COT ONE ASTER, 



181 



(sometimes) pink, beneath. The calix and the 

 broad ovate calix tip is, according to Koch, 

 devoid of hair, according to Dippel it is 

 smooth or almost so. The berry is conical or 

 ovate, and contains two stones. Himalayas. 



Plants corresponding with the above de- 

 scriptions I have never seen, and what plants 

 I have obtained from various sources, as rotun- 

 difolia, have always presented the characteris- 

 tics of buxifolia. A longer leafed form which 

 was sent to me from a Dutch nursery as buxi- 

 folia, but which probably belonged to this 

 species, perished in the first winter without 

 having bloomed. This was an erect bushy 

 shrub, about i 8 inches high, with slender and 

 (later on) almost smooth brown branches, the 

 leaves ovate in shape, about an inch long, and 

 a little less or a little over half-an-inch in 

 breadth, with short stalks, the upper extremity 

 rounded off or emarginate like the leaves of 

 the Box tree; but slightly fringed at the edges, 

 the under sides always hairy, sometimes on the 

 face or the slightly reflexed edge of the broad 

 wedge-shaped base. 



C. buxifolia (Wallich) (Box-leaved Rock- 

 spray). — A low, spreading, woody shrub, with 

 red-brown branches, at first thickly or thinly 

 covered with stiff hairs, but later becoming 

 smooth or nearly'so. The leaves are evergreen, 

 leathery in texture, short-stalked, broad or 

 round oval, rounded at both ends or blunt, 

 pointed and tipped with short spines ; the 

 edgesand fringed upper sides dark green, rather 

 glossy and slightly hairy, the under sides light 

 yellow or brown-grey, and more or less covered 

 with thick depressed hairs; in size about half- 

 an-inch or less, on the leaf twigs, by a third 

 broad; on the flower twigs generally smaller, 

 broad wedge-shaped, blunt at the ends and 

 emarginate. From the end of May the blos- 

 soms appear, borne on short, leafy, shaggy 

 twigs, in heads of one to three, white with red 

 stains behind. The calix is broad, conical, 

 thinly haired near its top, which is broad oval, 

 or triangular and slightly pointed and fringed. 

 The flower petals are about twice as long as 

 the calix tip. The fruit is a bright red, round 

 conical, with two stones. This shrub is of the 

 Himalayan region, a handsome plant for the 

 rock garden, and only cut down by the hardest 

 winters. Varieties are — typica, with two to 



three blooms (seldom one only), borne on 

 twigs; uniflora, flower twig with one terminal 

 blossom ; lanata, with undersides of leaves 

 closely haired. 



C. microphylla (Wallich) (Common Rock- 

 spray). — A dwarf spreading shrub, with red- 

 brown shoots, at first thickly covered with 

 white hairs, but later taking a darker colour, 

 becoming smooth or nearly smooth. Leaves 

 evergreen, leathery in texture, and with short 

 stalks, the upper sides glossy, dark green and 

 smooth, or nearly smooth, the under sides co- 

 vered with whitish or yellow-grey depressed 

 hair ; with edges rolled and at first fringed. 

 The leaves on the leaf-branches are long 

 wedge-shaped or narrow ovate, generally with 

 short pointed ends, sometimes rounded and 

 tapering towards the stalk. The leaves are less 

 than \ inch long and less than \ inch broad, on 

 the flower-twigs they are even less. The blos- 

 soms appear at the end of May and continue 

 till the middle of June, and are borne on short, 

 close-set, leafy side-twigs, mostly in ones, sel- 

 dom in twos, and are about one-third of an 

 inch across. The calix is inverted-conical in 

 shape, and, close to the triangular tip, rather 

 thickly haired. The calix tip is one-third 

 shorter than the white flower petals. The fruit 

 ! is bright red, round, mostly with one stone. 

 Himalayas. In cultivation it displays the same 

 qualities as C. buxifolia. Var. glacialis (C. con- 

 \ gesta of some authors), with leaves smooth and 

 blue-green underneath, and small, often bright 

 rose-coloured flowers. 



C. thymifolia (Hort.) (Thyme Rockspray). 

 — A handsome, rather erect-growing shrub, 

 with outstanding branches, and the smallest 

 leaf of the family. The shoots, at first covered 

 with soft hairs, soon become smooth and red- 

 brown in colour. The leaves on the leaf-shoots 

 are about one-twelfth of an inch long with 

 long stalks, linear wedge-shape, narrowing 

 sometimes at the points and always towards 

 the leaf-stalk; elsewhere the leaves are rounded 

 or shortened off and emarginate, not pointed, 

 with disappearing spines ; in length about one- 

 third of an inch long by about one-twelfth of 

 an inch broad, the upper surface glossy, dark 

 green, and only at first set with single hairs ; 

 the under sides bright, grey-green with thinly 

 scattered depressed hairs ; the edges rolled and 



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