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THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



El^agnus. — Shrubs or small trees with usually incon- 

 spicuous but very fragrant flowers; fruit drupe-like. 

 Within the last few years several handsome variegated 

 varieties of Japanese evergreen species have been intro- 

 duced, well suited for walls and sheltered places, and the 

 south-west coast. They have undivided leaves, which, as 

 well as the young shoots, are more or less clothed with 

 ferruginous or silvery scales. There are beautiful gold 

 and silver variegated varieties of E. pungens and E. 

 glabra. 



E. angustifolia (E. hortensis), Oleaster. — A handsome 

 hardy shrub with a few scattered spines; leaves clothed 

 with silvery, glistening scales. Flowers yellow, fragrant, 

 succeeded by red drupes in late summer. South of Europe 

 and Asia Minor, 1633. There are two or three varieties 

 in cultivation, including one with larger edible fruit. 



E. argentea, Silver Berry. — A spreading shrub with 

 rusty-brown branches, silvery foliage, and small yellow 

 flowers appearing in summer. Hudson's Bay, 1813. 



E. lougipes. — A handsome spineless shrub, with silvery 

 leaves studded with brown scales, and flowers on very 

 long stalks, succeeded by oblong orange - coloured acid 

 berries, rendering it very ornamental when in fruit. In 

 Japan there are numerous varieties, some having, it is 

 said, fruit of good flavour. 1872. 



E. macrophylla. — This bears the largest leaves of any 

 of the species. They are dark glossy green above, silvery 

 beneath. The flowers are grayish -white, fragrant, and 

 produced in October. China and Japan. 



Embothrium coccincum. — A handsome tree with 

 leathery oblong leaves and terminal clusters of long 

 pendent orange-scarlet flowers, appearing in May; only 

 hardy in the south-west. Chili, 1851. 



EmpETEUM nigrum, the Crowberry, and its variety 

 rubrum are two dwarf, Heath-like shrubs with small 

 reddish flowers followed by berries which in nigrum are 

 brownish black, and in rubrum red. The species is widely 

 spread over both hemispheres. 



ENKIANTHUS. — A small genus of ericaceoiiB shrubs, of 

 which the two following are deciduous and have proved 

 hardy in the south of England. 



E. carnpanulatus.—A dwarf shrub with elliptical- leaves 

 and racemes of pendent flowers, which are white, tinged 

 with red. Japan. 



E.japonicus. — This produces its white pendent flowers 

 early in spring. The leaves turn a beautiful golden 

 colour in autumn. Japan, 1870. 



Ephedra altissima, monostachya and distachya are 

 trailing or twining shrubs resembling Equisetum, but 

 nearly allied to the Conifers, natives of the south of 

 Europe and the saline regions of Siberia, and suitable 

 for planting in the vicinity of the sea in the south and 

 west. They have small scale-like leaves and quite incon- 

 spicuous flowers, but the slender jointed branches are 

 evergreen, and the berries are red or black. 



Epig.ea repens. — A creeping evergreen shrub, with 

 oval or heart-shaped leaves, and erect dense spikes of 

 white or pink deliciouslv-scented flowers, appearing in 

 June or July. A native of North America, inhabiting 

 pine woods and other sheltered shady situations, a fact 

 to be observed in its cultivation. 1736. 



Ekcilla spicata (Bridgesia spicata). — This shrub climbs 

 or clings after the manner of Ivy, and for warm situations 

 it is a very welcome addition to our rather limited num- 

 ber of evergreens of this class. It has simple toothed 

 dark-green leaves, and reddish flowers, produced in great 

 profusion in spring. Chili, 1840. 



Erica. — The true Heaths are the hardiest and most 



easily cultivated of the tribe, while some of them are 

 among the most desirable on account of their early and 

 free-flowering qualities. The species and varieties in 

 cultivation are very numerous, and some of those not 

 mentioned here are equally as good as the others. They 

 are all evergreen, varying from a few inches to several 

 feet in height under favourable conditions. In habit, 

 foliage, and flowers the hardy species all exhibit a gene- 

 ral resemblance to the native ones, varieties of which are 

 also cultivated. 



E. carnea {E. herbacca). — This is a dwarf, dense, pros- 

 trate species, of which there are white, pink, and purple 

 flowered varieties. For edging large beds or filling small 

 ones this is unequalled, and its early-flowering season — 

 January or February onwards — renders it indispensable, 

 I especially as it will succeed in almost any ordinary garden 

 soil. Germany, &c, 1763. 



E. ciliaris. — A native of the west of England and Ire- 

 land, growing from 1 to 2 feet high, and having hairy 

 glandular foliage and crimson flowers, the anthers not 

 projecting beyond the corolla. A very pretty species, 

 flowering in summer. 



E. cinerea. — The common native crimson-purple species, 

 which usually grows from 1 to 2 feet high, but occasionally 

 from 3 to 4 feet. There are white, crimson, and other 

 varieties in cultivation. It blooms during the latter half 

 of summer and the beginning of autumn. 



E. codonodcs will thrive in a light sandy soil, and attain 

 a height of 10 feet or more in the south of England. It 

 produces its small white and pink flowers in great pro- 

 fusion from January or February till May, and is one of 

 the most desirable flowering shrubs for sheltered gardens. 

 E. scoparia and E. arbor ea differ in stature, and in the 

 size, shape, and colour of the flowers, but are not superior 

 to E. codonodcs. Some of them have been in cultivation 

 since 1658. 



E. meditcrranca. — A variety of this, called hibernica, 

 , is found in Ireland. It grows from 2 to 5 feet high, 

 and has pink flowers, with slightly projecting anthers. 

 White-flowered, dwarf, and other varieties may be ])ro- 

 cured from nurserymen. April and May is the season of 

 flowering. Hybrida, a supposed hybrid between this and 

 E. carnea, is one of the loveliest of hardy Heaths, and 

 sometimes flowers about Christmas. 



E. Tetralix.—The Cross-leaved Heath is perhaps the 

 prettiest of our native species, the delicate rose-pink 

 flowers being borne in terminal clusters ; it flowers in 

 summer and autumn. There are several varieties, differ- 

 ing in the colour of their flowers. 



£. vagans. — This is readily distinguished among our 

 native species by its largely-protruding anthers and pink 

 flowers. In this country it is only found in Cornwall. 

 White, red, and flesh-coloured varieties are grown. It 

 flowers in July and August. 



E. vulgaris [Calluna vulgaris). — The varieties of the 

 | common Ling are very numerous and pretty, including 

 many different colours, and also double flowers, variegated 

 and golden foliage, &c. The dwarf varieties form useful 

 edging plants in the American garden. Both this and E. 

 cinerea will thrive on poor sandy soil, the former attaining 

 a height of 4 to 6 feet on the heaths in the weald of Sussex. 

 | Late summer and autumn. 



Escallonia. — Ornamental summer flowering shrubs 

 from South America, suitable for shrubberies in the 

 warmer parts of the kingdom, or for covering a wall. 

 They flourish admirably near the sea. The flowers vary 

 from white to pink and deep -red, and the undivided 

 usually serrated leaves are often glandular. 



