FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
placed against the upper part of the stems, the plant is immediately 
more or less enveloped in flames. Hence the name, Burning Bush. The 
species was introduced from South Europe just three hundred years ago, 
and is one of the plants peculiar to “ old-fashioned ” gardens. There 
are varieties with rosy and bright red flowers, 
cultivation As implied in the statement that Dictamnus is a plant 
of old-fashioned gardens, its culture is a simple affair. It 
is easily satisfied with ordinary soil, but likes a dry position. Seed 
should be sown in the border as soon as ripe; or the roots may be 
divided in early spring. 
Description of The upper portion of Dictamnus albas. Fig. 1 is a 
Plate 61. section of the flower. 
SKIMMIAS 
Natural Order Rutace.e. Genus Skimmia 
Skimmia (Japanese, sJdmmi, noxious fruit). A genus of three or four 
hardy evergreen shrubs, with green smooth branches, and alternate, 
leathery, lance-shaped, entire leaves, full of pellucid glands. The flowers 
are whitish, in terminal panicles, and consist of a four- or five-lobed calyx, 
and four or five oblong petals. Fruit, egg-shaped or globular drupes. 
The species are natives of Japan, China, and Himalaya. 
Skimmia japonica (Japanese) is the principal species in cultivation. 
It is a very handsome, dwarf, holly-like shrub when in full berry; 
seldom more than 4 feet in height. The berries are bright red, and 
afford a good contrast with the dark shiny leaves. The fragrant 
flowers appear in March, and even then the shrub is not unlike some 
varieties of Holly. This species was introduced about fifty years ago, 
and was the first to become known. Several other species have 
been introduced during the last thirty years, those known as S. 
fragrans, 8. fragrantissima, S. intermedia, 8. oblata, 8. ovata, S. Fore- 
mani, and S. Rogersi, are merely seedling varieties or sexual forms of 
8. Japonica. 
S. Foktunei (Fortune’s) has elliptic lance-shaped leaves, and greenish 
white flowers, the unopened buds being tinted with red; hence it has 
been called S. rubella. Introduced from China 1874. 
S. latjreola (Laureola-like) is a pretty Citron-scented shrub, with 
oblong lance-shaped leaves, yellow beneath, and pale yellow fragrant 
flowers. It is a native of Himalaya. 
