576 Procecdifigs of the London Horticultural Society. • 



parts of that region is well suited to our own. If Eriobotrya japonica, Zigus- 

 trum lucidum, iaurus Cdmp/iora, and some others, were unable to resist the 

 winter, probably in consequence of their being naturally found in warm valleys, 

 on the other hand, 13 or 14 other shrubs proved hardy, among which are the 

 beautiful new species of Clematis ; and even certain varieties of Camellia 

 japonica exhibited a power of enduring cold which could not have been an- 

 ticipated. 



" The species native to the Himalayan Mountains resisted the cold to so 

 great an extent, that there can be no doubt of a large proportion of the vege- 

 tation of those northern parts of India proving hardy in England, Wales, and 

 Ireland. This fact alone is of the highest interest, because there certainly is 

 no country more accessible to us, or whose productions are more worthy of 

 being imported, whether for their value as timber, their beauty and variety as 

 forest trees, or their brilliancy as objects of ornament. The mere knowledge 

 that the noble deodar cedar is capable of enduring the utmost rigour of an 

 English winter is almost alone sufficient to compensate for the destruction 

 produced by the frost among other plants. All the pines and firs appear more 

 or less hardy, except Plnus longifolia, which is not a mountain species. Ben- 

 thamia fragifera, although tender in the midland counties, appears at home in 

 Cornwall and Devonshire ; the beautiful Berberis, many cotoneasters, a Eu- 

 onymus, Juniperus recurva, Leycestera formosa, all the spiraeas, Fiburnum 

 cotinifolium, and, above all, the magnificent .Rhododendron campanulatum, 

 have to be added to our lists of common shrubbery plants. Clematis montana 

 too proved so robust, that we have not only secured that addition to our 

 climbing plants, among which variety is so much wanted, but there are well- 

 grounded expectations of some of the many other beautiful species of the same 

 genus still to introduce proving equally suited to this climate. 



" With regard to the plants of the south of Europe and adjacent countries, 

 some facts prove new, others confirm opinions which were not previously es- 

 tablished to the satisfaction of every one, and a few are inexplicable upon any 

 known principle. That Jristolochia sempervirens, a native of Candia; and 

 Peganum Harmala, a common Syrian plant ; Plex balearica and Puxus ba- 

 learica, evergreens inhabiting the islands of Majorca and Minorca ; Juniperus 

 Oxycedrus, quite a southern bush ; and Pistacia Perebinthus, which is not found 

 wild north of the coast of the Mediterranean, should all have been found 

 hardy, where such plants as the tamarisk, J'rbutus LTnedo, and the cypress 

 perished, are results which could hardly have been anticipated. They are, 

 however, of the first importance, because it will induce the more general cul- 

 tivation of those among them which are beautiful. It is interesting to know 

 that J'rbutus Jndrachne is more hardy than A. C7 v nedo, a fact which may 

 perhaps be connected with their very different localities when wild; the former 

 being exposed to the severe cold of south eastern Europe, while the latter, 

 although wild in Ireland, is more peculiar to the west of Europe. Connected 

 with this is the important fact, that A. Jndrachne inarched upon A. LPne&o, 

 in which condition it is usually sold in the nurseries, is unfit for planting, 

 because of the tenderness of its stock. By taking care that plants of A. An- 

 drachne, and also A. hybrida, are on their own roots, two fine evergreens may 

 be considered secured to the gardens of the greater part of England. That 

 there should be a variety of the olive hardy enough to bear — 4^° without the 

 slightest injury, may be a fact of value to the olive-grower in many parts of 

 Europe, and renders it probable that this useful tree may be profitably raised 

 for its oil in any part of Ireland. To the fruit-grower the hardiness of the 

 green Ischia fig is a valuable fact, for it will enable this variety to be cultivated 

 much further to the north than it has hitherto been thought possible to 

 possess figs as open standards. The Aleppo pine seems to have generally 

 perished ; but Pinus brutia, a Calabrian species very like in habit, seems to be 

 hardy. There has been some difference of opinion as to the comparative 

 hardiness of the species of Cerasus called " laurels" in this country. The fact 

 is now established beyond doubt, that C. lusitanica, the Portugal laurel, is much 



