CHAP. LXIX. ERICa\:EJE. ./rDUTUS. 1121 



and that its wood is employed for making tools for the weaver, and spindles 

 for the women. Pliny says that the Adrachne resembles the Unedo ; and 

 Adrachla is the vulgar name for this speeies of Arbutus throughout Greece, 

 at the present day, as indicated in the synonymes above. This species was 

 first brought to England from Smyrna in 1724, and cultivated at Eltham by 

 Dr. Sherard ; many years afterwards, it was sent from London to Paris ; and 

 it is now frequent in the gardens in the neighbourhood of both capitals : in 

 the environs of London, as a shrub or low tree in the open ground; and about 

 Paris, as a conservatory plant for training against a wall, and protecting in 

 winter. In Smith's Correspondence of IAnncsits, it is stated that the J'rbutus 

 x/ndrachne flowered for the first time in Europe in Dr. Fotbergill's garden 

 at Ham House, in Essex, in May, 1766. The plant there was raised from 

 seed sent to Dr. Fothergill from Dr. Russell of Aleppo, in 1756. After 

 Dr. FothergilPs death, the plant was sold by auction, in August, 1781, for 

 53/. lis. It was purchased by a nurseryman for the purpose of being cut up 

 into scions for grafting on the common JJ'rbutus. It is also stated that a tree 

 fully twice as large as that at Ham House, which was long the boast of the 

 Chelsea Botanic Garden, was killed by the cold winter of 1796. 



Properties and Uses. In countries where it is indigenous, the fruit is eaten, 

 and the wood used for fuel and other useful purposes. The tree was so 

 abundant in the neighbourhood of Aleppo, that, in Russell's time, it supplied 

 nearly half the fuel in the city. In Britain, it is only to be considered in the 

 light of an ornamental tree; and there are few evergreens which can be com- 

 pared with it for the beauty and varied disposition of its foliage, and the sin- 

 gularity of the bark of its trunk, which annually presents a new and smooth 

 surface to the eye. 



Soil, Situation, fyc. A free sandy loam, kept rather moist, seems to suit 

 this tree where the climate is favourable to it : for example, in the neighbour- 

 hood of London ; but farther north, a dry soil will be found preferable, in order 

 that the plant may not be stimulated to make more wood than it can thoroughly 

 ripen. The situation should always be sheltered, though not shaded by other 

 trees. In a gardenesque arrangement of trees, the particular beauty of the 

 trunk and branches of the andrachne will be best observed ; but, if planted in 

 picturesque masses in a shrubbery, its forms and foliage will harmonise very 

 well with those of other species of ^'rbutus, and of the larger .Ericaceae. 



Statistics. In the environs of London there are plants of Arbutus Andrachne, as standards, 

 from 8 ft. to 10 ft. high: one in the Hackney arboretum, 12ft high; and one in the Chelsea 

 Botanic Garden 12ft. high: there are also plants at White Knights, 13ft. high, with heads 15ft. in 

 diameter. There is a tree of this species in the Edinburgh New Botanic G trden, which was re- 

 moved thither from the old one in 1822, when it was 13 ft. in height, with a stem lOJin. in diameter, 

 at 1 ft. from the ground. We have received notices of several other large specimens ; but, as A. 

 hybrida resembles A. Andrachne in general appearance, and in the circumstance of casting its bark, 

 we believe that species to have been frequently mistaken lor the Oriental one in some of the accounts 

 that have been sent us, from the rapid growth attributed to the trees. Price of plants, in the London 

 nurseries, is from 3*. 6d. to 5s. each. 



* 4. A. proce^ra Douglas. The tall Arbutus, or Strawberry Tree. 



Identification. Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 1573. 

 Engraving. Bot. Reg., t. 1573. 



Spec. Char., fyc. A robust shrub, or rather tree, a native of the mountainous 

 woody parts of the north-west coast of North America, sent by Mr. Douglas 

 to the London Horticultural Society, in 1827. It bears a general resem- 

 blance to A. Jndrachne, but differs from it altogether in the form and 

 serratures of its leaves, and in the form and size of its flowers, the corollas 

 of which are of a delicate greenish white. Till the plant is 3 or 4 years 

 old, it requires protection during winter; and it will probably be found ad- 

 visable, in most situations north of London, to train it to a wall. There is 

 a plant against the wall, in the Garden of the Horticultural Society, which 

 has stood there since 1830, and has grown as high as the wall. In the 

 Fulham Nursery, this species appears to grow with greater rapidity than 

 any other of the genus. It is propagated by grafting on the common spe- 

 cies ; and plants are 7s. 6d. each. 



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