CLIMBERS AND TWINERS. 
369 
best advantage when its shoots are creeping among the 
branches of an evergreen hedge. It is useless trying to grow 
it on hot dry soils or in sunny positions. The tuberous- 
rooted kinds may be increased by division of the tubers, and 
T. speciosum by division of its roots in autumn. All the 
perennial species, too, may be increased by cuttings of young 
shoots in sandy soil in gentle heat in spring or summer. T. 
lobbianum and its varieties may also be increased in a similar 
way. 
Vitis (Vine; Virginian Creeper). — There are several 
species of the Grape Vine family adapted for clothing walls, 
arbours and pergolas. V. vinifera purpurea has deep purple 
foliage. V. heterophylla variegata, a native of Japan, has its 
leaves beautifully mottled with white and pink, and is a 
charming plant to grow on a sunny rockery or low wall. V. 
Coignetiae is a Japanese species, also with large leaves, which 
assume a deep crimson tint in autumn. V. californica is a 
Californian species of vigorous grow'th, with roundish leaves 
that change to a crimson tint in autumn. The two latter 
species make splendid plants for clothing the supports of per- 
golas, or for covering arches. These deciduous climbers 
should be planted in autumn in good rich soil, and the 
preceding year’s shoots should be spurred back to two eyes 
in January, like ordinary vines. The well-known Virginian 
Creeper, or Ampelopsis, is now included in the present genus, 
and we are referring to it here. V. quinquefolia (Syn. Ampe- 
lopsis hederacea) is an old inhabitant of English gardens, 
having been cultivated here since 1629. It is a most cosmo- 
politan plant, thriving equally well in the most congested town 
back yard or suburban and country garden. Its growth is most 
rapid, its shoots are more or less self-clinging, its foliage 
of a pleasing green shade in spring and summer, and of 
a rich tint in autumn. For covering w'alls quickly, draping 
garden walls or fences, or rambling over arches, etc., there 
is no plant to equal it. Its native home is N. America. 
Another species w'hich is nearly as extensively grown is V. 
inconstans (Syn. Ampelopsis Veitchii, or tricuspidata). It 
has smaller and less divided leaves than V. quinquefolia, 
also finer shoots, which cling more closely to the w'alls 
than those of the last named. The leaves of this species vary 
a great deal in shape, the younger ones being almost entire, 
while the older ones are larger and three-lobed. This species is 
less hardy than the common one, and only succeeds well on 
walls having a warm aspect. The leaves, moreover, do not 
assume so rich a tint as those of V. quinquefolia. Both succeed 
in good ordinary soil. In poor or heavy soils dig out a hole 3ft. 
2 B 
