SUBTROPICAL GARDEN. 231 



easily procured in our nurseries, and there is, or used to be, 

 plenty of it at Kew. 



Rheum Emodi. — The Rhubarbs, from their vigour and pic- 

 turesqueness, are well worthy of cultivation among hardy, 

 fine-leaved plants. Some of the common kinds have 

 recently been placed in our parks, but the most striking 

 and distinct of the introduced kinds is the Himalayan 

 Rheum Emodi, and it is the one that is seldomest seen. 



Rhus glabra laciniata. — I have known this plant for 

 about three years as a subject of much promise for garden 

 decoration, and can confidently recommend it as one of the 

 most useful and elegant dwarf shrubs we can employ to 

 furnish an attractive effect. It is a small kind, with finely- 

 cut and elegant leaves, the strongest being about a foot long 

 when the plants have been established a year or two. 

 When seen on a nicely established plant, these leaves com- 

 bine the beauty of those of the finest Grevillea, with a fern 

 frond, while the youngest and unfolding leaves remind one 

 of the dainty ones of a finely cut umbelliferous plant in 

 spring. The variety observable in the shape, size, and 

 aspect of the foliage makes the plant charming to look 

 upon, while the midribs of the fully grown leaves are red, 

 and in autumn the whole glow off into bright colour after the 

 fashion of American shrubs and trees. During the entire 

 season it is presentable, and there is no fear of any vicissi- 

 tude of weather injuring it. Its great merit is that, in 

 addition to being so elegant in foliation, it has a very dwarf 

 habit, and is thoroughly hardy. Plants at three years old 

 and undisturbed for the past two years are not more than 

 eighteen inches high. The heads are slightly branched, but 

 are not a whit less elegant than when in a simple-stemmed 

 and young state, so that here we have clearly a subject that 

 will afford a charming fernlike effect in the full sun, and 

 add graceful verdure and distinction to the flower garden. 

 When the flowers show after the plant is a few years old 

 they may be pinched off, and this need only be mentioned 

 in the case of permanent groups or plantings of it. To 

 produce the effect of a Grevillea or fern on a small scale, we 

 should of course keep this graceful Rhus small, and propa- 



