FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS 



435 



Name. 



Country or 



Origin and 



Natural Order. 



Colour 



AND 



Season. 



General Remarks. 



Sophora japonica 



China 



Creamy- 

 white 

 panicles, 



which 



show up 



against the 



dark-green 



foh'age 



Spartium junceum 

 (Spanish Broom) 



Europe ; 

 Leguminosae 



Golden 

 yellow 



*Spir3ea arguta 



Garden origin ; 



S. multiflora and 



S. Thunbergi 



(Rosacese) 



White ; 

 late April 



leaves retaining their deep 

 green tint long after most 

 trees acquire their autumnal 

 hue. Like many other Legu- 

 minosae, the deep descendmg 

 nature of its roots enables it 

 to resist a long period of 

 drought during the summer 

 months better than most 

 trees. It is very quick in 

 growth, and is therefore 

 valuable where rapid results 

 are desired. The Sophora 

 has been grown in this 

 country for the last century 

 and a half, and though in its 

 early days considered to be 

 rather tender, it has long 

 proved to be thoroughly 

 hardy. Varieties are not 

 numerous, there being one, 

 variegata, which is but a 

 poor thing, while another, 

 pendula, is one of the most 

 striking of weeping trees. In 

 winter the bright-green bark 

 of this is a very noticeable 

 feature. 

 Owing to the deeply-descending 

 nature of their roots, many 

 of the Leguminosse resist 

 drought better than the ma- 

 jority of shrubs. A case in 

 point is furnished by the 

 Spanish Broom, which in 

 summer is laden with 

 its large golden-yellow blos- 

 soms. Against a dark-tinted 

 background it stands out 

 conspicuously, while seen 

 in a mass or clump it is 

 particularly striking. The 

 Spanish Broom ripens seeds 

 freely, from which young 

 plants can be readily raised, 

 but as they make very few 

 fibres and do not as a rule 

 transplant well, they should 

 be put into their permanent 

 quarters while still young. 

 The leaves are very few in 

 number, their place being 

 filled as in some of its allies 

 by the young shoots, which 

 are dark green and Rush- 

 like. There is a double 

 variety, flore-pleno. 

 One of the best of the shrubby 

 Spiraeas, forming a dense 

 bush about 4 feet high, which 

 towards the end of April is 



