Introduction. xix 



Ribcs, Philadelphia, Azalea, Ceanothus Calycanthus, Crataegus 

 arid Bignonia. Japan furnishes us with the beautiful Deutzias, 

 Diervillas, Hydrangeas, Pyrus Japonica, Kerria, Forsythia, 

 various species of Clematis, etc. From the South of Europe 

 and Asia Minor we have Azalea Pontica, Hibiscus Syriacus, 

 Cercis Siliquastrum, various Cisti and Leguminosse, including 

 the Laburnum, several species of Cytisus, Genista and Spartium. 

 Siberia and Northern China furnish us with several noteworthy 

 outliers of different families, whose members are chiefly natives 

 of warmer regions, such as Koelreuteria paniculata, Ailanthus 

 glandulosa, Xanthoceras sorbifolia, Phellodendron Amurense, 

 Eleutherococcus senticosus and Fortunaea Chinensis : with the 

 exception of the first two, these are recent introductions. 

 Caragana and Halimodendron are two very hardy genera from 

 Siberia. Some of the foregoing extend to Japan, and we have 

 ako many other very handsome, though mostly tender, de- 

 ciduous trees from the same country. Sophora Japonica is 

 the best known and the hardiest of them. The beautiful 

 forms of Acer polymorphum are, unfortunately, too tender to 

 withstand the winters in the greater part of Britain. Amongst 

 the remaining deciduous trees from Japan, we may naine the 

 genera Ulmus, Planera, Pterocarya, Melia, Ehus, Broussonetia, 

 and Salix. There are few trees or shrubs from Australasia 

 hardy enough to withstand the climate of any part of the 

 kingdom, with the exception of the Scilly and Channel Islands. 

 Herbaceous vegetation characterises nearly all temperate 

 regions, but more especially the northern. The proportion of 

 woody to herbaceous species is much higher in the southern 

 hemisphere, and the general appearance of the majority of the 

 herbaceous species is very different tc what we are accustomed 

 to in our native plants, even in species belonging to European 

 genera. Although there are no hardy shrubs from New Zea- 

 land, some of the herbaceous plants will succeed in the open 

 air with us, as they are less exposed to the effects of sharp 

 frost ; but very few are grown, being for the greater part more 

 curious than beautiful. Libertia ixioides is from New Zealand, 

 and the magnificent Chrysobactron Kossii is a native of the 

 Auckland Islands. Myosotidium nobile is, so far as at present 

 known, peculiar to Chatham Island. Doubtless many other 



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