. THE HEATH FAMILY. 49 



now all pretty well known in our gardens, with the exception of Viburnum furcatum, a 

 common northern and mountain plant, so similar to our American Hobble-bush, Viburnum 

 lantanoides, that some authors have considered the two plants identical, and Viburnum 

 Wrightii, a distinct, black-fruited species of northern Japan, where the American botanist, 

 Charles Wright, detected it when the Wilkes Expedition explored the shores of Volcano 

 Bay. Viburnum furcatum is distributed through the mountain regions of the empire, and is 

 one of the commonest species. Sometimes it grows to the height of fifteen feet ; and it is 

 always conspicuous from its great thick reticulate-veined, nearly circular leaves, which, in the 

 autumn, turn to marvelous shades of scarlet, or to deep wine-color. If this fine plant takes 

 kindly to cultivation it will prove a real acquisition to our gardens. 



Ericaceae abound in Japan, where we miss, however, such familiar American types as 

 Kalmia, Oxydendrum, and Gaylussacia. Vaccinium is multiplied in species ; but, with the 

 exception of the red-fruited Vaccinium Japonicum and the black-fruited Vaccinium ciliatum, 

 they are not very abundant, and are mostly confined to alpine summits, where the species are 

 found which, in the extreme north, encircle the globe ; and Blueberries nowhere cover the 

 forest-floor with the dense undergrowth which is common in our northern woods. The broad- 

 leaved evergreen true Rhododendrons are not very common in Japan, where there are only 

 two species, and, being mostly confined to high elevations, they nowhere make the conspicuous 

 feature in the landscape which Rhododendron maximum produces in the valleys of the south- 

 ern Alleghany Mountains, or Rhododendron Catawbiense makes around the summit of Roan 

 Mountain, in North Carolina and Tennessee. Most of the Japanese Azaleas produce purplish 

 or brick-colored flowers; and in spite of all that travelers have said of the splendor of 

 Japanese hillsides at the time when the Azaleas are in bloom, it is doubtful if they compare in 

 beauty with some Alleghany mountain-slopes when these are hghted up with the flame-colored 

 flowers of Azalea calendulacea, or with the summit of Roan Mountain during the last days of 

 June, when one of the greatest flower shows of the world is spread there for the admiration 

 of travelers. 



None of the Japanese Azaleas, excepting, perhaps. Rhododendron Sinense, the Azalea 

 mollis of gardens, produce such beautiful flowers as those of American species like Rhodo- 

 dendron (Azalea) viscosum. Rhododendron nudicaule, or Rhododendron arborescens. None 

 of the Japanese Rhododendrons can be considered trees, although one or two of the deciduous- 

 leaved species grow to the height of twenty or, possibly, thirty feet. 



Andromeda Japonica, now common in our gardens, is properly a tree, for in the temple 

 park of Nara, where it grows in profusion, there are specimens at least thirty feet in height, 

 with stout well-formed trunks six or eight feet in length. Enkianthus campanulatus, the rep- 

 resentative of a small genus of southern and eastern Asiatic trees, may be expected to become 

 an ornament in our gardens of much interest and beauty ; and as it grows as far north as the 

 shores of Volcano Bay in Yezo, and up to over 5,000 feet in central Hondo, it may flourish 

 in the climate of New England. Enkianthus campanulata is a slender bushy tree, sometimes 

 thirty feet in height, with a smooth fight red trunk, occasionally a foot in diameter, and 

 thick smooth round branchlets. The leaves are mostly oval, sharply serrate, firm, dark green 

 above and pale yellow-green below, about three inches long, and one inch wide j they are 



