74 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



object to a liberal mulching of rotten dung, decayed 

 leaves, &c. Finer growth and a greater profusion of 

 flowers will be produced by plants that are well looked 

 after in the way of food. 



A. amcena. — In the South and West of England this 

 handsome little Chinese shrub thrives admirably in 

 the open air, and produces in great profusion rich 

 crimson, almost bell-shaped, hose-in-hose flowers. 

 Hybrids, too, have been raised between this species 

 and A. Indica. 



A. balsaminaflora is a neat dwarf-growing Japanese 

 busb, having double rosette-like salmon-red flowers. 

 This, although cultivated generally as a pot plant, is 

 hardy enough in the South, and probably in other 

 parts of England. 



A. calendulacea. — Even in a wild state this North 

 American species varies much. Its flowers range 

 from yellow and red to orange and copper-colour. 



A. nudiflora flowers on the leafless twigs in May. 

 There are varieties and hybrids of almost all shades 

 of red, yellow, white, &c. Like the last-named, this 

 hails from North America. 



A. Pontica, the Oriental species, has soft hairy 

 leaves, and bright yellow or orange flowers. 



A. Sinensis, perhaps better known under the name 

 of A. mollis, is a species from China and Japan, with 

 large bell-shaped flame-coloured flowers. A host of 

 forms of this are now grown by specialists, and all 

 very beautiful for conservatory decoration. They are 

 hardy enough for open-air decoration, but the flowers 

 seem more liable to be damaged by spring frosts than 

 do those of most of the other kinds. 



A. viscosa has long, clammy, tubular, sweet-scented 

 white flowers, produced a month or so later than 

 those of the nudiflora section. The type is a very 

 pretty shrub, and there are numerous hybrid or seed- 

 ling forms derived from it, both double and single, 

 which are very useful and ornamental. 



Azara. — Very few members of the order Bixinece 

 are hardy enough to be cultivated in the open air in 

 Britain. The genus Azara is an exception, and A. 

 microphylla is one of the prettiest and most graceful 

 of small-leaved evergreens. As a wall plant it makes 

 an elegant subject, as also do A. integrifolia and its va- 

 riegated form. These latter have much showier and 

 larger flowers, too, than the first-named. A. Gilliesii 

 has large, bright yellow, axillary inflorescences, and 

 is, as far as flowers are concerned, the finest species 

 in cultivation. It has large, Holly-like, leathery 

 leaves, and is very different in aspect from either of 

 the other species. All are now and then likely to 

 succumb during a severe winter ; but, as they are 

 readily propagated by cuttings, and grow rapidly, a 

 reserve jdant can always be sheltered in a cold frame. 

 All are natives of Chili. 



Baecharis {the Groundsel Trees).— -The genus 

 Baccharis is rather a large one, but of the ar- 

 borescent species probably only two are in culti- 

 vation. They do well in open spots in rather 

 dry soil, and flourish near the sea, where many 

 other shrubs will not succeed. B. halimifolia, 

 a native of the Eastern United States, makes a 

 large bush some ten or twelve feet in height, and 

 as much through ; it has obovate or oblong wedge- 

 shaped leaves and angled branches, the whole plant 

 being covered with a whitish powder. The female 

 plant (the species is dioecious) is the handsomer of 

 the two on account of its conspicuous silvery pappus ; 

 the male has yellowish pappus, and for this reason 

 was called B. lutescens by those who at one time 

 believed it represented a distinct species. B. Pata- 

 gonica is a more compact dwarf grower, a thoroughly 

 desirable bush for a small shrubbery. 



Bambusa. — Of this genus there are some quarter 

 of a hundred species well known, and probably many 

 others which have not yet been botanically deter- 

 mined. With the exception of a single New World 

 species, all are natives of the tropical and sub-tropical 

 regions of Asia. Those which are hardy enough to 

 withstand the rigours of British winters, hail mostly 

 from China and Japan. In the South of England 

 they thrive admirably in sheltered spots, and make 

 beautiful objects if planted in fairly rich ground and 

 kept abundantly supplied with water at the roots. 



B. aurea has slender, much-branched stems, six 

 to ten feet high, with linear-lanceolate acute, light 

 green leaves. It is a native of China. B. Fortunei 

 is a very dwarf, densely-tufted species from Japan, 

 and rarely attains more than two feet in height; 

 the variegated form is much the more common. 

 B. Japoniea (the correct name of which is Arundi- 

 naria Metake) has .dark green, lanceolate, shortly- 

 stalked leaves, and attains a height of four or six 

 feet. B. nigra owes its name to its glossy purplish 

 or blackish stems. It is a dwarf-growing species 

 from China and Japan, whose proper name is now 

 Phyllostachys nigra. B. Pagamowski, also from 

 China and Japan, has large, dark green leaves, and 

 forms a fine mass when planted on the margin of a 

 piece of water ; it only grows from four to six feet 

 high. B. Simonii, another species from the same 

 botanical region as the last-named, is a quick-growing 

 plant, with long narrow leaves, and stems which 

 attain a height in this country of ten feet, glaucous 

 at the joints. The above-mentioned are the best for 

 general cultivation; none of the enormous species 

 which form such striking features in tropical jungles 

 are hardy enough to grow in the open air in Britain. 



Benthamia fragifera is now generally included 



