SOME LESSER-KNOWN JAPAN TREES AND SHRUBS. 



865 



who has seen Magnolia hypoleuca on its wcoded hill-slopes will easily 

 forget the impression. It is one of the most striking of all trees in a 

 country where the beauty of the inmates of the forests is not surpassed in 

 any other part of the world. The long spreading branches on trunks often 

 80 to 100 feet high, the leaves twelve to fifteen inches in length and six to 

 eight broad, of the palest green, the large creamy flowers six inches across 

 when expanded, stamens with scarlet filaments, and in autumn the 

 brilliant crimson cones of fruit, six to eight inches in height standing well 

 above the leaves, surprise all who see them. 



This tree requires age to flower, but should do so in this country in 

 from 15 to 20 years after planting. It will probably prove more adaptable 

 than its near allies, the American Magnolia macrophylla and Magnolia 

 tripetala. 



Magnolia Kobus is common in Japan, and makes a handsome 

 symmetrical tree in England. 



Magnolia stellata, Magnolia stellata rosea (fig. 196), Magnolia 

 Watsoni, and Magnolia parviflora are well known. 



Magnolia salicifolia, new to cultivation, has not yet flowered in 

 Europe, nor are its blossoms known to botanists. My own seed, collected 

 on Mount Hakkoda, failed to germinate ; but, thanks to the kindness of 

 Professor Sargent, my firm now has a promising young tree, which it is 

 hoped will flower in a few years' time. Though common in the district 

 in which it is found, the position is not the most easily accessible, which, 

 no doubt, accounts for the delay in introducing it to English gardens. 



The large and interesting Cere idiphyllum japonicum, a member of the 

 Magnolia family, does not seem to thrive with us as well as it does in New 

 England where flourishing specimens are to be seen. Its bright pink 

 spring foliage is attractive, and in its native forests the massive divided 

 trunks give the whole landscape a peculiar appearance. 



Nearly allied to the Magnolias are Euptelea polyandra, which has so 

 far failed to establish itself, and that curious genus Trochodendron, con- 

 taining but one species, Trochodendron aralioides (fig. 197). This is an 

 evergreen tree with rich dark glossy leaves 4-5 inches in length, attaining 

 in Japan a height of 20-25 feet ; extremely rare in a wild state, though 

 much cultivated. In this country it is a handsome evergreen tree which 

 on more than one occasion has flowered and fruited freely. 



Amongst other trees and shrubs undoubtedly hardy in England which 

 Japan has sent us and which repay the careful planter are Shtartia 

 Pseudo-camellia, nearly allied to the Stuartia of America, but more 

 suitable for our climate, and Ccesalpinia japojiica, which flowered outside 

 in England for the first time in 1887, though the genus is, generally 

 speaking, a tropical one. 



Clerodendron trichotomum, found all through the Far East and long 

 known to science, is also a striking tree, the large almost tropical foliage 

 of established specimens being literally hidden every second summer by 

 scores of large umbels of carmine and white flowers (fig. 198). 



Amongst the Witch-Hazels the distinct Hamamelis mollis is now 

 recognised as the most beautiful of the genus, the flowers being larger 

 and more richly coloured than those of the other species. 



The thorny Citrus trifoliata may yet prove to be an excellent hedge 



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