Extracts from Diary in Japam. 69 



fill lilac tresses of blossom hanging in festoons from the 

 branches of the forest trees; here the ivy clothes others, the 

 old English mistletoe hangs from the boughs above, and 

 the honeysuckle wreaths the underwood. Neat hedges 

 divide the cottage gardens, and frequently enclose the gardens 

 of the rich. A wild bitter orange is the best hedge plant, 

 as it is impenetrable ; but the euonymus japonicus, althea 

 (hibiscus), with white and lilac blossom, and the crypto- 

 meria are used; these all make neat hedges when well 

 kept. The camellia, although wild, is usually planted along 

 the roadside ; it frequently attains a height of thirty feet, 

 profusely studded with lovely red blossoms. The fan palm 

 is also a favourite, and produces a beautiful effect ; the 

 hairy covering around the stem is used in lime plaster of 

 dwellings. The pink and white daphne attain a height 

 of five feet, as also the azalia, which grows wild^ and is cul' 

 tivated in every variety of colour in the temple grounds and 

 gardens, as also the lovely olea fragrans, or Japanese migno- 

 nette, so called from its powerful and sweet scent ; to- 

 gether with the charming lagerstroemia rosea, a tree 20 feet 

 high, covered with magenta blossoms. The umbrella pine 

 (sciadopetys verticillata) adorns the temple grounds, as also 

 a tree resembling araucaria bidwillii, excepting that it grows 

 very straight, tall, and luxuriant, with light green foliage, 

 said to be a cunninghamia. The grandest of all trees, and 

 perhaps the most esteemed, is the ginko biloba, or salisburia 

 adiantifolia, which attains a height of 80 to 100 feet, with a 

 noble contour, the foliage pale green in summer and chrome 

 yellow in autumn. The commonest of all trees, and one of 

 the most stately, is the pine of the country, used for firewood 

 and a variet}^ of purposes (pinus massoniana); this tree is 

 the common tree of the forest, the roadside, and the avenue, 

 and is most frequently pictured in lacquer work and intro- 

 duced in bronzes, &c. The berry-bearing shrubs are much 

 admired and cultivated ; the most prominent is the bamboo 

 of heaven (nandina domestica), with its light feathery foli- 

 age and lovely scarlet or yellow wax-like berries ; it is to be 

 seen in almost every temple groimd and cottager's garden, 

 and decorates the houses at Christmas time. 



The timber generally used is the cryptomeria japonica, 

 scented and soft like cedar (sugi), for lining houses, doors, 

 windows, and boxes. An ulmus or elm (planera japonica), 

 for temples, outdoor work, and furniture, is the most used 



