KARE SHRUBS IN THE OPEN AIR 



349 



Amorpha fruticosa, ' False Indigo.' — This forms a tall, weedy, 

 sprawling plant, which I do not think worth growing, but its relative, 

 A, canescens, the 1 lead plant,' has a more compact habit, and a really 

 attractive violet-hued flower, borne in late summer. 



Fontanesia Fortunei, from China, and F. pliilliraeoides (F. linearis) 

 are hardy privet-like plants which are hardly sufficiently ornamental to 

 justify their being planted except where a botanical collection is being 

 formed. The above remarks apply also to Forestiera acuminata (F. ligus- 

 trina), except that this is said to have the additional disadvantage of 

 being tender. 



Spiraea. — This, including as it now does the Neillias, is a very large 

 family. Not only are there many species but many hybrids, and the 

 matter is made worse by the same plant being catalogued under many 

 different names ; e.g., the Kew handbook gives twenty-four synonyms for 

 the graceful S. canescens I Almost all these plants are free flowerers, 

 and some, such as S. prunifoMa, take on a grand colour in the fall of 

 the year. I should find no difficulty in writing a paper confined only to 

 the Spiraeas which we possess, but will instead pick out some half a 

 dozen of the rarest and best for special mention. S. assurgens has 

 ribbed, hornbeam-like leaves, and erect spikes of white flowers in 

 September. S. bracteata (fig. 43), from Japan, bears a flat mass of white 

 flowers at the end of May. We have failed to get cuttings of it to strike, 

 but I should think it would layer. S. bullata (S. crispa), a compact 

 dwarf form, covered in July with rosy red corymbs. S. laevigata, a 

 Siberian species with glaucous, leathery leaves, recalling a spurge laurel 

 or a Bupleurum rather than any other known Spiraea. S. Aitchisoni, a 

 vigorous grower with reddish stems, has showy white flower spikes late 

 in autumn, and resembles in general appearance the old S. Lindleyana, 

 though superior to it. Many of the Spiraeas, such as S. Douglasi, 

 S. chamaedrifolia (S. ulmifolia), S. japonica (S. callosa), are parti- 

 cularly suited to mass planting, being cut down to the ground every 

 spring, when a level sheet of flowers will be obtained in autumn and a 

 bright effect from the young canes in winter. S. sibirica has clustered 

 spikes of white flower early in May. S. nudiflora has white corymbs 

 suffused with a pink flush in May and June, and is remarkably pretty. 

 S. revirescens parviflora, bearing red corymbs about a fortnight after 

 the last-named, also deserves mention. 



Colletia cruciata, from Uruguay. — In spite of its habitat this is hardy 

 with us, and we have a large plant in the open which passed safely 

 through the terrible frost of January 1895. The Kew handbook gives 

 C. spinosa, ferox, horrida, Bictonensis as synonyms, and though these 

 may be botanically the same plants we have two forms growing which to 

 the eye are quite distinct, one with very large awl-shaped spines, suggest- 

 ing a desert plant, such as the cactus, and another, less striking, with 

 small prickles, which might to the casual eye pass for a gorse ; when the 

 last is covered with its pearl-like little white flowers it is, however, im- 

 pressive, and we were fortunate enough to get an Award of Merit for it 

 some years ago. 



Polygala Cliamaebuxus— This is an attractive, hardy, dwarf evergreen 

 with white flowers, and is known as the ' Bastard Box ' ; the variety 



