i86 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



conditions of soil and seasons of best 

 effect as a guide to planters. Few kinds 

 are to be had in English nurseries, but 

 many are easily raised from seed, and a 

 demand for the better hardy Viburnums 

 would soon create a supply. 



Most of the Viburnums 



Be tLfJ"uses" d are neat g ai *den shrubs, 

 dense, freely branched, 

 and of good outline with little or no 

 trimming. There is great variety in 

 the shape and texture of leaf, but they 

 abound in shades of bright and cheerful 

 green, glossy and shining upon occasion 

 and often finely coloured in autumn. 

 Amongst the best kinds for autumn 

 colour are Opulus, W >~ightii, acerifoli- 

 um^furcatum, lantanoides^ zn&Lentago. 

 They vary in height from a few feet to 

 trees of 30 feet, such ^Lentago^pricni- 

 folium^&viA rufidulum. Though with a 

 certain sameness in flower there is much 

 variety in the size and pose of their 

 clusters, from the immense heads of di- 

 latatum^ macrocephalum, and rhytido- 

 phylhim, through every size, with some 

 held erect and stemless, others arched 

 and drooping; some flat and branched, 

 others rounded and ball-like. The size 

 of flower varies no less, and there are 

 many minor distinctions, such as in 

 pubescens, with its long protruding sta- 

 mens; prunifolium^ with conspicuous 

 yellow anthers \coti?iifoIium ^whic\i blos- 

 soms with a rosy tinge; and phlebotrich- 

 um, with its deep purple calyx. With 

 the exception of V. la?itanoides none of 

 the American kinds bear the showy ste- 

 rile flowers, but they atone for this by 

 the beauty and variety of their fruits, 

 borne in profusion and often richly va- 



ried in colour on the same branch. The 

 handsomest kinds in berry are Opidus, 

 dilatatiim, tomentosum, furcatum, and 

 W Hghtii. Most kinds are best grown in 

 damp spots, but acerifolium, Lantana, 

 dilatatum, pubescens^ prum i folium ^ and 

 IV rightii will do well in dry ground, 

 and acerifolium, Lantana^ and lantan- 

 oides thrive in the shade. For waterside 

 planting many kinds are good, and den- 

 tatum specially fine. Of the evergreen 

 kinds japonicum is the hardiest, while 

 odoratissimiun fills the air with a sweet- 

 ness such as pervades the gardens of 

 Pallanza on a warm evening when Olea 

 fragrans is in full beauty. Amongst the 

 best for all purposes of the lesser known 

 kinds are prunifolhcm, dilatatiim, Sie- 

 boldi, and rufidulum ^ but others of great 

 merit may be selected by means of the 

 following descriptions : — 



The Maple-leaved Guelder Rose [Vi- 

 burnum acerifolium). — -A low shrub of 4 to 6 

 feet, from the mountainous tracts of New Eng- 

 land and Canada, and very distinct in its broad 

 three-lobed leaves, shining above and downy 

 beneath. The small flowers of creamy white, 

 coming in May and June, are not showy, 

 but succeeded by oval red berries, turning to 

 black-purple when ripe. The leaves turn a 

 rich purplish-crimson in autumn, and the 

 plant will grow in dry, rocky soil or even be- 

 neath trees. 



The Buddleya-leaved Guelder Rose (V. 

 buddleifoliuni). — One of the new kinds intro- 

 duced by Messrs. Veitch, with long wrinkled 

 leaves like those of the Globe-flowered Budd- 

 leya, but densely coated with hairs on the 

 under surface. 



The Siberian Wayfaring Tree [F.buri- 

 jceticum). — A shrub from the far east of Asia, 

 bearing whitish flowers and pink or yellowish 

 fruits in early summer, but too like our native 

 Wayfaring Tree to be of value. 



The American White Rod {V. cassi- 



