ADDISONIA 19 
(Plate 170) 
CORYLOPSIS SPICATA 
Common Corylopsis 
Native of Japan 
Family HAMMAMELIDACEAE WITCH-HAZEL Family 
Corylopsis spicata Sieb. & Zucc. Fl. Jap. 1:47. 1836. 
- Those who are not acquainted with plant families would hardly 
recognize in this interesting Japanese plant a close relative of one 
of the most familar plants of our own woodland, the common witch 
hazel, one of the few autumn-flowering shrubs. Not as in the witch 
hazel do its flowers appear in the fall, but at the opposite season of 
the year, the early spring. Late in April or early in May, in the 
latitude of New York city, its golden tassels of fragrant flowers 
appear, making of it an object of grace and beauty. The flowers 
are all the more conspicuous, as they appear before the leaves or 
just at the time of their unfolding. A shrub of small size, rarely 
attaining a height of over four feet, and an equal spread, it is well 
suited to limited quarters where larger shrubs cannot be attempted. 
It prefers a peaty or sandy soil, but will grow in ordinary ground 
not too heavy. As the flowers fade the attractive foliage develops, 
the broad leaves being firm in texture. The specimen from which 
the illustration was prepared has been in the fruticetum collection 
of the New York Botanical Garden since 1912. Other and larger 
specimens, obtained in 1899, are in the same collection, indicating 
that a long period of usefulness may be expected. 
The fact that it is a native of the mountains of the islands of 
Kiusin and Shikoka, in the extreme southern part of Japan, makes 
the hardiness of this plant north of New York city, except in shel- 
tered situations, an uncertain matter. At the New York Botanical 
Garden, however, as indicated above, it has been in cultivation for 
about twenty-one years, proving there at least its perfect hardiness. 
About a dozen species of the genus Corylopsis are known, half 
of them in cultivation; of these the one most commonly cultivated 
is that here considered. 
Propagation may be effected by seeds, sown in the spring, the 
best results being obtained with a little bottom heat; by half- 
ripened wood under glass, the cuttings being made in the summer; 
the process of layering may also be employed, as rooting takes 
place readily in fairly moist peat soil. 
