JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



flowers, about J in. in length, and somewhat resembling those of Ribes 

 sawjuincum, but of a larger size and brighter colour. 



The Chinese flora is extremely rich in genera belonging to Saxifra- 

 (jacae, containing species, comprising both herbs and shrubs, of great 

 value as garden plants. 



Amongst the herbs Astiibc Davidii is undoubtedly the best and will 

 always be one of the most beautiful of hardy plants. It has been amply 

 described and figured in the horticultural periodicals during the past year, 

 so that further description here would be superfluous. It will shortly be 

 distributed. 



Closely allied to Astilbe is the genus Rodgersia, containing four 

 species, all of which are handsome herbaceous plants. The best known 

 in gardens is Rodgersia podoplujlla, a Japanese species introduced through 

 our collector, the late Charles Maries, in 1882. Rodgersia cssculifolia 

 •(the Horse Chestnut-leaved Rodgersia) is a handsome Chinese species 

 which is described in the Gardeners 7 Chronicle, August 23, 1902, by Dr. 

 A. Henry as follows : " Rodgersia cesculifolia is referred to in Chinese 

 herbal as the ' Devil's Lamp-stand,' and colloquially in Hupeh as the 

 ' Old Serpent's Dish.' It is a large plant, attaining six feet in height, 

 with leaves larger than in Rodgersia podophylla. The plant varies in 

 pubescence ; the leaves beneath on the veins are often covered with a 

 short white pubescence, but they are often glabrous. The inflorescence 

 is always pubescent. The leaves above are either single or trifoliate ; 

 below they are septemfoliate, the leaves being digitate. The flowers are 

 produced in large panicles, whitish and fragrant." 



Deinanthe bifida is also a herbaceous saxifragaceous plant, remarkable 

 in having unisexual, hermaphrodite, and sterile flowers on one and the 

 same inflorescence. The foliage consists of four leaves borne in a whorl : 

 they are broadly ovate in outline with serrate margins, and in some cases 

 are bifid at the apex. Dr. Henry describes the flowers as blue, and 

 Wilson in his notes states, "Flowers lake." It grows in ravines on sides 

 of the cliffs, in similar situations to Hydrangea longipes and simulating 

 it at a distance. 



Schizophragma integrifolia, remarkable in having its inflorescence 

 surrounded by white bracts, in the same manner as the old and well-known 

 stove plant, Mussceiida frondosa, is a semi-scandent shrub, quite hardy in 

 this country. The leaves are opposite, ovate-lanceolate, 8^ in. long by 

 1 in. broad, petiolate, and minutely serrate. The bracts which form such 

 a conspicuous part of the inflorescence are 3 in. in length and H in. in 

 width, ovate in shape and pure white in colour. From twelve to thirty are 

 produced in one inflorescence. (Fig. 21.) 



Ph/Uadelphus and Dcutzia are both represented by several species of 

 great horticultural merit differing from those in British gardens. 



Hitherto but one species of the genus Itca has been in general 

 CUitivati i), the American Itca virgimca, a deciduous shrub sometimes 

 farced in early spring for the sake of its small racemes of greenish white 

 flowers. 



Itca ilicifoUa is an important addition to the genus and also to our 

 list <<f hardy Chinese shrubs. As its specific name implies, the leaves 

 ■■« iemble those of a Holly, being evergreen, coriaceous in texture, with a 



