44 THE BOOK OF THE WILD GARDEN 



distance from the ground the great leaves spread like 

 palm-fronds crowned with the white flower-clusters. 



Herberts. — The common Barberry is an attractive sight 

 when an isolated specimen is loaded with fruit, the 

 branches arching gracefully under their load of ver- 

 milion-tinted berries, and its bronze-tinted form is also 

 ornamental. Other species of Berberis have, however, 

 prettier flowers than those of B. vulgaris, B. stenophylla 

 being the handsomest of its race. In the spring it is a 

 mass of golden-orange, each spray blossom-laden to its 

 very tip. B. Darwinii is also a striking species with 

 flowers of a slightly deeper orange than the last-named. 

 It attains a height of over twenty feet. 



Ctesalpina japonica. — Syn. C. sepiaria. A thorny bush 

 with Robinia-like leaves bearing yellow flowers in the 

 summer. 



Camellia. — Generally met with as a greenhouse plant, but 

 really hardier than the Laurel, instances having occurred 

 where a Laurel growing close to a Camellia in the open 

 has been injured by the frost while the latter was unhurt. 

 However great the hardiness of the Camellia, it is of but 

 little use as a decorative feature in cold and frosty dis- 

 tricts, since its flowers are produced in the winter and 

 early spring when frosts are prevalent, and are hope- 

 lessly damaged. In the south of Cornwall climatic 

 conditions are different, and here great Camellia bushes 

 flower profusely in the open through the winter and 

 spring months. 



Catalpa. — C. bignonoides is a handsome, large-leaved 

 tree bearing spreading panicles of white flowers. 

 Examples thirty feet in height are to be found in 

 England. It is hardy, being a native of North America. 



Cerasus. — The wild Cherry tree, often growing to a 

 large size, forms one of the features of the river banks 

 and woods at the time of the year when the Larch-shoots 

 are emerald green, and the Bird Cherry, also a British 



