celled, maturing into a 

 capsule which is adnate to the calyx-tube (as a matter of convenience 

 the term capsule is here used as including both the capsule proper and 

 the enclosing persistent calyx-tube, the whole constituting the botanical 

 " fruit"): ovules commonly numerous but the fertile seeds often few. 



