128 



THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



fruit is pretty, and good to eat, as in P. baccata, pruni- 

 folia, and especially P. Astracanica. P. salicifolia, 

 Sinaica (from Mount Sinai), and salvifolia — allied species, 

 with woolly, light, and downy elongated leaves — have a 

 pleasing effect. P. spectabilis, coronaria, and floribunda, 

 are exceedingly showy. Propagate by seeds, or by 

 grafting on the Service, the Hawthorn, the Crab, the 

 Wild Pear, or the Quince. The Service-trees and the 

 Mountain Ashes have been removed from the Pears to 

 the genus Sorbus. The common Mountain Ash, S. 

 mieuparia, i. e. Bird-catching Service (of which there is 

 a weeping variety), is admired for its coral-red berries, 

 as well as for its handsome foliage. The American 

 Mountain Ash, S. Americana, is robust and erect, with 

 smaller and darker red fruit than the former. Those 

 who have not the patience to raise them from seed, may 

 graft on the "White Thorn. If you sow the berries of 

 the Mountain Ash in the chinks of rocks, years after- 

 wards, when you have forgotten the circumstance, you 

 will find an ornamental object growing on the spot. 

 Some of the Services, again, are referred to the Haw- 

 thorns, to which they are very nearly allied. The planters 

 of shrubberies will do well to inspect a complete list of 

 the genus Pyrus. 



Raspberry {Flowering). — See Bramble. 



Rhododendron — The Greek for Rose-tree. — Native 

 evergreens of Europe, Asia, and America, whose best- 

 known representative is perhaps R. Ronticum, from Asia 

 Minor, and its very numerous varieties. Of late years, 

 the genus has been greatly enlarged by the discoveries 

 of Dr. Hooker in the Sikkim Himalaya mountains, 

 whence he has introduced plants of extraordinary beauty, 

 and from which every year exquisite varieties and 

 hybrids are likely to result. Of these original species, 

 R. Thompsonii is one of the handsomest shrubs ever 

 introduced into Europe. In damp and shady situations, 

 it attains a height of six feet or more. Its leaves are 

 broad in proportion to their length, light-green above, 

 and somewhat glaucous beneath. Its large whole- 



