SOME LESSER-KNOWN JAPAN TREES AND SHRUBS. 869 



plant. It certainly is impenetrable, and has the additional advantage of 

 bearing in late spring a profusion of large white flowers, a month before 

 the leaves appear. 



As a striking Pillar plant Polygonum multiflorum (fig. 199), which 

 makes 20-25 feet of growth in one season, is invaluable, and the long 

 undistinguished Vitis Thunbergii has proved superior from a gardening 

 standpoint to Vitis Coignetice, which in general aspect it resembles. It 

 may be distinguished by its leaves being hairy beneath, of thicker texture, 

 and assuming a richer hue in the autumn. 



Nearly allied to the Japanese Hollies, of which the most beautiful is 

 Ilex latifolia, is Hovenia dulcis, introduced to European gardens some 

 ninety years since. In Englmd it has attained a height of 20 feet, but in 

 its native habitat, extending from the Himalayas ta Japan, it attains nearly 

 double these proportions, as it does under cultivation in Australia, where it 

 forms a symmetrical if not ornamental specimen. The thickened flower- 

 stalks, somewhat insipid, but not unlike a pear in flavour, are said to 

 have medicinal properties. 



Among evergreen shrubs there should not be overlooked Photinia 

 serrulata, the Linderas, and Daphniphyllum glaucescens (fig. 200). 

 Photinia serrulata (figured in the "Botanical Magazine" as Crataegus 

 glabra) is one of the best of our seaside shrubs, individual specimens 

 attaining a great diameter. 



Not less than twenty species of Lindera are found in the Far East, by 

 far the handsomest being Lindera obtusiloba, attaining in Japan a height 

 of 20-30 feet. In Surrey a promising specimen is already 12 feet in 

 height, its foliage assuming annually the characteristic clear yellow 

 autumn tint. Lindera sericea, found further north than is Lindera ob- 

 tusiloba, is equally hardy. Daphniphyllum glaucescens is a singularly 

 handsome shrub, far too little known. In this country the female plant 

 grows luxuriantly and seeds profusely, the seed germinating freely, unlike 

 consignments received from the native forests, probably due to their 

 passage through the tropics. Professor Sargent states it is of Malayan 

 origin, though apparently acclimatised in Japan. 



LIST OF DRIED SPECIMENS COLLECTED IN JAPAN BY JAMES H. 

 VEITCH AND EXHIBITED IN CONNECTION WITH THE LECTURE. 



Name of Specimen, locality. 



Abies Mariesii ...... Hakkoda. 



„ Veitchii Lake Chujenji. 



Acer carpinifolium ..... Nikko. 



„ cratcegifolium „ 



capillipes Hakkoda. 



diabolicum ...... Nikko. 



,, cissifolium • Chokaizan. 



., Miyabei Svvamazu. 



„ nikoense Nikko. 



„ pictum . . . , % . . Tumoto. 



„ rufinerve Chujenji. 



,, tataricum . . . . . Sapporo. 



Actinodaphne lancifolia I'ukura (near temples). 



Alnus firma multinervis .... Nikko. 



„ viridU Hakkoda. 



