THE VIBURNUMS, 205 



THE VIBURNUMS. 



{Continued from page 188.) 



The Great Guelder Rose {V. macroce- 

 phalum). — A plant of great beauty when well 

 flowered, but rarely seen in a fine state save 

 upon sheltered walls, being of slow growth in 

 the open and often cut back by late frosts. Its im- 

 mense heads of bloom, measuring 7 or 8 inches 

 across, resemble a great white Hydrangea, and 

 being sterile the flowers remain long in 

 beauty when safe from heavy rain. Large 

 plants are rare, though here and there, as 

 at Kew, Richmond, and other places in 

 the south and west, it flowers finely as a 

 wall shrub during early summer. In gar- 

 dens of Japan and northern China it forms 

 a spreading tree of 20 feet, of great beau- 

 ty when carrying itscream-white clusters. 

 Its bluntly ovate leaves are very flat, slight- 

 ly toothed, about 3 inches long, and car- 

 ried upon short stalks. The buds appear 

 with the young leaves, in slightly pointed 

 heads, the separate flowers more than an 

 inch across. This kind is rather difficult 

 of increase and (being a garden variety) is 

 best grafted upon the wild form, known as 

 macrocephalum Kete/eeri — a plant hardier 

 and more vigorous but of no great beau- 

 ty, and commonly used by the Chinese 

 as a stock for the finer form. Want of 

 sun often causes a feeble show of bloom 

 even under the best conditions, but where 

 wall-space can be found in sheltered gar- 

 dens, the beauty of the plant is so great as 

 to make it worth a trial ; light warm soil, 

 with lime rubbish added if not present in 

 the soil. In gardens of thesouth of Europe 

 it is one of the finest plants for effect. 

 Syn. V. Fortunei. 



The Soft-leaved Arrow-wood {V. 

 molle). — An American shrub of 6 to 12 

 feet, allied to the American Arrow-wood 

 (V. dentatum) but more robust and finer 

 in its larger dark green leaves covered 

 beneath and upon the stems and flower-stalks 

 with softhairs. It flowers in July, several weeks 

 later than dentatum, and its bluish berries are 

 larger, more pointed, and full of oil. In gardens 

 it is often confused with V. pubescens, a plant 

 of the north-west, whereas this belongs to the 

 Southern States. 



The Long -stemmed Guelder Rose {V. 



nudum).— & hardy erect shrub of 8 or more 

 feet, common in swamps from Canada to the 

 Southern States, with oblong-oval leaves, scur- 

 fy while young but smooth when mature, and 

 carried upon long downy stems. The whitish 

 flowers appear in broad branching heads upon 

 long bare stems, as against the nearly stemless 

 clusters of many kinds ; berries round, passing 

 from green to white, rose-pink, and bluish- 



WILD FORM. OF THE GREAT GUELDER ROSE. 



black, and sweet when ripe. In mild seasons 

 the leave sare almost evergreen, but the plant 

 is more sensitive to cold than most of the Ame- 

 rican kinds. A geographical form of this plant, 

 known as V. nitidum, is found in Britain and 

 may be known by its smaller, narrow leaves of 

 shining green, firm in texture. A pretty shrub 

 when loaded during July and August with its 



