236 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS 



IDESIA 



A. microphylla. — An ornamental shrub 

 12 ft. high, with small obovate obtuse, 

 dark shining green leaves, in opposite 

 rows up the stem. Flowers in autumn, 

 greenish, corymbose, followed by numer- 

 ous small orange-coloured berries. 



Culture do. as above. This is probably 

 the best known species. 



IDESIA. — A genus with only one 

 species, the description of which is given 

 below with the generic characters. 



I. polycarpa {Flacourtia japonica). — 

 An ornamental tree native of China and 

 Japan, where it assumes very large pro- 

 portions, but is much smaller in cultiva- 

 tion. It has large and rather heart-shaped 

 5-nerved alternate leaves with serrated 

 margins, and long racemes of rather large 

 yellowish flowers borne in long drooping 

 racemes at the ends of the branches. The 

 male flowers are borne on one plant, the 

 females on another. There are 5 (or 3-6) 

 woolly sepals, no petals, and numerous 



stamens with shaggy filaments. The 

 stamens are replaced by staminodes in the 

 female flowers, in the centre of which are 

 5 (or 3-6) spreading styles. The fruit is 

 a many-seeded orange-yellow berry about 

 the size of a pea. 



There is a variety called crispa rarely 

 seen, and now perhaps not in cultivation, 

 remarkable for its cviriously cut and 

 crisped leaves. 



Culture and Propagation. — This tree 

 is fairly hardy in the neighbourhood of 

 London, in warm sheltered situations, and 

 thrives in ordinary good garden soil, 

 which must as a matter of course be well- 

 drained. It may be increased by inserting 

 cuttings of the more or less ripened shoots 

 in sandy soil during the summer and 

 autumn months, and placing them in 

 gentle heat under glass. Seeds, if obtain- 

 able, may be soTi^n as soon as ripe or in 

 spring in light rich soil, and placed in 

 bottom heat. 



XVI. PITTOSPOREiE 



A small order of usually smooth shrubs or small trees with alternate, entire, 

 toothed, or very rarely incised leaves, vsdthout stipules. Flowers hermaphro- 

 dite, regular, or sHghtly obhque. Sepals 5, usually distinct. Petals 5, hypo- 

 gynous, longer than the sepals. Stamens 5, hypogynous, free, alternating 

 with the petals. Fruit a capsule or berry. 



PITTOSPORUM.— A genus of usu- 

 ally smooth and evergreen shrubs or small 

 trees with entire or sinuate- toothed leaves, 

 often more or less whorled near the ends 

 of the branches. Flowers borne in various 

 ways in clusters at the ends or sides of 

 the branches. Sepals distinct or united at 

 the base. Petals more or less cohering in 

 a tube, or rarely spreading. Ovary sessile 

 or shortly stalked. Fruit a roundish, 

 ovoid, or pear-shaped capsule. 



Culture and Propagation. — Although 

 about 50 species have been described in 

 this genus, those mentioned below are the 

 only ones suitable for cultivation in the 

 open air in the milder parts of the British 

 Islands. They are fairly hardy in ordinary 

 winters in the neighbourhood of London, 

 and on the west and south coast even P. 

 Tobira has been iminjured by 20° of frost. 



Pittosporums will thrive in any good 

 and well-drained garden soil, but they 

 prefer a rich fibrous loam with a little 

 sand and leaf mould added. They may 

 be increased during the summer months 



by means of cuttings of the half-ripened 

 shoots inserted in Oght sandy soil under 

 a handlight or bell glass, and placed in 

 gentle bottom heat. The plants thus raised 

 may be grown on under glass until they 

 are large enough and thoroughly hardened 

 off to stand being planted out of doors, 

 an operation best performed during mild 

 weather in spring. 



P. crassifolium (P. Balphi). — An orna- 

 mental bush 4- 10 ft. high, native of New 

 Zealand, where it is known as the ' Parch- 

 ment Bark.' The branches are clothed 

 with rather narrowly oblong obovate light 

 green leaves, quite smooth and shining 

 above, but rather wooUy beneath. The 

 deep brownish-purple flowers are produced 

 in abundance in early summer in stalked 

 and nodding umbels. 



Culture Sc. as above. 



P. Tobira (P. chinense). — A pretty 

 Japanese shrub 10-12 ft. high, with 

 bluntly obovate smooth leathery leaves, 

 and clusters of white sweetly scented 



