COR/ARIA 
107 
at all) confined to one raceme. This is one of 
the kinds in which the male and female flowers 
are most unlike, the first coming in slender 
racemes which droop at maturity and show 
the long filaments of the pollen-bearers, while 
the seed-flowers are in stouter and more erect 
racemes. The fruits are round and bright red 
in colour, rendering this one of the most 
striking of dwarf shrubs. Seed was sent from 
Japan by Mr. Veitch in 1893, and plants also 
reached Kew from America about the same 
time, the first plant to flower in this country 
being in the garden of Canon Ellacombe at 
Bitton in 1896. Since then fruits have been 
shown upon one or two occasions at meetings 
of the R.H.S. but it is still a scarce shrub, 
though certain to be more planted when 
better known. From the conflicting descrip- 
tions given in trade lists this plant is seemingly 
much confused with C. termi/ia/is, though 
perfectly distinct from it. 
C. myrtifolia. — From Europe and the north 
of Africa, where it grows rankly beside water, 
and holds its own on the poorest and driest of 
ground, spreading by suckers from the root. 
In northern Europe it has been cultivated for 
upwards of 300 years and may be met with 
here and there in this country, being fairly 
hardy at the root though its stems perish in 
winter ; it is late in starting into growth and 
does not fruit with us, so that in view of its 
poisonous character it is not worth growing. 
The shoots rise very fast when once started 
to a height of 4 to 6 feet, arching gracefully, 
and covered with small pointed leaves of dark 
green. The flowers are small and greenish, 
followed in warmer climates by dark purplish 
berries which are highly poisonous, as are also 
the young leaves, the narcotic effect of even a 
small quantity making animals to stagger and 
fall as if intoxicated, and not infrequently 
causing death. Beside its use in tanning, it 
yields an inferior kind of varnish, and a sub- 
stance employed in dyeing dark fabrics, while 
the dried and powdered leaves are sometimes 
used to adulterate senna, which so treated be- 
comes a powerful and dangerous drug. 
C. nepalensis. — A vigorous shrub of nearly 
20 feet high upon the mountain slopes of 
Bhotan and Sikkim, where it grows at eleva- 
tions of 2,500 to 1 1,000 feet, extending thence i 
eastward to China and Japan. Though fairly 
hardy at the root in southern gardens its stems 
are so liable to injury as to make little progress 
in colder districts, where it is best under glass, 
as in the temperate house at Kew. It is there 
trained to a height of 1 2 feet around a pillar, 
growing freely and fruiting from time to time. 
Its stems are more woody in character than in 
others of the Asiatic group, while its three- 
nerved leaves and axillary clusters of flowers 
and fruit readily distinguish it from C. ter- 
mmalis, with which however it was long con- 
fused. The flowers are brown, appearing in 
May, followed by black fruits, which in the 
variety maxima are large and of a bluish colour. 
In the south-west of England and along the 
south coast this plant succeeds in the open as 
a stout spreading shrub for the rock-garden. 
C. ruscifolia. — A plant from New Zealand 
and South America, where it grows as a tall 
shrubby climber of 10 to 20 feet, with square 
stems and long slender branches prettily arched. 
Introduced many years ago, it was first grown 
as a greenhouse plant, for its graceful habit 
and fresh green foliage, with sprays of tiny 
green flowers drooping prettily from the leaf- 
axils. As a tender plant it soon disappeared, 
but has lingered on here and there in the open, 
proving perfectly hardy even into Scotland and 
adapting itself to our climate as an herbaceous 
perennial, while, though deciduous, the stems 
remain under glass, or when grown against 
walls in the south of England. It is of distinct 
appearance, the leaves set in opposite pairs 
along the shoots, bright green in colour, and 
either very shortly stemmed or sessile and clasp- 
ing each other at the base. The male and 
female flowers are apart but on the same plant, 
coming in slender racemes of 6 to 12 inches 
long. Towards autumn the tiny green petals 
swell into beautiful juicy fruits of a fine purple 
colour, and very handsome though apt to be 
spoiled by insects if unprotected, wasps show- 
ing an especial fondness for them. They ripen 
in September and October, and render this a 
most effective wall or border plant at that 
season, though unfortunately so rare as to be 
quite unknown in nurseries. In New Zealand 
the fruits are gathered by the natives for a 
pleasant drink made from the purple juice, 
which when fermented is said to resemble 
