BEAUTIFUL DECIDUOUS TREES AND SHRUBS. 



409 



S. daphnoidcs, a strong, bold-growing species, remark- 

 able for the bluish glaucesoence of its young bark. 



Other Weeping Willows besides S. babylonica are 

 S. alba vitellina pendula, a form of the yellow-barked 

 Willow, in which all the minor branches are pendulous ; 

 S. purpurea pendula, American Weeping Willow ; 

 S. Caprea pendula, the Kilmarnock Willow, and 

 S. sericea pendula, the Silver Weeping Willow, three 

 strictly pendulous kinds that need to be grafted standard 

 high in order to show their long drooping shoots to the 

 best advantage. 



The following notes about the important group of 

 Weeping Willows, translated from the Deutsche Gaiiner 

 Zeitung, and written by M. Rehden, are important, and 

 the translation appeared in the Garden : 



" Among the trees distinguished by their drooping 

 habit some Willows may be cited as truly deserving the 

 name of weeping trees, and in which this peculiarity of 

 growth constitutes a trait characteristic of the species and 

 not an artificially maintained deviation from the natural 

 mode of vegetation. Their branches droop to the ground 

 naturally, whereas in many others of the so-called 

 weeping trees, such as drooping forms of Ash, Elm, 

 Birch, etc., there is nearly always a clumsiness, and their 

 branches have the appearance of being forcibly curved 

 downwards. We should guard against an excessive use 

 of Weeping Willows in landscape effects owing to this 

 same weeping habit. One large isolated Weeping 

 Willow, or a group of such trees on the margin of water, 

 gives a much better effect than a number scattered about 

 promiscuously. We could hardly choose a better place 

 for displaying the picturesqueness of the Weeping Willow 

 than the margin of water, in which the branches 

 drooping to the surface are reflected and seemingly 

 continued. Further, the Weeping Willow when isolated 

 has an advantage over many other weeping trees in its 

 beauty of habit, and especially the elegance of its lines. 

 Here there is no hardness, no stiffness, all is grace and 

 softness ; like a fountain of water, the branches rise 

 lightly into the air in no compact mass, to fall again 

 gracefully on themselves. On the other hand, in most 

 other weeping trees artificially made by grafting on 

 standards there is none of this lightness of aspect and of 

 form. Willows are admirably suited for giving us an 

 abundance of foliage and shade where these are desired. 



" The Weeping Wdlow which is best known and 

 certainly the most beautiful is Salix babylonica. Certain 

 other Weeping Willows are often met with in cultivation 

 under this name, the more so as the true S. babylonica is 

 a delicate tree in countries where the climate is at all 

 severe. Its native country is said to be the East and 

 China, although as a fact it has never, so far, been found 

 wild in those countries. It is certain, however, that it 

 already existed in Europe in the middle of the eighteenth 

 century. It is called Babylonian because it was thought 

 to be the tree under which the Jews sat down to weep on 

 the banks of the Euphrates River, but it is now well 

 known that the tree which grows on the banks of the 

 Euphrates and resembles a Willow is the Populus 

 euphratica, a Poplar with a peculiar foliage, having 

 narrow leaves resembling those of the Willow and others 

 with broad round-oval leaves. This Poplar is now in 

 Europe, but has never shown any inclination to thrive 

 with us. Salix babylonica rises to a height of from 30ft. 

 to 60ft. ; the branches stretch out in curves to a great 

 width and then fall in lengths, generally a yellow-green 

 when young, afterwards changing to a brown-yellow. In 

 habit it much resembles S. alba vitellina pendula. The 

 long or lance-shaped, finely indented leaves are borne 

 upon short leaf stalks covered with fine hairs. The 

 leaves, each 2in. to 5m. long, and less than iin. broad, 

 are covered at first with scattered silken hairs ; later they 

 become smooth, a bright green on the upper side, a bluish 

 grey-green on the lower. The female catkins are small, 

 and supported by leafy peduncles. The male tree is 

 rarely seen in cultivation. There is one form which is 

 peculiar in having the leaves rolled in spirals or rings, 

 viz., annularis is more delicate than the type, weaker in 



growth, and more rare than beautiful. Other kinds are 

 mentioned, but we make allusion particularly to the 

 beautiful babylonica. 



SambllCUS {Elder). — There are only two species of Elder 

 that need be specially mentioned, viz., S. nigra, the 

 common Elder, and S. racemosa, the red-berried kind. 

 They will grow in almost any soil or situation, and 

 cuttings about ift. long, put firmly in the open ground 

 during the winter, will soon root. 



S. nigra, the common Elder, is known to everyone, but 

 besides the ordinary form there are three varieties — one in 

 which the leaves are variegated with white; a cut-leaved 

 form; and, lastly, the Golden Elder, whose leaves are of a 

 yellowish green when first expanded, but when exposed 

 to the summer's sun they become of a beautiful deep 

 golden tint. A sunny spot and a rather poor soil is 

 favourable to the colouring of this Elder. 



S. raeemOSa {Scarlet -berried Elder). — A good deal like 

 the last, but the berries, instead of being black, are scarlet. 

 There are also varieties of this — plumosa, with cut leaflets, 

 and a very graceful shrub for the lawn ; plumosa aurea, a 

 golden form of the preceding ; and tenuifolia, in which 

 the leaflets are reduced to long narrow strips, thus 

 forming a singular but graceful plant. The scarlet-berried 

 Elder is wonderfully bright when smothered with its 

 scarlet fruit. 



Sea Buckthorn. — See Hippophx rhamnoides. 



Siberian Crab.— -S«<; Pyrus baccata. 



Snowberry. — See Symphoricarpus. 



Sophora japoniea. — A large and handsome tree, with 

 very deep green pinnate foliage, which retains its colour 

 throughout the summer, however hot, and well on into 

 the autumn. The clusters of white pea-shaped blossoms 

 are borne in November, it being the last of all our hardy 

 trees to flower. There is a good weeping variety (pendula), 

 and a variegated kind named variegata. 



Spanish Chestnut.—^ Castanea. 



Spartilim junceiim {Spanisli Broom).— Thisisanupright- 

 g_owing bush, with long Rush-like shoots, and produces 

 in great profusion its large, rich golden yellow pea- 

 shaped blossoms. It is at its best during June and July, 

 but continues to flower longer than that. For planting in 

 sandy and stony soils it is particularly valuable. Propa- 

 gated readily from seed sown when ripe. 



Spindle Tree. — See Euonymus europseus. 



SpirCSa. — A charming group of flowering shrubs, all of 

 which are hardy, bear a great profusion of blossoms, and 

 by a judicious selection a succession can be maintained 

 throughout the greater part of the spring and summer. 

 They all prefer good soil, and resent being parched up 

 during the summer, a cool moist spot suiting them best. 

 Most of them push up a succession of suckers and thus 

 form a dense mass. When this happens and any 

 pruning is necessary it should be devoted to thinning out 

 the old and exhausted shoots rather than curtailing the 

 vigorous ones, which produce the finest blossoms. 

 From their habit most of the Spiraeas can be propagated 

 by division, or by detaching rooted suckers, while cuttings 

 of the growing shoots, taken about August and put in 

 sandy soil in a close frame, will soon root. With the 

 great number of different kinds a selection is a difficult 

 matter, but the following are the best : 



S. arguta. — A neat-growing bush, 3ft. to 4ft. high, that 

 bears its flattened clusters of pure white flowers on the 

 upper part of the thin, wiry, gracefully arching shoots of 

 the previous year's growth. From the middle of April 

 well on into May it is at its best. 



S. ariSSfolia. — A large shrub, 8ft. to 10ft. high, that 

 bears in June large plume-like panicles of creamy white 

 blossoms. 



S. Bumalda. — Not more than 2ft. high, and bearing in 

 June and July clusters of pretty pink blossoms. There 

 is a form of this— Anthony Waterer — with bright 

 crimson flowers, and this is one of the most valuable dwarf 

 shrubs in cultivation ; its flower colouring is very rich. 



S. CaneSCenS. — A vigorous kind that will grow from 6ft. 

 to 1 oft. high, and produces long, arching shoots, clothed 

 with small regularly disposed leaves. The flowers, 



