PATSIA 



IVY OBDEB 



HEDBEA 471 



constitute the chief attraction of the plant. 

 The variety variegata has the leaves 

 broadly edged with creamy white. 

 Culture do. as above. 



FATSIA. — A small genus closely re- 

 lated to Aoanthopanax, and like that 

 often called Aralia in gardens. The flowers 

 are polygamous or hermaphrodite. Petals 

 4-6, membranous. Stamens 4-6. 



Culture and Propagation. — The 

 Fatsias are well known chiefly through 

 F. japonica described below. They may 

 be cultivated in the open air in the same 

 way as the Aralia and Acanthopanax, in 

 deep rich well-drained soil, and in warm 

 sheltered spots. They are increased by 

 seeds sown under glass, and by cuttings of 

 the stems and roots. 



F. horrida. — This rather tender shrub 

 is a native of the Rocky Mountains and 

 also Japan. The stems and leaf stalks are 

 thickly covered with sharp spines — a cir- 

 cumstance that suggested the specific 

 name, and the leaves are palmately lobed 

 and densely covered with prickles on the 

 midrib and principal veins. 



Culture Sc. as above. This plant re- 

 quires a warm well-drained soil and posi- 

 tions sheltered from bleak winds. Too 

 much moisture at the root in winter is very 

 injurious, but during the spring and sum- 

 mer months plenty of water may be given. 



F. japonica {Aralia Sieboldi). — A 

 beautiful Japanese evergreen shrub 3-5 

 ft. high, with large, leathery, digitate, shin- 

 ing green leaves. 



Culture dc. as above. This plant is 

 usually grown in greenhouses, and thou- 

 sands are raised every year from seeds 

 sown in spring in heat. The tops of the 

 seedlings are often taken oft' as cuttings 

 and rooted, and make very fine symmetri- 

 cal plants. Large specimens look well on 

 lawns in semi-shady places. Not quite 

 hardy in severe winters except in the 

 mildest parts of the oountrj-. There are 

 beautiful silver and golden variegated 

 forms less hardy than the type. 



F. papyrifera {AraUa papyrifera). — 

 Chinese Bice-paper Plant. — A handsome 

 Pormosan shrub 6-8 ft. high, and prac- 

 tically hardy in sunny spots in the southern 

 parts of the country. Protection from 

 frost is required in northern localities. 

 The leaves are 8-12 in. long, 5-7-lobed, 

 downy when young, smooth when old. 



Flowers greenish in drooping panicles 

 2-3 ft. long. 



Culture dc. as above. 



HEDERA (Ivy).— Botanically there 

 are only 2 species of Ivy — the Australian 

 (H. auatraUama) and the British {H. 

 Helix). It is the latter and its numerous 

 varieties that are so well-known in culti- 

 vation. The essential characters of the 

 genus are : — cUmbing evergreen shrubs, 

 with siraple, undivided, lobed (or pinnate 

 in H. austraUana) leaves. Flowers poly- 

 gamous in paniculate umbels. Calyx 

 entire or 5-toothed. Petals 5, valvate. 

 Stamens 5. Ovary 5-celled, styles united 

 in a cone or short column. 



The uses to which Ivy can be put are 

 numerous. As a rule the common Ivy 

 (H. Helix) and its green-leaved forms are 

 more vigorous than the silver or golden 

 forms. Covering old walls, old stumps of 

 trees, decorating stone pUlars of gate- 

 ways, the sides of buildings, or under trees 

 where nothing else will grow, are a few 

 of the many ways in which Ivy may be 

 appropriately used. 



Culture and Propagation. — Although 

 not particiilar as to soil. Ivy grows much 

 better in good rich sandy loam than in 

 poorer soil, and it covers any required 

 space in a much quicker period. 



Increase of the commoner sorts is very 

 easy, especially where roots are freely 

 produced on the stem. Pieces any length, 

 if placed on the soU and covered over or 

 pegged down here and there in the autumn, 

 will readily root, and begin to grow 

 freely the following spring. The Tree 

 Ivies are usually grafted on stocks of a 

 baser kind, and aU rare and special varie- 

 ties are usually increased by this means 

 under glass, as it is quicker and more 

 sure than by cuttings. Of late years Tree 

 Ivies have become more popular, and in 

 appropriate positions make fine bushes in 

 the garden. 



Below is a description of Hedera 

 Helix and some of its best varieties : — 



H. Helix {Common Ivy). — A native 

 of the British Islands, "Western and S. 

 Europe, N. Africa, and West Central Asia. 

 Leaves thick and shining, ovate, angled 

 or 3-5-lobed ; those of the flowerless stems 

 usually much more divided than the 

 others. Flowers in autumn, yellowish- 

 green, succeeded by umbellate clusters of 

 roundish fruits. 



ensis (H. canescens, H 



