39£ 



Arboretum and fruticetum. 



PART III. 



proved to be this species, wliich had been before 



unknown to botanists. It forms a diffuse bushy 



plant, with hairy branches, obovate, acuminate, 



serrated leaves, and small neat white flowers, 



never expanding fully, but in size resembling 



those of a Tliea. It is inferior in showiness to 



any of the previously known camellias ; but 



must be considered a subject of much interest 



to the cultivator, from its being one of the stocks 



employed by the Chinese in propagating the or- 

 namental species of the genus. {Hort. Trans,) 



This species is not much cultivated, because, though beautiful as an evergreen 



shrub, it is less so than the other sorts. It deserves a place, however, on 



the conservative wall, wherever the collection is extensive. 



Soil, Situation, and general Management. The camelHas will grow in any 

 free soil ; but a loam inclining to sand, enriched with leaf-mould or thoroughly 

 rotten dung, seems to suit them best. Most of the species and varieties seem 

 to prefer a situation somewhat shaded ; which, as we have already observed, 

 seems to be generally the case with evergreen plants having broad shining 

 leaves. For this reason, an east or west wall, or even a north wall, inchning 

 to the east or west, will be found preferable to a south wall for the more 

 tender sorts ; and for those which are to be treated as bushes, a situation in 

 the shrubbery or arboretum, where they will be shaded by tall trees during 

 the hottest part of the day, is desirable. 



Where there is ample space and a decided taste for the genus, a camellia 

 garden, containing all the species and varieties, might be formed in the following 

 manner. Choose a situation, either level, or having a west or south-east 

 aspect; and enclose a circle, a quarter of an acre in extent, with a 9-inch brick 

 wall, built hollow, and having holes about the size of the end of a brick at 3 ft 

 or 4 ft. apart, immediately under the coping, for the purpose of receiving rafters 

 for supporting a temporary roof of thatched hurdles or of boards. Against 

 both sides of this wall all the more tender sorts of camellia might be planted ; 

 and the interior of the area might be devoted to the hardier sorts, to the 

 green tea, and to other half-hardy and evergreen shrubs from China and 

 Japan, such as IlHciura, Magn6h'« fuscata, &c. Where a number of consei-v- 

 ative gai'dens are to be placed together, the walls may be arranged in the form 

 of pentagons, by which means, as in the cells of the honey-bee, no space would 

 be lost. The form of the garden being either circular or pentagonal, and the 

 walls being hollow, the latter need not be more than a brick in width, and they 

 may be carried to the height of 10 ft., which will be sufficient. Being hollow, 

 they might all be heated by steam from one boiler, a small steam pipe being 

 conducted along their foundations. 



Genus 11. 



THE'' A L. The Tea Trek. Lin. Syst. Monadelphia Polyandria. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 668. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 5S0. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 577. 

 Derivation. Altered from t^ha, the Chinese name for tea. 



Gen. Char., ^c. Calyx of 5 sepals. Petals 5—9, disposed in two or three 

 rows, cohering at the base. Stamens almost unconnected to the very base. 

 Anthers roundish. Style trifid at the apex. Capsules of 3 almost dis- 

 tinct carpels, 3-seeded ; the dissepiments are formed from the edges of the 

 valves being bent inwards. Beautiful evergreen shrubs from China. (Don's 

 Mill,, i.- p. 577.) The species, in general appearance, closely resemble 



