584 EVERGREEN TREES AND SHRUBS. 



crimson or purple, and sometimes yellow, or mingled green and 

 deep purple. Flowers small, yellow; April and May. It grows 

 to the height of five to seven feet in its native wilds ; and ten feet 

 in England. Probably five feet in height and five to eight in 

 breadth is about its maximum size in our northern States. "In 

 its native country it grows in rich vegetable soil, among rocks, or 

 in woods, where it forms a thick and rich undergrowth." It grows 

 better in partial shade than in an unprotected exposure. 



The Mahonia fascularis is similar to the aquifolium, but has 

 narrower and more deeply toothed leaves, which are lighter colored, 

 and the plant is more tender. The Mahonia nervosa is a dwarf 

 border-plant whose stem rises but a few inches from the ground, 

 but the compound leaves of which are from one to two feet in 

 length. A pretty and showy low plant. The M. repens, or creeping- 

 rooted mahonia, resembles the aquifolium, but has a more oval leaf, 

 and is a lower and less robust plant. 



Japan Mahonia. M. japonica I — This variety has not long been 

 grown in this country, but it is considered the hardiest of the 

 ^mily, and probably the most showy. 



THE ARBUTUS. Arbutus. 



A half hardy species of shrub or tree, mostly evergreens, and 

 natives of countries with mild winters. The A. tmido, variety 

 rubra, is considered by Loudon the most ornamental variety of that 

 species. It takes the form of a bush or tree, according to the care 

 given it, and becomes in the south of England from twenty to 

 thirty feet high. Evergreen. Flowers reddish, in drooping racemes ; 

 September and December; fruit scarlet, hanging with the last 

 blossoms. The A. hybrida milleri is a variety with more showy 

 leaves and pink flowers. The Arbutus andrachne, A. andrachm, is 

 distinguished by smaller and glossier leaves without serratures. 

 Flowers greenish-white, in March and April. Not quite hardy in 

 London. The tall arbutus, A. procera, is a variety from the north- 

 west coast of North America, with large serrate leaves, forming a 

 tree from ten to twenty feet high. 



