206 



FLORA AND SYLVA, 



bright berries, showing several colours upon 

 the same branch. 



The Glossy Guelder Rose {V. obovatuni). 

 — A spreading bush found beside water in the 

 Southern States of America, and usually a dense 

 grower of about 4 feet, but sometimes twice as 

 high. Its branches are smooth and angular, and 

 its leaves small, from half-an-inch to 1^ inches 

 long, narrow, and of a bright glossy green ; 

 their edges are smooth or slightly dented and 

 their texture thick and rigid. The white flowers 

 open from April to June in small stemless clus- 

 ters, followed by oval black fruits. A very neat 

 and distinct kind, evergreen in mild wintersbut 

 somewhat sensitive to cold. Sy n . V. Lavigatum. 



The Fragrant Guelder Rose {V. odora- 

 tissimum). — A fine evergreen of 8 to 10 feet, 

 with stout erect branches, glossy foliage, and 

 sweet flowers. From the south of China and 

 Japan it is tender in the open garden, requiring 

 a wall and protection except in warm districts. 

 Around the temples of Japan this shrub forms 

 dense masses of 20 or 30 feet, the air being 

 charged with the scent of their myriad clus- 

 ters in flower-time. Its firm glossy leaves recall 

 those of the Laurel in size and in their deep 

 shining green; the flowers open in broad pyra- 

 midal spikes of 4 inches during spring. The 

 berries, of a rich coral red when young, ripen 

 to glossy black. Towards autumn the leaves 

 assume a rich bronze-purple, and in many gar- 

 dens it is grown in pots for the beauty of its 

 foliage; when charged with young fruit it is 

 a pretty plant for the house, showing well in 

 artificial light. Syn. V. Awafuki. 



The Common Guelder RosE(F.Opu/us) . — 

 A large shrub with smooth, light grey branches 

 and bright green leaves, common in Britain 

 and widely spread in Europe, Asia, and North 

 America ; it thrives in woods and damp places 

 and is beautiful for its handsome flowers, crim- 

 son leaves, and many clusters of bright red ber- 

 ries in autumn. Though less showy in flower 

 than its garden form — the Snowball Tree — it 

 may be finely used in the wild garden, massed 

 beside water or in damp bottoms, and colour- 

 ing richly when freely exposed, especially upon 

 chalk or limestone soils. The rounded flower- 

 headsappearin June andjuly,the innerflowers 

 yellowish and small, surrounded by a ring of 

 larger sterile blossoms of pure white ; the ber- 

 ries begin to colour by the end of July and hang 



for several months, being rarely touched by 

 birds. Of its many garden forms the following 

 are the most important: — 



The Snowball Tree [V. Opulus sterile). — 

 A well-known and beautiful form of the wild 

 Guelder Rose,much grown for its showy white 

 clusters, composed of crowded sterile flowers 

 gathered into rounded heads and drooping 

 gracefully from the end of every shoot. Large 

 bushes hung with these clusters are of fine ap- 

 pearance when allowed to grow freely beside 

 water, or massed in the shrubbery. In small 

 gardens it is no less useful as it may be freely 

 cut back after flowering, the flowers coming 

 upon the season's growth. It is often forced 

 for the conservatory in spring, but should be 

 grown in pots for awhile previously and not 

 started early or forced hard ; in fact, it is not at 

 home under glass, being very subject to green 

 fly. Massed in moist ground, the Snowball 

 Tree grows fast into one of the most beautiful 

 ornaments of the hardy flower-garden. Minor 

 varieties are fructo-luteo, in which the red fruits 

 of the wild form become yellow ; nanum, a 

 miniature plant for the rock garden, often less 

 than a foot high, with small leaves and rarely 

 known to flower, but conspicuous for the bright 

 red colour of its stems ; and variegatum, the 

 leaves of which are blotched with white and 

 yellow. By some authorities the American 

 form [V. Americanum or edule) is regarded as a 

 distinct kind, under the name of the Cranberry 

 Bush. Save in more vigorous growth it differs 

 only in slight details from the European kind; 

 its fruits are used by American housewives as 

 a substitute for Cranberries. 



The Caucasian Guelder Rose {V. orien- 

 tale). — -A shrub from western Asia reaching 

 10 feet, and allied to V. acerifolium. Its leaves 

 are three-lobed, coarsely toothed, with a few 

 simple hairs on the under surface ; its flowers, 

 coming in July, are followed by red berries. A 

 hardy kind of little interest. 



The Mountain Guelder Rose {V. pauci- 

 Jioruni). — A straggling shrub of a few feet, 

 confined to the far north of America or moun- 

 tainous tracts and cold woods further south. It 

 does not thrive under cultivation, nor, indeed, 

 is it of much value. The sparse white clusters, 

 opening in early summer, give place to sour 

 scarlet berries, while its appearance suggests a 

 poor form of the Guelder Rose. 



