MY SHRUBS II 
little natural dwarf trees ; but some grow to a good size, though 
slowly. Beside Como, I saw a drift of these purple maples planted 
with blue conifers. They made noble colour, and now I have a 
purple maple and a sky-blue abies side by side. A sheaf of purple 
gladiolus supports them, and completes the little picture. Acer 
negundo is always welcome against a background of shadow or 
evergreen, and others I grow for the autumn colour they take. 
A. saccharinum, the sugar maple, is no longer a shrub, and will 
soon reach an altitude when we shall have to part. It is one of 
the first of things to light the flaming autumn signals. 
Actinidia is a small genus, and as yet I have only seen A. volubilis 
from Japan and A. chinensis flower here. The first is a fine climber, 
and the trusses of snowy little bell-like blossoms are beautiful. A. 
chinensis is also a grand climbing plant, and its furry crimson leaves 
in spring atone for a tardiness in flowering. Its yellow blossoms 
are not striking ; perhaps they will be followed by a dessert of 
pleasant fruits some day. I wait in trust and hope for this de- 
layed bounty. A. Henryz is the latest of the company to appear 
in England, and it sounds not much different from the last named. 
The family of Adenocarpus is scattered through the Canary 
Islands, Spain, and South of France. It affords no opportunities 
for great enthusiasm. A. anagyrus, from Teneriffe, is a fairly 
hardy evergreen of peculiar habit, with tufts of yellow pea-blossoms; 
but I should not miss it. 
Aisculus parviflora, the buck-eye, makes a beautiful little tree 
with spires of feathery white and pink blossom, like a fairy horse- 
chestnut. It fruits late, and as yet I have not gleaned ripe nuts 
from it. The word is Pliny’s, given by him to an oak with edible 
acorns. But esculus, though esculent in letter, is not in truth. 
