144 



CASSELL'S POPUIAE GARDENING. 



couple of pairs of leaflets. The large pink Pea- 

 shaped flowers are produced from May to July, and 

 form a pleasing contrast to the whitish foliage. 

 HaHmodendron is perfectly hardy in this country, 

 and is generally grafted on the common Laburnum. 



Hamamelis. — This genus gives its name to the 

 small order Sammnelideie, which contains several 

 dissimilar, hut very interesting and pretty shrubs 

 and trees, amongst which may be mentioned Fother- 

 giUa, Liquidambar, and Loropetalum. The three 

 species of Samamelis — all of which are in cultivation 

 — are easily cultivated, decidedly ornamental shrubs, 

 thriving iij a good damp loamy soil, but flowering 

 freely even in dry, poor, ■ gravelly situations. H. 

 arborea is the tallest, sometimes, it is said, attaining 

 a height of from fifteen to twenty feet ; it has larger 

 flowers, with long strap-shaped petals of a clear 

 primrose-yellow colour, than either of the two 

 following species. S. Japonica, like S. arborea, a 

 native of Japan, is a compact, free-flowering, dwarf 

 bush, with lemon-yellow flowers. S. Virginiea, the 

 Witch-Hazel of the North-eastern United States, 

 is the best known of the group, and has long been in 

 cultivation in this country; it is, however, far less 

 common than it deserves to be. Its clusters of 

 yellow flowers are borne in great profusion on the 

 leafless twigs during the winter months, and the 

 fruits ripen the following summer. This species is 

 especially fitted for planting along watercourses, or 

 in damp, rather open spots in woods, &c. S. arborea 

 and H. Japonica may, in default of seeds, be grafted 

 on H. Virginiea, or they may be increased by 

 layering. 



Hedera {Ivy).— As now understood, this genus 

 comprises but a couple of species, one limited to 

 Australia, and the other; our native Ivy, widely 

 distributed, in one or other of its numerous forms, 

 throughout temperate regions of the northern hemi- 

 sphere. Few climbers are so useful as H. Helix and 

 its host of garden forms. In Continental gardens, 

 even more than in British ones, the great value of 

 Ivy is thoroughly appreciated. In addition to its 

 use for covering walls and unsightly buildings, it is 

 largely employed as edgings to . massive beds or 

 borders, and for forming elegant and very efEeotive 

 screens, which do not take up a quarter the space a 

 hedge would require, and are much more ornamental. 

 The long climbing or trailing stems are nearly, 

 if not always, barren ; it is only when the plant has 

 outgrown its support, and developed short, bushy 

 growths, with leaves nearly always dissimilar in 

 outline from those of the juveuUe condition of the 

 plant, that flowers are produced. These flowering 

 shoots if grafted on common strong-growing stock, 



such as that furnished by the "ordinary so-called 

 Irish Ivy {S. Canariensis), maintain their tree-like 

 habit, and constitute what are known in gardens as 

 Tree Ivies. It would be impossible, for lack of 

 space, to enumerate all the garden varieties, small 

 and large-leaved, tree and climbing, gold and silver 

 variegated, which may be met with in the collections 

 of Ivy-lovers, and in the catalogues of those nursery- 

 men who make a speciality of the Ivy; only the 

 more remarkable of the different groups are men- 

 tioned. Perhaps the most useful of all the large- 

 leaved varieties is the common Irish Ivy; other 

 large-leaved forms are the variegated form of the 

 last, generally known as latifolia variegata, a distinct 

 and pretty plant variously blotched and veined with 

 creamy- white, but apt in most places to revert to the 

 ordinary green-leaved type. Algeriemis has light 

 green leaves, and is one of the best of its set ; 

 Bcegneriana has large, dark green, leathery, heart- 

 shaped leaves, and is moreover a fast grower ; the 

 tree form of this is one of the most striking of all 

 the Tree Ivies. Dentata is not unHke Bwgneriana, 

 but has less glossy leaves, which are not unfre- 

 quently distinctly toothed. Of the small-growing 

 kinds, aarea margmaia, argentea tnarginata, gracilis, 

 digitata, palmata, have names sufficiently descriptive 

 to indicate their respective peculiarities. 



Helianthemum. — About 150 forms of Helian- 

 themum have been described as species, but it is' 

 probable that not more than thirty have decided 

 claims to specific rank. Several of them are wonder-^ 

 fuUy pretty garden plants, and thrive well in almost 

 any soil or situation, provided they can obtain plenty 

 of sunlight. S. formosum, so frequently found in 

 catalogues under the name of Cistus formoam, is a 

 beautiful shrub some four feet or so in height, with 

 large, bright yellow flowers, each petal bearing a 

 blackish blotch at its base ; it is a native of Portugal, 

 and has long been known in English gardens, though, 

 on account of its being liable to succumb during 

 severe winters in many parts of the country, it is 

 not so largely grown as it certainly merits to be. 

 H. polifolium, a beautiful prostrate shrub, with white 

 flowers, and silky greyish leaves, is a British plant, 

 and of course thoroughly hardy; there is a pretty 

 variety with rosy-red flowers. Of IT. vulgare, the 

 common British Eock-rose, there is a large number 

 of garden forms, varying from white and yellow 

 to copper-coloured and deep red; of many of the 

 shades there are double states. 



Hibiscus. — The only member of this extensive 

 genus of Mallowworts which conies within the scope 

 of these articles is IT. Syriacus, the Althaa fmUx of 

 some catalogues. Of this species there are very 



