March 16, 1912. 



THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



215 



STAPHYLEA COLCHICA. 



This beautiful flowering shrub is very 

 lovely in the garden during the summer, 

 specimens 20ft. or so in height being 

 covered with large^ drooj)ing panicles of 

 pure white flowers with yellow anthers, not 

 unlike orange blossoms, and sweetly 

 scented. About five-and-twenty years ago 

 a correspondent, writing to one of the lead- 

 ing horticultural papers on tli's shrub, 

 which he evidently knew only as a pot 

 plant, opined that it was probably not free- 

 flowering when grown in the open. In this 

 he was fortimately mistaken. This sta- 

 phylea is by far the handsomest of the 

 family, the best known of the other mem- 

 bers being the North American S. trifolia 

 and the European S, pinnata, know^ respec- 

 tively as the Bladder Nut and St. Anthony s 

 Nut Tree. S. colchica is a native of the 

 Caucasus, and thus perfectly hardy^ bears 

 pinnate leaves, and thrives in the hdl sun 

 or in partial shade. 



As a forcing subject it is decidedly the 

 best of all deciduous shrubs, as it may be 

 had in bloom, with a modicum of trouble, 

 from Christmas onward, and as the tender 

 green leaves of forced specimens unfold at 

 the same time that the flowers expand the 

 eifect is charming. It responds readily to 

 artificial heat, and when placed in a warn) 

 house kept moist the flowers open rapidly. 

 Plants may be lifted from the open in the 

 autumn as soon as the leaves fall, potted 

 and forced, but the more preferable plan is 

 to grow plants fcr forcing entirely in pots. 



Pot plants carefidly treated will improve 

 year by year, and produce a quantity of 



flower, the panicles being borne on the 



wood of the preceding year, and 



AVhen 



young 



also on the spurs of the old wood, 

 the plants have passed out of bloom they 

 should be pruned back to a plump bud and 

 encouraged to make strong growth in gentle 

 heat, so that strong buds may be obtained. 

 If the soil is exhausted the plants are taken 

 Out of their pots just as they are breaking 

 into growth after being pruned, the soil 

 picked away from the roots, and the plants 

 repotted in fresh soil in the same sized pots, 

 or in one size larger. After forcing they 

 must be kept under glass until all danger 

 of frost is past^ for the forced foliage is 

 very tender^ and will not bear exposure 

 until hardened off. Through the siunmer 

 and autumn the plants should be plunged 

 m the open, so that the wood may become 

 thoroughly ripened, and care must be taken 

 that they do not want for water. 



Propagation is effected by cuttings of 

 ripened wood eight inches in length inserted 

 in a cold frame in September, by layers, 

 or suckers having a few roots, the last being 

 the most successful method. It may also 

 l)e raised from seed sown in a sheltered! 

 position in the open in September or Octo- 

 beil. Increase is sometimes effected by 

 grafting on S. pinnata. 



When planted out this staphylea is a 

 very rapid grower, a pot plant two feet in 

 beight, planted in good soil in the open, 

 attaining a height of 8ft. in five years. The 

 specimen shown in the accompanying illus- 

 trat.on was put out from a pot four years 

 »>efore the photograph was taken. In S. 

 pinnata the pendulous, white flower pani- 

 <les are composed of individual blooms 

 jvhich are considerably smaller ir r,ize and 

 ^;ick the spreading petals of the flowcis of 

 cx>lchica. Wyndham Fitzherbert. 



ILEX INTEGRA. 



The number of varieties of Ilex aqui- 

 folium and I. platyphylla is so large, and 

 the different kinds are so varied in charac- 

 ter, that they usually provide a sufficient 

 amount of variation for the person whose 

 sole object is decorative effect : those 



people, howfever, who are Interested 

 more than the purely ornamental aspect 



in 



although it is not of recent intro<luction. 

 Growing in Japan and China to a height 

 of from 30ft. to 40ft. ^ it is said to be a 

 favourite subject for garden decoration. 

 Here it is of pyramidal outline, with dark 

 green ovate leaves up to 4in. in length. 

 The leaves differ from those of most hollies 

 by being spineless ; in fact, it is only now 

 and then that a leaf can be found with a 



broken nmrgin, and then its serrat'on is 

 very slight. White flowers appear in May, 



^niS? Ho^li^x^^of^^^^^ GROWING for Cottagers aBd 



P^^y of FruKrs FnlW Worshipful Com- 



Post la. 3d froT^ w S'^^y Illustrated. Price Is., by 



A FINK i:XAMPLE OF STAPHYLEA COLCHICA. 



Flowius white, in drooping" panicles. 



a particuLir plant, and make an eflFort to 

 furnish their gardens with rare and out- 



wnth a httle 



of-tlie-way subjects, 

 trouble 



may, 



collect together an 



and expense, 

 extremely interesting set of hollies (II 

 species), which are quite as decorative in 

 appearance as many of the well-known 

 forms of the common holly. 



which are followed, on female plants, by 

 bright red fruits, which may be about the 

 size of those of the common holly, or con- 

 siderably larger. As is the case with I. 

 aquifolium, a yellow-fruited variety has 

 been recorded. Tliis has been oa]le<l leuco- 

 clada ; it does 

 in cultivation. 



not, however, appear to be 

 I, integra thrives under 



Of this number the Chinese and Japa- much the same conditions as the other 



nese I. integra is one of the least known, hollies. 



W. D. 



