ACEK 



HOBSE CHESTNUT OBDEB melianthus 317 



A. Pseudo - platanus {Sycamore ; 

 Mock Plane Tree). — An elegant tree 

 30-60 ft. high, with heart-shaped, 5-7- 

 lobed, unequally toothed leaves. This has 

 been so extensively planted all over the 

 British Islands in all sorts of positions 

 that it appears almost indigenous. It is 

 really a native of Central Europe and 

 W. Asia. Among the several varieties 

 may be mentioned : — albo-va/riegatuin, 

 a beautiful form with white and green 

 leaves ; flavo-marginatum, green and 

 yellow leaves ; longifoliwm, leaves more 

 deeply out and longer stalked than the 

 type ; pv/rpureum, leaves purple on the 

 under surface. Other varieties worthy of 

 note are atropurpureum, aucubcB folium, 

 Leopoldi, Prinz Handjery, purpurea- 

 variegatum, and webbianum. 

 Culture do. as above, p. 313. 



A. rubrum {Scarlet Maple). — ^A beauti- 

 ful Canadian species 20 ft. high. Leaves 

 heart-shaped at the base, palmately 5- 

 lobed, deeply and unequally toothed. 

 Flowers scarlet, handsome, produced in 

 great profusion in spring before the 

 leaves. There are several varieties, one 

 in which the leaves are variegated with 

 white and yeUow being very desirable 

 but rather rare. Other forms are Brum- 

 mondi and saTiguineum, the latter being 

 remarkable for the rich red colouring of 

 the foliage. 



Culture Sc. as above, p. 313. 



A. rufinerve. — A beautiful Japanese 

 tree or shrub, the young branches of 

 which are covered with a bluish-gray 

 ' bloom.' Leaves 3-5-lobed, varying in 

 size and shape, irregularly toothed, 

 smooth above, with reddish hairs on the 

 nerves beneath. The variety albo-lim- 

 batum, is recognised by having as a rule 

 leaves distinctly edged with white. 



Culture do. as above, p. 313. 



A. saccharinum {Bird's Eye or Sugar 

 Maple). — A North American tree 40 ft. 

 high, with smooth, palmately 5-lobed 

 leaves and yeUow flowers. The variety 

 nigrumi has the lobes of the leaves closer 

 together. 



Culture So. as above, p. 813. 



A. sieboldianum. — A pretty Japanese 

 Maple closely related to A. japonicum, 

 from which it may be distinguished by its 

 yellowish (not purple) flowers, and by its 

 regularly 6-lobed leaves, the lobes of 

 which are regularly serrated on the mar- 



gins. The leaf stalks and flower stalks 

 are also distinctly hairy. 



Culture do. as above, p. 313. 



A. sikkitnense. — • A pretty Maple, 

 native of the Sikkim Himalayas, where it 

 grows naturally at an elevation of 7,000- 

 9,000 ft. The ovate tapering leaves re- 

 semble those of A. distylum, but the ser- 

 ration on the edges is scarcely noticeable, 

 and there are 5 main nerves instead of 3, 

 as in .4. distylum. 



Culture dc. as above. This species is 

 rather tender, but vriU survive ordinary 

 winters in warm sheltered places in the 

 neighbourhood of Kew. In Devonshire 

 and Cornwall and the south of Ireland it 

 would probably be almost perfectly hardy, 

 except in very severe winters, when pro- 

 tection would be required. 



A. tataricum {A. cordifolium). — -A 

 native of S.E. Europe about 20 ft. high, 

 with oblong heart-shaped leaves irregularly 

 toothed or rarely lobed. One of the first 

 to leaf in spring. The form called Gin- 

 nala, from the banks of the Amur Elver, 

 is a graceful variety with prettily cut and 

 lobed leaves, having deeply coloured stalks 

 and midribs. 



Culture do. as above, p. 313. 



A. Volxerai (^1. Trautvetteri). — A 

 noble and distinct Caucasian Maple re- 

 markable for its quick and vigorous growth 

 and large 5-lobed leaves, the under surface 

 of which is of a beautiful silvery white. 



Culture dc. as above. An excellent 

 tree for making avenues in parks and 

 large gardens. •' 



MELIANTHUS (Honey Flower). 

 A genus consisting of only 4 species of 

 very smooth, glaucous, or hoary shrubs, 

 often strongly scented, with oddly pinnate 

 alternate leaves. Flowers hermaphrodite, 

 usually in terminal or axillary racemes. 

 Calyx swollen at the base, 5-parted. 

 Petals 5, eccentric, one minute or absent, 

 bent down, long-clawed, hairy in the 

 middle. Disc fleshy, one-sided. Stamens 

 4, hypogynous, inserted in the disc, two 

 long, two short, and bent down somewhat. 

 Style incurved, thread-like, 4-toothed at 

 apex. Capsule papery, 4-lobed, 4-celled. 



M. major.— A native of S. Africa 4-6 

 ft. high, with hoUow stems woody at the 

 base. Leaves stem-clasping, smooth, 

 glaucous, with 4-6 pairs of deeply cut 

 leaflets and' an odd one at the apex. 

 Flowers in summer, brownish, in long 

 axillary spikes among the upper leaves. 



