HARDY CLIMBING SHRUBS 65 



leaves and curious purplish flowers with recurved 

 petals with horn-like outgrowths at the base. The 

 Chinese plant is the hardier. The Supple-Jack 

 (Berchemia scandens) from the southeastern states 

 and its Japanese relative B. racemosa are hardy and 

 have neat, deep green prominently veined leaves, 

 small greenish flowers, and bunches of red changing 

 to shining black fruits. 



The native Waxwork (Celastrus scandens) and its 

 relatives C. articulata and C. flagellaris from north- 

 east Asia and Japan are good trellis plants but they 

 are seen to best advantage as a tangle on and over 

 large rocks. The first two have the male and female 

 flowers on different plants but in C. flagellaris, which 

 has little hooks at the base of the leaf-stalk that assist 

 it to climb, the sexes are on the same individual. 

 In the autumn when laden with yellow fruit which 

 opens and exposes the seeds with their brilliant 

 orange-scarlet coverings, there are few plants of equal 

 beauty. If branches be cut just as the fruits com- 

 mence to open and placed in vases without water the 

 ornamental value is retained throughout the winter. 

 The best of the three species is C. articulata. 



For planting against low walls and on rocks the 

 Matrimony-vines (Lycium chinense and L. halimi- 

 folium) are very useful and in late summer and 



