70 



PAXTON'S FLOWEE GAEDEjST. 



wedge-shaped, a short compressed tube, open at the mouth. Stamens numerous, yellow. Pistils five. Ovaries 

 tapering into styles as long as the stamens. Stigma clavate, hairy. "—Botanical Magazine, t. 4581. 



Skimmia Japoxica. Thunberg [alias Limonia Laureola, WallicJi). A half-hardy 

 fragrant evergreen shrub, belonging to Citronworts. Found in China and Japan, and on 

 the Himalayan Mountains. Flowers pale green. (Fig. 154.) 



We cannot see that the Himalayan and Chinese forms of this interesting shrub differ in any respect, for although 

 Zuccarini says the flowers of the Chinese plant are white, edged with rose, yet the Chinese specimens furnished to us 

 are green, exactly as represented in Dr. "Wallich's Plantce Asiaticce rariores. We have therefore only to add to our 

 assurance that it is a bush with deliciously fragrant blossoms the following extract from Zuccarini's Plantce 

 Japonicie : — 



"The Skimmi is an evergreen shrub, found throughout Japan among mountains, and shaded by forests, but the 

 plants are nowhere numerous, and always scattered, which renders them somewhat rare. We found it near Nangasaki, 

 on the mountain Kawara, 594 yards above the level of the sea. Kaempfer was wrong in calling it a large tree, for in a 

 wild state it scarcely grows above three or four feet high, and its branches generally incline towards the earth. In a 

 cultivated state it becomes taller, the branches crowded, and almost in whorls of three or four together, growing stiffly 

 from the stem. The leaves last three or four years, and each year is known by the distance of the tufts. The wild 

 plants are distinguished by sharper leaves, which are closely spotted with transparent glands, like those of the orange 

 tree, or the Tutsan. The flowers appear, in terminal panicles, from the beginning of March to the end of April. 

 They are white, and of a reddish colour at the edge of the under side of the petals. The perfume is very agreeable, not 

 unlike that of Daphne odora, and is particularly strong in the evening. The round, bright red berries (white in a 

 cultivated variety) resemble those of the hawthorn, and contain four cartilaginous stones. The fruit ripens in 

 October, and does not fall till towards the end of December. The leaves have an aromatic and acrid flavour. 



" The Skimmi is generally culti- 

 vated in Japan in gardens and around 

 temples. Its evergreen bright leaves, 

 its numerous and graceful bunches of 

 flowers, disjxlayed from the tops of 

 the branches from the beginning of 

 spring, its fragrance, and at the end 

 of autumn its beautiful red berries, 

 entitle it to a high rank among orna- 

 mental plants. It is increased by 

 cuttings or layers. Although in our 

 climate (Holland) it is difficult to 

 preserve in the open air, it thrives 

 perfectly in the greenhouse, where, 

 along with Camellias, it enhances by 

 its perfume the beauty of those scent- 

 less shrubs. However, the Japanese 

 and the Chinese reckon it among 

 venomous plants ; and the name 

 Sikimi signifies also mischievous 

 fruit." 



Baurtnia CORYMBOSA. A 

 handsome Chinese flowering 

 plant, which blooms in the 

 spring, differing in general 

 appearance from most things. 

 The flowers, rose-coloured, are 

 individually about an inch in 

 diameter, and are produced in loose corymbs on the extremities of the shoots. It is a 

 desirable plant, deserving of general cultivation. 



