122 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 264, 



A very distinct evergreen species, Ilex pedunculosa, is 

 exceedingly common on the Nagasendo, the great central 

 mountain road of Japan, in the valley of the Kisogavva. 

 This plant is sometimes a shrub two or three feet in height, 

 and is sometimes twenty or thirty feet high, when it is a 

 well-formed tree, with a narrow, round-topped head. The 

 leaves are lustrous, two to three inches long, ovate-acute, 

 entire and long-petiolate. The stems of the flower-clusters, 

 from which is derived its specific name and which are 

 longer than the leaves, give this plant its greatest charm, 

 for they hold the large bright red fruit, which is solitary, or 

 arranged in clusters of three or four, well outside the leaves, 

 giving to the plants a peculiar and beautiful appearance in 

 the autumn. Occasionally a tree of this species was seen in 

 the garden of an inn on the Nagasendo, but it is evidently 

 little known or cultivated in Japan, and apparently has not 

 been introduced into western gardens. Ilex pedunculosa 

 will certainly flourish in western and southern Europe, and 

 I am not without hope that it will survive and possibly 

 thrive in the northern United States, as in Japan it is found 

 at high elevations in a region of excessive winter cold. 



Ilex crenata is the most widely distributed and the most 

 abundant of the Japanese Hollies with persistent leaves ; 

 this plant is abundant in Hokkaido, on the foothills of 

 Mount Hakkoda, and on the sandy barrens near Giffu, on 

 the Tokaido ; and I encountered it in nearly every part of 

 the empire which I visited. It is usually a low, much- 

 branched rigid shrub, three or four feet high, but in culti- 

 vation it not infrequently rises to the height of twenty feet 

 and assumes the habit of a tree not unlike the Box in gen- 

 eral appearance. The leaves, which are light green and 

 very lustrous, vary considerably in size and shape, although 

 they are rarely more than an inch long and are usually 

 ovate-acute, with slightly crenate-toothed margins. The 

 black fruit is produced in great profusion and in the autumn 

 adds materially to the beauty of the plant. This is the 

 most popular of all the Hollies with the Japanese, and a 

 plant usually cut into a fantastic shape is found in nearly 

 every garden. Varieties with variegated leaves are com- 

 mon and apparently much esteemed. Ilex crenata and 

 several of its varieties, with variegated foliage, vvere intro- 

 duced into western gardens many years ago and are occa- 

 sionally cultivated, although the value of this plant as an 

 under-shrub appears to be hardly known or appreciated 

 outside of Japan. Of the broad-leaved Japanese evergreens 

 I have the most hope of success with Ilex crenata in 

 this climate ; and if it proves really hardy it will be a most 

 useful addition to our shrubberies. 



Ilex Suderoki, another evergreen species quite unknown, 

 I believe, in gardens, may be expected to thrive in Europe, 

 and possibly in the northern United States, as it is an in- 

 habitant of southern Yezo and northern Hondo, where on 

 Mount Hakkoda we found it in fruit, and were able to se- 

 cure a supply of the seeds. It is a spreading bush five or 

 six feet high, with stout branchlets, light green ovate leaves 

 an inch long, rounded at the apex and coarsely crenulate- 

 toothed above the middle, and with bright scarlet long- 

 stalked solitary fruit half an inch in diameter. Ilex Suderoki 

 is an unusually handsome plant in the autumn and of con- 

 siderable horticultural promise. 



Of the section of the genus with deciduous leaves (Prinos), 

 represented in eastern North America by the familiar Black 

 Alder (Ilex verticillata) of our northern swamps and by the 

 arborescent Ilex Monticola of the Alleghany Mountains, 

 there are several species in Japan. The largest of these. 

 Ilex macropoda, is widely distributed, but not a common 

 plant. I saw it on the cliffs at Mororan on the shores of Vol- 

 cano Bay, on the hills above Nikko, and on the flanks of 

 Mount Koma-Ga-Take in central Japan, although only a 

 single plant in each of these widely separated localities. 

 Ilex macropoda is a round-headed tree, twenty to thirty 

 feet in height, with a trunk sometimes a foot in diameter. 

 It is a well-shaped handsome tree, with stout branchlets 

 furnished with short lateral spurs and ample, membrana- 

 ceous, ovate-acute, long-petioled leaves conspicuously 



reticulate-veined, which turn bright clear yellow in the 

 autumn, when they make a beautiful contrast with the 

 bright red long-stalked fruit, which, although not very 

 large, is exceedingly abundant. Ilex macropoda grows 

 not only far north, as Professor Miyabehas recently written 

 me of its discovery in the neighborhood of Sapparo, but in 

 the most exposed situations and at high elevations ; and 

 there is no reason, therefore, wh)' it should not thrive in 

 our northern states, where it may be expected to add con- 

 siderably to the beauty of shrubberies in the autumn and 

 early winter. 



A much more common plant than Ilex macropoda is Ilex 

 Sieboldii, although this species does not reach Hokkaido 

 or ascend to high elevations on the mountains of Hondo, 

 It much resembles our North American Ilex verticillata and 

 Ilex laevigata, although much less beautiful than either of 

 these species, the fruit being smaller and less highly col- 

 ored. Ilex Sieboldii is a tall-spreading shrub, very com- 

 mon in low grounds and near the borders of streams, with 

 slender stems often twelve or fifteen feet tall, small ovate- 

 acute sharply serrate conspicuously veined leaves, and small 

 scarlet fruit clustered on the short lateral spur-like branch- 

 lets. In the autumn the leafless branches of this shrub 

 covered with fruit are sold in immense quantities in the 

 streets of Tokyo for the decoration of dwelling-houses, for 

 which purpose they are admirably suited, as the berries 

 remain on the branches and retain their color for a lone 

 time. Ilex Sieboldii was introduced many years ago into 

 American gardens by the late Thomas Hogg ; it is an old 

 inhabitant of the Arnold Arboretum, where it now flowers 

 and produces its fruit every year. As an ornamental plant, 

 however, it is less desirable than the related American 

 species, and it will probably only be cultivated in this 

 country or in Europe as a curiosity, or in botanic gardens. 



The other Japanese Hollies with deciduous leaves. Ilex 

 serrata, which is closely related to and resembles Ilex Sie- 

 boldii, and Ilex geniculata, a rare shrub of the high moun- 

 tains, with black fruit, I was not fortunate enough to find. 



c. s. s. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



Mus4s. — Three species of Musas, of special value as dec- 

 orative plants, are now flowering in the Palm-house at 

 Kew, M. rosacea, M. coccinea and M. Mannii. The first- 

 named is an Indian species, with stems from four to eight 

 feet high, leaves of the usual form, but narrower than 

 those of the common Banana, and an erect flower-spike 

 which projects a foot or more above the base of the top- 

 most leaf and is clothed with yellow tubular flowers which 

 are hidden under the large ovate concave rosy lilac bracts. 

 M. coccinea, from China and Java, is less than three feet 

 in height, with beautiful dark green leaves a yard long, and 

 an erect spike with large cardinal-red bracts. M. Mannii is 

 a recent discovery in Assam and has been named in com- 

 pliment to Mr. Gustav Mann by Wendland. It is similar 

 to the last-named species, but the bracts are a darker shade 

 of red and the leaves are coarser. These are beautiful 

 stove-plants, easily cultivated, and, besides the charm of 

 their foliage, they add bright color to a collection at a time 

 of year when this is most acceptable. They appear to 

 flower at almost any season. 



Anthurium Chamberlainii is a plant of some beauty, both 

 of foliage and inflorescence. It was named, five years ago, 

 by Dr. Masters, in compliment to the Right Hon. J. Charri- 

 berlain, M. P., in whose garden, at Birmingham, it first 

 flowered, and where it had been introduced by chance on 

 a plant of Cattleya Gaskelliana. Until recently the Bir- 

 mingham specimen was the only one, but last year a 

 sucker of this plant was presented to Kew by Mr. Cham- 

 berlain, who takes considerable interest in the Royal col- 

 lection, and this plant is now in flower. It has leaf-stalks 

 four feet long, with large cordate shining green blades 

 three feet long and two feet wide, with an unusually broad 



