,*> -J* 
size of a pin’s head, which consists of the true 
petals enveloping the stamens. The perfect 
flowers—those having both pistils and stamens 
—are borne beneath the others and are scarce¬ 
ly a quarter-inch in diameter. But we have 
never known them to bear seed.* This hy¬ 
drangea is one of the showiest plants in exist¬ 
ence. There is nothing choice about it in any 
particular—nothing that invites a daily call or 
inspection. The leaves are thin and coarse 
and droop under a hot snn. We admire it at 
a distance without ever caring to pluck the 
flowers or go near them. It fills a gap in Sum¬ 
mer when flowers are sadly needed, and so we 
welcome the Great-panicled Hydrangea’s show¬ 
iness without caring ever to cultivate an in¬ 
timate acquaintance. 
Tub California Privet.— Of the half- 
dozen species of privet which are well 
worthy of cultivation, we have now to 
speak mainly of the “ California” Privet— 
the best of all. Why this has been called the 
“California” Privet, we are unable to learn. 
The botanical name is Lignstrurn lucidum or 
ovalifolium, and it is a native of Japan. It is 
thought by some to be merely a variety of 
Ligustrum Japonicum, but this species will 
not stand even an average Winter of this cli¬ 
mate. The California Privet cannot be praised 
for its flowers; for, though white and as pret¬ 
ty as those of the lilac, they are not borne 
every season and rarely in abundance Upon 
poor, saudy soil, we have known them to 
bloom profusely, but in 6uch soil the plant 
itself loses in foliage and vigor more than is 
gained by the flowers. It may surprise our 
readers to learn that we esteem this common, 
cheap shrub, that is usually spoken of only in 
connection with hedges, in all other respects 
as scarcely inferior to any other. The smooth, 
broad leaves are thick and semi-evergreen, 
remaining fresh and unharmed until after 
Christmas. They grow closely together and 
opposite, so that the bush presents a full, clean, 
regular shape, while its switeh-like stems are 
as straight and pliant as those of the Basket 
Willow. Occasionally a very severe Winter 
kills the wood of the preceding year; but the 
roots are never harmed aud its growth is so 
rapid that it very soon attains a size larger 
than which it i6 scarcely desirable it should 
grow. We have this privet growing upon 
sandy hillocks, in clayey bottoms and along 
the banks of the lake not over a foot above its 
surface water; we have it growing under the 
eaves of the house within a foot of a brick 
foundation, and it thrives everywhere. It 
seems alike pleased whether the season is wet 
or dry, never having been appreciably harmed 
by excesses of either. It is propagated so 
freely that on* could easily raise in one year 
hundreds of plants from cuttings of a single 
plant. 
The Shrub, or Long-racemed, Horse- 
chestnut— This is an excellent 6hrub for a 
farmer’s front yard. It spreads out from the 
neck of the root, the branches hugging the 
ground for a foot or more, and then curving 
upward, forming a splendid hemispherical bush, 
greater in width than in bight. Thus our best 
specimen, now seven years old from the nur¬ 
sery, is about four feet high and not less than 15 
feet in circumference. This specimen, last 
Summer, bore 55 racemes from six to 16 inches 
in length, bearing 6lender, whitish, fragrant 
flowers with stamens twice as long, crowned 
with pale-red anthers. It is a beautiful sight, 
blooming, as it does, in July when few shrubs 
are in bloom. For two or three years after 
transplanting, this shrub Seems to remain 
stationary and is not an object of striking 
beauty. But if growing in a rich soil with 
plenty of room, it afterwards grows rapidly, 
sending up shoots thickly, the foliage of which 
quite covers the stems, forming a peculiarly 
beautiful shrub. Its botanical name is Pavia 
macrostaehya, and it may be found on the lists 
of almost any nurseryman. It is a native of 
America, found mostly in South Carolina and 
Georgia, though showing in its wild state 
scarcely any of the many beauties which de¬ 
velop under cultivation. It is thoroughly 
hardy in this climate aud, we believe, for a 
considerable distance north. We have already 
presented life-size engravings of the flowers 
and leaves. Oar little cut is re-engraved from 
Mr. A. J. Downing’s work on Landscape 
Gardening. 
Stdautia pentagyna.— This very hardy, 
beautiful shrub belongs to the Camellia family, 
and has no familiar name that wo know of. 
Stuartia (after John Stuart, Lord Bute) is it¬ 
self an easy, agreeable name and may stand as 
well for the “common” as for the botanical 
name. It blooms in late July and early August, 
and thus adds another flower to the dearth of 
shrub-blooms of tb# Mid-summer. Its flowers 
average larger than thoseof Stuartia Virginica, 
(three inches across) of which an engraving is 
given; they are of an ivory-white color and 
are pure white flowers, scarlet, dark-crim¬ 
son, orange-crimson, and one (Mallardii) with 
crimson center and white towards the edges of 
the petals. There is also a scarlet double-flow¬ 
ering variety. One of each kind, if planted in 
a olump, makes a brilliant contrast, while, if 
planted here and there each is showy enough 
to command admiration for itself. For hedges 
as well as for the purpose of shutting out 
Weeping Beech, (Fagus eylvatica pendula.)— Fig. 62, 
borne in profusion upon mature plants. The 
Stuartia is no novelty, being a native of the 
Alleghanies of Virginia; but it is seldom Been 
in ornamental grounds, though it is one of the 
most desirable hardy shrubs that grow in this 
or any other country. It grows from six to 
twelve feet in hight; thrives in almost any 
soil, and we know of specimens 15 years old 
within a few miles of us, that have never been 
haimed in the least by Winter's cold or the 
sometimes more trying changes of early 
Spring. Nevertheless, we have heard that it 
is sometimes harmed at Rochester, though we 
should be glad to have the report strengthened 
by those who have tried it thoroughly. The 
Virginian Stuartia is less hardy, and is a 
smaller, more slender shrub. 
The White Fringe— Chionanthus Virginica. 
If but for the oddity and grace of its flowers 
we should find a place for one specimen of 
this largo shrub, or little tree, among our se¬ 
lection. They are borne in loose, drooping 
panicles, and the linear petals, of a snowy 
whiteness, grow upon slender pedicels, so that 
the white, filamentous leaves seem to be float¬ 
ing in the air. The leaves are largo and firm 
without a cleft or lobe. Our specimens have 
proven perfectly hardy here. It is found on 
river banks in Pennsylvania and southward. 
The Japan Quince — Cydonia Japonica. 
Among the showiest of garden shrubs, this well 
unsightly places, or for imparting an easily- 
maintained beauty to the less frequented parts 
of the grounds, this Japan Quince is almost 
unrivaled. 
Kalm's St. John’s-Wort (Hypericum Kal- 
mianum) is a fine, round little shrub, that is 
found wild about the northern lakes. The 
narrow, bright, leathery leaves are nearly ever¬ 
green and they will stand severe droughts 
without injury. It blooms early in July, the 
golden flowers, remarkable for their great 
number of stamens, standing out boldly aud 
enduring for a long time the fierce sun of this 
hottest month of the year. 
The Spir.eas are too numerous to mention 
in detail. The Nine-bark (Spirasa or Neillia 
opulifolia), though less prized fw its flowers 
than many others, is very pretty iu fruit, which 
covers the bushes with inflated pods of a red 
color. The leaves resemble those of the currant. 
Young plants grow upright; hut the brauches 
become recurved in older ones which are often 
ten feet high. The Golden Nine-bark is very 
showy when the leaves first unfold ; but the 
golden color soon fades away and there is 
nothing to distinguish it from the species. 
Spiraea pkunifolia, fl.pl., a Japan species 
bearing double flowers, is one of the best. It 
suckers rather freely when young, but this is 
not objectionable later, for the reason that the 
plant assumes a balloon shape that one has no 
* It may be interesting- to those who examine little 
matters in their floral occupations to know more of 
the peculiarities of the flowers of this plant. The per¬ 
fect flowers are borne upon short pedicels. Those of 
the imperfect or showy flowers are longer, and seem 
as if they were elongations of the fleshy pistils of the 
little perfect flowers. Home of the calyxes of the im¬ 
perfect flowers have three and some four sepals. The 
little perfect flowers bear 10 anthers of a pink color, 
and live petals aud five sepals. Five of the stamens 
are long-five short. The pistil Is S-fld, fleishy and 
short. The imperfect flowers bear but eight stamens. 
It is rather uueer that these latter, when the\ have but 
three sepals, have three little bracts upon the pedicels, 
while those having four sepals—the usual number- 
have but two of these bracts. There are other coinci¬ 
dences between these imperfect and perfect flowers 
which cannot fail to interest those who study botany. 
