HYDRANGEA JAPONICA. 
Class. 
DECANDRIA. 
(Japan Hydrangea.) 
Natural Order. 
SAXIFRAGACE^. 
Order. 
DI-TRIGYNIA. 
UNKRic Character.— Flowers usually of more forms 
one, some of them being fertile and hermaphro- 
Tuhe of Calyx hemispherical, ten-ribbed, rather 
cate, adnate to the ovarium ; limb permanent, 
toothed. Petals five, regular. Stamens ten. Styles 
distinct. Capsule two-celled, with introflexed 
es, crowned by the teeth of the calyx and styles, 
flattish at the top, opening by a hole between the styles. 
Seeds reticulated, numerous. 
Specific Character —Ptont an elegant, evergreen, 
branching shrub. Leaves ovate-oblong, acuminated, 
finely and glandularly serrated, quite glabrous on both 
surfaces. Cymes crowded. Flowers of two forms. 
Corolline segments six to ten, unequal, ovate-rhomboid. 
We have been so long accustomed to see the old Hydrangea hortensis produce 
immense flower-heads of a bluish, or a rosy hue, either upon the same or 
s arate specimens, that we almost cease to regard the matter as anything singular 
of; wonderful. Of late years another species has been introduced, which also 
djblays both colours, but whether they are produced by different varieties, or by 
t| same plant under different circumstances, seems to be yet a matter of dispute. 
J| that we know is that a specimen at Messrs. Low’s nursery, Clapton, bears 
njiie but blue flowers ; and it is said that those which have been reared from it 
a| characterised by the same peculiarity. Moreover, specimens that we have 
k')wn for some time in other collections have been invariably of a rosy colour, 
i According to Siebold, who discovered the plant and transmitted specimens to 
I rope, its vernacular title is Kakoosa ; and there are two varieties of it, which 
t natives distinguish as Benkaku and Konkaku, the first with red and the 
s ond with greyish-blue flowers. From this it would seem that the variation is 
jmanently vested in particular plants; nevertheless we cannot but strongly 
spect that it will prove the contrary. 
I The plant has an excellent free habit, emitting branches from every part, and 
siom exceeding eighteen inches or two feet in height. The foliage is large and 
Id, but not quite so closely arranged as in the old kind. The flower-heads, 
t|Ugh possessing considerable beauty, are flat, and by no means so magnificent as 
enormous clusters of its congener : the blue-coloured ones are decidedly the 
Ijttiest. 
