292 



CASSELL'S POPULAE GARDENING. 



as adopted in the " Students' Flora of the Biitish Is- 

 lands." Of these the most distinct are included in 

 these notes. P. Aria, the White Beam, an indigenous 

 tree, of which there are many varieties, differing in 

 the form of the leaf, and the degree of whiteness of 

 the under surfaces, is conspicuous in a shrubbery or 

 as a single specimen, and attractive either on ac- 

 count of its leaves, flowers, or fruits ; the latter are 

 spherical, and red or scarlet in colour. P. Aucuparia, 

 the Mountain Ash or Rowan-tree, has creamy-white 

 flowers, and small globose, scarlet fruits, borne in 

 large clusters ; unlike any of the other species here 

 mentioned, with the exception of P. domestica, this 

 has pinnate leaves. P. baccata principally differs 

 from the Siberian Crab, P. priinifolia, in the calyx 

 lobes falling early, whilst in its near ally they are 

 persistent. Many forms of each are in cultivation, 

 and are most ornamental, either in flower or when 

 laden with their small hrightly-coloured fruits. P. 

 coronaria, the American Crab, has the leaves fre- 

 quently more or less lobed, and large rose-coloured, 

 scented flowers, and green fragrant fruits. P. do- 

 •onestica, the true Service Tree, is somewhat like the 

 Mountain Ash, but it has much larger fruits ; there 

 are two forms, only differing in the fruits, one being 

 Pear-shaped, the other like an Apple. P. elceagni- 

 folia, an Asiatic species, has small Pear-shaped, hard 

 woody fruits, and silvery- white narrow leaves ; this 

 is a singular and very desirable ornamental shrub. 

 P. floribunda, a Japanese Crab, has flowers bright red 

 when in bud, and rosy-tinted when fully expanded ; 

 it is a compact dwarf- growing species, one of the 

 most desirable of all the Crabs ; it may be taken up 

 and grown in pots for forcing. P. Japonlca is 

 one of the finest of early -flowering shrubs, and 

 deservedly a favourite for clothing walls, &c. There 

 are numerous varieties, ranging in colour from deep 

 scarlet to pure white, and double forms also occur. 

 P.. Maulei, a near ally of P. Japonica, is another 

 Japanese shrub, but a dwarf grower, with orange- 

 scarlet flowers ; its fragrant yellow fruits are freely 

 produced, and make an excellent marmalade. 



Quercus (Oak). — Whether regarded from the 

 purely economic standpoint — as trees yielding in va- 

 rious parts of the world a vast quantity of valuable 

 timber — or sinrply as ornamental objects affording 

 first-class material for the embellishment of the land- 

 scape, the genus Quercus holds a very high place in 

 the estimation of both forester and landscape gar- 

 dener. There are upwards of 300 species, most of 

 them natives of the temperate regions of the Northern 

 Hemisphere. Within the tropics they are confined 

 to the mountains ; in the New World they extend to 

 Columbia, and in Asia to the Malayan Arcrnpelago. 

 They are absent from Africa — except the Mediterra- 



nean region — South America, the Mascarene Islands, 

 Australasia, and the islands of the South Pacific. 

 The following are amongst the most desirable of the 

 large number of species cultivated in this country ; 

 for convenience of reference they are arranged in 

 two series — viz., those with evergreen or nearly 

 evergreen leaves, and those which are deciduous. 



Evergreen Oaks. 



Q. acuta, perhaps more widely known under its 

 garden name, Q. Buergeri, is a Japanese species, 

 with large, leathery, entire, acuminate, dark green 

 leaves ; of this there are several forms varying 

 slightly in size and outline of leaf, and also in habit. 

 As it is a recent introduction, one cannot say with 

 certainty what size it is likely to attain in Britain ; 

 it is, however, a distinct and hardy plant, well worthy 

 of a place in any garden. 



Q. Ballota is a near ally of the well-known 

 Holm, or Evergreen Oak, Q. Ilex. It is a small 

 tree with corky bark, and round, toothed, rigid 

 leaves, dark green above and whitish beneath. A 

 native of South-westem Europe. 



Q. glabra, from Japan, is a dwarf-growing species, 

 with leaves about the size and shape of those of the 

 common Cherry Laurel. The acorns are sessile, in 

 long, erect spikes, and they have ripened in this 

 country. In the South of England, at any rate, this 

 has proved hardy, having passed scatheless through 

 at least twenty winters without protection of any 

 kind. The writer has no knowledge of the behaviour 

 of the plant in the Northern counties, probably be- 

 cause it is by no means frequently met with, 

 although thoroughly deserving of more extended 

 cultivation. 



Q. glandulifera is the correct name of an Oak 

 which has been largely planted during the last five- 

 and-twenty years under the name of Q. Austriaca 

 scmperrirens. It is a rapid grower, with dark green 

 leaves, which are not shed until the new ones 

 are ready to take the place of those of the previous 

 year. It is thoroughly hardy, and one of the most 

 ornamental and useful of the section. A native of 

 Japan. 



Q. Ilex is the Evergreen Oak, which is more exten- 

 sively planted than any other. There are magnificent 

 old trees in the arboretum at Kew, and also at Syon, 

 and elsewhere in the South of England. The species 

 is a very variable one, scarcely two seedlings in a 

 batch being quite alike ; the leaves range from 

 narrow-lanceolate to oblong, or nearly rotundate. It 

 is a useful sea-side plant. The variety called Fordii 

 has narrow leaves, and the lateral branches have an 

 upward tendency like those of the Lombardy Poplar. 

 A native of the Mediterranean region. 



Q. lucombeana is a garden variety of Q. Cerris, 



