0601 



VIBURNUM 



Family: CAPRIFOLIACEAE. 



Reproductive system: PENTANDRY, TRIGYNY. 



The laurustinus, Viburnum tinus, Linn., is a small shrub in Paris gardens, but in 

 Provence it grows more than thirty feet tall when it's grown in good soil. The young 

 shoots are squared and reddish. The leaves are oval, pointed, firm, and persistent. They're 

 dark green above and slightly downy on the veins underneath. Once they open, the 

 flowers form beautiful white clusters, but the flower buds are reddish. The calyx has five 

 short lobes. The bell-shaped corolla has five lobes. It bears five stamens that alternate 

 with the lobes. The ovary is adherent; it turns into a monospermous berry crowned by the 

 teeth of the calyx. 



FLOWERS: in April in Provence. 



RANGE: stony ground and shaded areas in Provence. 



NOMENCLATURE. According to Seb. Vaillant [Translator's note: Sebastien 

 Vaillant, 1669-1722, was a French botanist. He studied in Paris under Tournefort], Tinus 

 comes from a Greek word meaning small, dwarf, because its stem isn't very tall. Pliny 

 describes a tree by this name that he says is considered by some to be a wild laurel and 

 that others believe belongs to a different genus. German, der laurustinus, wilder lorbeer. 

 Dutch, laurustinus. English, the laurestine. Italian, alloro salvatico. Spanish, durillo. 

 Portuguese, folhada, tinilho bastardo. 



USES. This shrub has been used for a long time to adorn parterres and even as a 

 house plant. During the winter it's often covered with flowers in coiymbs that are red on 

 the outside and white on the inside. 



CULTIVATION. The shrub is propagated by layering, grafting, and even from 

 seeds. Around Paris it's vulnerable to severe frost, 



