TREES AND SHRUBS. 



141 



Erica. — The head-quarters of the genus Erica 

 (there are about four hundred species) is in South 

 Africa, hut there are many in North Africa, Europe, 

 and Asia. The best of those which are hardy 

 enough to live in the open air in Britain are men- 

 tioned below: — The South European, E. arbor ea, not 

 unfrequently attains the dimensions of a tree ; it has 

 white axillary racemose flowers, and tomentose 

 branches. From the roots, knobs, and stems of this 

 species, which are largely imported into this country, 

 are made the so-called Briar-root pipes of the shops, 

 " Briar" being a corruption of the French Bruyere. 

 E. carnea is a very floriferous dwarf-growing species 

 from Central and Eastern Europe ; it grows about 

 six inches high, and flowers from January to April. 

 The white variety, E. herbacea, is a beautiful little 

 plant, a charming companion to the pink -flowered 

 type. E. ciliaris has unilateral racemes of rather 

 large crimson flowers ; it is a beautiful species, 

 attaining a height of twelve or eighteen inches, and 

 is a native of Western Europe. In the British 

 Islands it is confined to sandy heaths in Cornwall 

 and Dorset. A hybrid between this species and 

 E. tetralix, the Cross-leaved Heath, is found in both 

 the counties named ; it is a pretty plant, and well 

 worth a place in any peat border. E. cinerea, the 

 badge of the clan M'Donald, is a West European 

 species, widely distributed throughout the British 

 Islands ; some of the garden varieties, with flowers 

 varying in colour from crimson and purple to white, 

 are very pretty plants. E. stricta has red-purple 

 flowers, produced in a kind of terminal umbel ; it 

 grows two or three feet high, and is a native of 

 South-western Europe. E. tetralix, a common 

 British species, has flowers varying from rose-red to 

 pure white, and under cultivation makes a very 

 handsome plant ; an Irish variety of this, E. 

 Mackayana (also found in Spain), is a very free- 

 flowering, compact-growing plant, somewhat dwarf er 

 than the type, and with deeper-coloured flowers. 

 E. vagans, the Cornish Heath, varies from red or 

 white to pink ; it is an erect species, attaining under 

 favourable conditions a height of three feet. All 

 the Ericas thrive best in a peat border, although 

 some do fairly well in ordinary garden ground, 

 provided the ground is kept moist, and no chalk 

 or lime is present in the soil. 



Escallonia.— All the Escallonias— some thirty 

 species are known to botanists, and about half that 

 number are, or have been, in cultivation — are desir- 

 able half-hardy evergreens. Some of them are 

 amongst the most handsome of flowering shrubs ; 

 for example, E. macrantha, which flourishes so well 

 by the sea on the south coast of Britain, and forms 

 a splendid edge with its dark glossy leaves, and 



large crimson-red flowers. E. Phillipiana has small 

 green leaves, and terminal and lateral panicles of 

 white flowers. E. pterocladon has tiny leaves, and a 

 profusion of white and pink flowers. E. punctata 

 has deep dark red flowers, and shortly-stalked, oval, 

 acute, serrated leaves ; it is readily distinguished 

 from E. rubra, a similar species, by the stalked 

 glands on the young shoots, &c. All the Escallonias 

 make excellent wall plants, and they are well worth 

 the protection of a wall where they would be in 

 danger of being killed by cold winters if planted in 

 less sheltered spots. They propagate readily from 

 cuttings, and grow rapidly in almost any soil. 



Euonymus. — Not fewer than forty species of 

 Euonymus are known, and a goodly proportion of 

 these have been introduced to this country. They 

 are evergreen or deciduous shrubs, or small trees, 

 and are natives of Europe, Asia, and North America. 

 Our native E. Europeans, the common Spindle-tree, 

 is a deciduous shrub, or small tree, ranging from 

 four, or six, to twenty feet in height, and when 

 laden in autumn with its pale crimson capsules, 

 which open and display the orange-coloured arillodes, 

 it is very beautiful. E. Japonic us is one of the 

 most variable of evergreens ; the ordinary form has 

 large, leathery, dark green leaves, and is one of the 

 best of shrubs for sea-side planting ; E. radicans is a 

 procumbent form with small leaves, and E. radicans 

 variegata a variegated form — the last-named is one 

 of the best of variegated shrubs for making an 

 edging, or border, as it bears cutting well, and is 

 bright and decided in colour. When planted 

 against a wall, and allowed to develop at will, it 

 soon produces branches with much larger leaves than 

 usual, and then commences to flower ; the ordinary 

 small- leaved state is always barren. Besides these, 

 there are numerous varieties with different gold and 

 silver variegation. E. latifolius, a European de- 

 ciduous species, is nearly allied to E. Europceus, but 

 differs in its larger leaves and fruits. The deciduous 

 species produce an abundance of seed, by which they 

 may be readily propagated ; the evergreen ones, 

 which rarely fruit in this country, may be increased 

 by cuttings, or by grafting. 



Eurybia. — Some of the members of this 

 Australian genus make beautiful objects in the 

 South-west of England (and even much further 

 north if accorded the protection of a wall). E. 

 Gunnii has Daisy-like flower-heads, and flowers very 

 freely in rather dry, well-drained localities. 



Exochorda. — Of the three species of this genus 

 already known, only one, E. grandijtora, is probably 

 yet in cultivation in British gardens ; it is a very 



