350 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



P. Chamacbuxus purpurea bears a purple flower with yellow centre in 

 early April. 



Hibiscus syriacus. — There are many garden varieties of this hardy 

 plant ; the best, known to rne, are totus albus, a pure single white ; celeste, 

 a clear light blue ; and Hamabou, a newly introduced form, which I first 

 saw at Canon Ellacombe's ; this has a bronzy colour, like a Salpiglossis. 

 All the species of Hibiscus flower very late in autumn, and though on the 

 whole this is an advantage yet in some seasons the blooms wait tco long 

 and are spoilt by frost before they can develop. 



Cydonia japonica. — We have a great many varieties of this, with all 

 sorts of names. Some of them are very beautiful and they range in 

 colour from the pigeon's blood ruby of var. Simonii (for which we were 

 fortunate enough to get an Award of Merit this year) to a clear white ; 

 none of them, however, can be depended upon to come true from seed, 

 nor will they strike from cuttings, so the only way to reproduce them 

 satisfactorily is by layering. All these plants enjoy a strong soil, and 

 our largest single plant, aged between 60 and 70 years, is 22 feet through 

 by 8 feet high, and in April of this year was one vivid sheet of scarlet. 

 Cydonia Maulei superba is a distinct advance on the type, and Cydonia 

 Sargentii is, from its close trailing habit, well suited to a rockery. 



We are not very rich in Roses when regarded from a botanical stand- 

 point, but I may mention B. ferruginea (almost invariably known as 

 B. rubrifolia), whose home is in the mountains of Europe, as a rampant 

 grower which produces a splendid effect when planted in a mass and pegged 

 down over old roots ; the foliage is of a rich plum colour, the flower small 

 and pink, single, and the heps in autumn are very showy. B. nitida is also 

 admirable for autumn and winter, the leaves and hirsute stems turning 

 a bright red ; it is not a very strong grower and is well suited, when 

 pegged down, to carpet a point of a shrubbery, or small bed in a garden. 



B. Soulieana is to be recommended for its glaucous foliage and free, 

 prostrate growth. B. viridiflora, with its green flowers, is merely a 

 curiosity. All the above are perfectly hardy, but B. bracteata, the well- 

 known Chinese Macartney rose, though always looked upon as tender, 

 has flourished with us for the last ten years on a sheltered bank by 

 water. 



Hymenanthera crassifolia is a low-growing evergreen with a spread- 

 ing habit from New Zealand ; it bears small yellowish flowers, and so far 

 has been uninjured by frost. Botanists tell us it belongs to the violet 

 family, and we are bound to believe them. 



Eucryphia pinnatifida, from Chile, is said to be hardy, but we have 

 found it difficult to establish. I fancy it likes a peaty soil. Our plant, 

 though quite healthy, has not yet borne any of the large white flowers 

 which ought to ornament it. 



We have many species of Comus, some very good and some very 

 indifferent. I have not yet been able to find any horticultural merit in 



C. Amomum, C. circinata, C. aspcrifolia, C. pubescens, and C. Purpusii, 

 all of which are from North America ; indeed, I have often been struck 

 with the inferiority in beauty of the North American flora to that of 

 Japan and China. On the other hand, the following species of Comus 

 are, for one reason or another, well worth growing. C. Hessei is a 



