16 
TREATMENT OF LEYCESTERTA FORMOSA. 
The beautiful slirub which forms the subject of these remarks is admirably- 
calculated to contribute towards filling up the blank here spoken of, if its adapta- 
tion and general merits were better known. And that these may no longer remain 
a secret to the many who would delight in cultivating it, we devote the present 
page to its commendation. 
It is said to have been introduced to England in 1824, and to have first flowered 
in the nursery of Messrs. Allen and Rogers, Battersea. From that time, however, 
till its re-introduction about four or five years ago, it was kept in complete 
obscurity. In 1837, it blossomed in several collections ; and it then began to be 
seen that it was likely to be a very ornamental shrub, although its hardihood was 
rather uncertain, and it exhibited a tendency to grow in a somewhat straggling 
manner. 
Treated as a greenhouse plant, or trained against a sheltered wall, the old 
stems become very unsightly ; and it does not flower either in profusion or 
perfection. Being a native of Nepal, from a mountainous district 6000 and some- 
times 8000 feet above the sea, and thriving in pine and oak forests, it was reason- 
able to suppose that it would be nearly hardy. Still, when exposed to the winter 
vicissitudes of our climate, its stems were greatly injured, and it was feared that, 
as a border shrub, British cultivators must abandon all hopes of seeing it thrive. 
Such apprehensions have, from longer experience, been demonstrated to be 
groundless. In the autumn of 1839, we saw plants in the garden of II . Barclay, 
Esq., Bury Hill, Dorking, Surrey, which satisfied us that it is one of the most 
useful and interesting shrubs now cultivated in this country. Planted in an open 
bed, in common soil, it there has all its stems destroyed yearly in the winter, but 
only to be succeeded by double the number in the following spring. None of its 
naturally rambling character is consequently displayed ; and it does not grow 
taller than from two to three feet, with leaves nearly to the bottom of its stems. 
When we saw the specimens in question, they had probably no less than thirty 
stems, from each of which several large racemes of lovely white flowers were pro- 
duced ; the absence of colour being relieved by the showy purplish crimson of the 
bracts. It continues blooming for several months, and the fine purple berries 
which succeed the flowers are almost as attractive as the blossoms themselves. 
Not the slightest protection is given ; and in very cold localities, a mulching of any 
dry material around the base of the stems would certainly be an adequate security 
from frost. 
How admirably this plant is suited for ornamenting beds, borders, or planta- 
tions, we need not farther state. As it can be propagated most abundantly by 
cuttings, or seeds, or division at the roots, we hope it will be largely employed both 
as a flower-border shrub, and for an undergrowth to pleasure-ground shrubberies 
and woods. 
