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CASSELL'S POPULAR .GA-^RBESTING. 



the outdoor winter decoration of the .flower garden, 

 there are no more heautiful objects than Mr. Davis's 

 varieties of F. mucrmata. 



. Persica. — Botanically the species of Persica 

 form nothing but a section, and by no means a 

 distinct one, of Frunus ; but for horticultural pur- 

 poses it is, perhaps, as well to treat it as if it were 

 really entitled to generic rank. With the garden 

 varieties of Peach and Nectarine we have nothing 

 to do here; only the purely ornamental ones are 

 mentioned. The common Peach, F. vulgaris, is a 

 native of Persia, &c., according to most English 

 books ; but De CandoUe's researches seem to point to 

 China as its original home. It is probably only in 

 the South of England that the Peach and its varie- 

 ties, like the Almond, are hardy enough to thrive 

 and flower freely in the open shrubbery, &c., with- 

 out protection. The purple-leaved form, F. v. atro- 

 purpurea, is a distinct foliage plant, well worth 

 growing. The various double-flowered ones, intro- 

 duced from China and Japan by Fortune and other 

 botanical travellers, are very handsome free-flowering 

 trees. Their names are sufficiently characteristic — 

 flore-pleno rosea, flore-pleno alho, semi-pleno alto, Jlore- 

 pleno rubra, camelliaflora, dianihiflora, versicolor. AH 

 these are readily propagated by budding on the Plum 

 stock. 



Phellodendron — There are only two species of 

 this genus of the Rue family, both of them natives 

 of Amurland. The one in cultivation, F. Amurense, 

 is a somewhat recently introduced, small, hardy de- 

 eiduous tree, with opposite or alternate unequally 

 pinnate leaves, and inconspicuous disecious flowers. 

 It is a pretty little tree, with rough bark, which 

 becomes decidedly corky in older specimens. 



Philadelphus.— This genus of Saxifragacecs is 

 nearly allied to Deutzia, from which it principally 

 differs in having larger, often very fragrant flowers, 

 with four petals ; the terminal flower in each inflo- 

 rescence has, however, five petals. Under the name 

 of Syringa, or Mock Orange, F. coronarius, the Eui-o- 

 pean species, is largely grown. It has tufts of 

 creamy-white, powerfully fragrant flowers. There 

 are many varieties of this species, including various 

 double ones and others with silver and gold varie- 

 giited foliage. F. Gordonianm, F. grandiflorus, and' 

 F. inodorus are Noirth American species, the latter, as 

 implied by the specific name, having scentless flowers. 

 r. Satsumi and P. Toleohmna are pretty dwarf species 

 from Japan. AH the Fhiladelphus above-mentioned 

 a:e of the easiest cultivation. They seem indifferent 

 to soil, and are easilj' and quickly propagated by 

 cuttings of the young wood. 



; Phijlyrea. — ^All the members of this genuB ;0j: 

 Oleaceee' axe natives of South Europe, ,&c., with the 

 exception of P. VHmoriniana, which is a recent intro- 

 duction from the mountains of Lazistan. F. angmti- 

 folia, P. media, and P, latifolia are compact-growing 

 evergreens, varying a good deal in size and outline of 

 leaf, and are, perhaps, mere forms of one variable 

 species. In the South of England, &c., they are 

 especially valuable for sea-side planting. P. Vilmo- 

 riniana is much hardier than the others. It has 

 large rigid pointed leaves, and white flowers, larger 

 in size than those of the other species, produced in 

 clusters from the axils of the leaves. All strike 

 readily from cuttings, or they may be grafted on the 

 common Privet, or, better still, on the Oval-leaved 

 Privet, Ligustrum ovalifolium. 



Phlomis is a small genus from the Mediterranean 

 region and temperate Asia. F. frulicosa, the Jeru- 

 salem Sage, is a dwarf shrub, with lanceolate-ovate 

 or oblong-crenate leaves, clothed with a yellowish 

 tomentum. The large, handsome yellow flowers are 

 produced in whorls in the axils of the upper leaves. 

 This beautiful summer-flowering shrub is a native of 

 Southeni Europe. 



Pieris. — The members of this genus were for- 

 merly included under Andromeda, and even now are 

 frequently mentioned under that name in gardening 

 periodicals. F.floribunda, from the Southern United 

 States, is a handsome evergreen, with narrow-oblon" 

 dark green leaves, and white flowers, in crowded 

 panicles of dense naked racemes. P. Japonica, from 

 Japan, is even more ornamental than the last-named 

 species. It is a lovely plant, with pendent inflores- 

 cences of white waxy beUs ; there is a form in culti- 

 vation with the leaves margined with white. All 

 the Fieris require a peaty soil. 



Platanus.— The common Plane, P. acerifolia, 

 very frequently cultivated under the name of 7'. 

 occidentalis — which is a distinct species from North 

 America— is one of the most useful of all ornamenbil 

 deciduous trees. It is unrivalled as a shade or aveniin 

 tree in towns, and is so well known as not to need 

 any minute description. As a rule the leaves are 

 three-lobed, or, if five-lobed, less deeply so than in 

 P. orientalis, which is a more spreading tree, with 

 rougher, more gnarled stems. P. euneata has the 

 leaves more or less wedge-shaped at the base. All 

 these are natives of the Orient. There is a varie- 

 gated form of the first-named, and a number of 

 slightly varying forms have received distinctive 

 names in nurseries. 



Populus (Foplar) is nearly allied to SaUx ; indeed* 

 these genera are the only ones of the Willow order,' 



