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CASSELL'S POPULAK GARDENING. 



from the ordinary Q. pedunculata. Heterophylla is a 

 form with, light green, variously slashed and divided 

 leaves ; it is a distinct and ornamental plant. Filici- 

 folia has the leaves deeply pinnatifid. Purpurascens 

 has foliage in outline like that of the green-leaved 

 type, hut the young leaves, the leaf-stalks, and 

 young shoots are almost entirely purple during the 

 earlier part of the season of growth ; later on the 

 colour changes to a dull hronze. Variegata only 

 differs in having the leaves splashed with white. 



Q. scssiliflora, in addition to the stalkless acoms, 

 and the stalked leaves, differs from Q. pedunculata in 

 leaf- outline, colour, &c, so much so that it is not 

 difficult to recognise from some distance the two 

 when growing intermixed. The suh-species now in 

 question does not seem so prone to foliage variation 

 as Q. pedunculata ; there are not nearly so many 

 garden varieties. Those mentioned "below are the 

 best. Cochleata has somewhat shell-shaped leaves; 

 that is, instead of being flat, they turn upwards, so 

 as to render the upper surface more or less concave ; 

 it is a free- growing and pretty form. Louctti has 

 long, almost entire, Willow-like leaves, narrowed to 

 both ends, measuring, with the stalk, about six 

 inches in length, by about an inch in breadth. 

 Rubicunda has rather deep red leaves, and in the 

 early summer is very conspicuous. All the forms, 

 both of Q. sessilxflora and Q. pedunculata, must be 

 increased by grafting on clean-grown, vigorous, 

 seedling Oaks. 



Raphiolepis. — This is a genus — nearly allied to 

 Cotoneaster — of about half a dozen species of pretty 

 evergreen shrubs ; the cultivated ones being all 

 natives of China and Japan. The best-known and, 

 perhaps, most desirable species is R. Japonica, which 

 has glossy, dark green, leathery, oval or obovate 

 leaves, and fragrant white flowers arranged in large, 

 terminal, thyrsoid panicles ; it thrives well under 

 varied conditions as regards soil and situation, and is 

 readily propagated from cuttings or seeds. 



Ehamnus. — This genus, which gives its name 

 to the natural order Rhamnea, contains about sixty 

 species, natives of temperate and tropical regions ; it 

 is represented in Britain by R. catharticus and R. 

 frangula, the latter being the Dogwood of the gun- 

 powder manufacturers. R. alaternus, from South 

 Europe, is the most ornamental of the cultivated 

 species ; it is an evergreen, with glossy serrated 

 leaves, varying much in outline. The small apetalous 

 flowers are produced in profusion in May, and. are 

 very grateful to bees. Evelyn observes with regard 

 to the Alaternus : "I have had the honour to be the 

 first who brought it into use and reputation in this 

 kingdom, for the most beautiful and useful of 



hedges and verdure in the world (the swiftness of 

 the growth considered), and propagated it from 

 Cornwall even unto Cumberland." During severe 

 winters it is liable to be injured by frost, but 

 it is rarely killed outright, and soon pushes up 

 again from the roots. There are gold and silver 

 varieties of this beautiful shrub, neither of which 

 is so vigorous as the green-leaved type. All are 

 readily increased by cuttings inserted in sandy soil 

 under a hand-light in August or September. 



Rhododendron. — There are about a hundred 

 and thirty species in this splendid genus of Heath- 

 worts, but comparatively few of this number, are 

 thoroughly hardy in Britain. The head-quarters of 

 the genus is the Himalayan region, but many 

 species are found in the mountains of the Malayan 

 Archipelago, and other parts of Asia, half a dozen 

 in the mountains of Europe, and a few in North 

 America. In favoured spots, such as the South- 

 western and Welsh counties near the sea, several of 

 the magnificent Himalayan species thrive admirably, 

 but in these notes only those which succeed generally 

 are mentioned. Nearly all the Rhododendrons re- 

 quire a peaty soil, but some few affect a limestone 

 formation, in which the great bulk would refuse alto- 

 gether to grow. In these notes only true species 

 are mentioned; for the innumerable beautiful 

 hybrid and seedling forms, which have principally 

 originated from R. Ponticum, R. Catawbiense, and R. 

 Caucasicum, the reader is referred to the catalogues of 

 those nurserymen who make a speciality of garden 

 Rhododendrons. 



R. Catawbiense, a native of North Carolina, is a 

 bushy shrub with broadly oval, flat leaves, bright 

 green beneath ; the large bell- shaped flowers open in 

 summer when danger from frost is past, and are lilac, 

 purple, pink, or deep rose in colour. 



R. Caucasicum, introduced at the beginning of the 

 present century from the Caucasus — where it is 

 found near the limits of perpetual snow — has 

 whitish or yellowish flowers, opening about August. 

 It is a dwarf, compact grower, and has oval leaves, 

 green above, and clothed with a rusty tomentum 

 beneath. 



R. Dahuricum is perhaps the earliest of all the 

 Rhododendrons, as it frequently flowers from 

 December to March ; it has small, oblong, deciduous 

 leaves, and purple flowers. This Siberian species is 

 the parent of several highly desirable varieties which 

 force admirably. 



R. ferrugineum and R. Mrsutum are generally 

 known under the name of Rose des Alpes. The 

 former is the taller and more robust of the two 

 (rarely exceeding, however, a couple of feet in 

 height), and is readily distinguished by the rusty 



