THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
309 
! February 23. 
I Ilex latifolia, alias laurifolia. —A fine broad-leaved 
| Holly, from Japan. Grafted on the common Holly, 
| is quite hardy, and ought to be in every good collection, 
; being the best of all the new Hollies. 
I Ilex diptrena.— A beautiful Holly, recently from the 
I North of India, but quite hardy. 
Ilex latispina.— A very marked species, with broad 
| prickles set in a zig-zag way on the leaf; quite hardy, 
and well worth having among new plants. 
Ilex microcarpa. —Another veiy distinct species, with 
large, thick leaves without prickles, promising to make 
a large, handsome evergreen. 
Ilex cornuta. —Avery curious, new Holly,with long, 
fleshy leaves, having three formidable spines at the eud 
of each. 
Ilex furcata. —Another curious spined Holly of 
recent introduction, which promises to make a well- 
marked species; hut all these new Hollies are so much 
sought for that only very small plants of them are sent 
out from the Nurseries. They are all in the garden at 
Bauk Grove, near Kingston, and do not seem the least 
touched by the frost. I see they increase some of them 
by cuttings, as well as by grafting on the common 
! Holly. 
Ilex Magellanica. —I have only seen hut very small 
pot-plants of this either, but it seeni3 a very distinct 
sort. These, and a few other sorts, are merely nursery 
names about London, but I do not know the authorities 
or the parties who gave these names. The plants, how¬ 
ever, are becoming very fashionable, like the evergreen 
Berberries and Conifers ; as also are the new Evergreen 
Oaks, of which there are several very interesting ones in 
the Nurseries. One, called 
Quercus iles zan, took my fancy very much at Bank 
Grove, the leaves being nearly as large as those oi the 
common Oak. 
Quercus agrifolia. —The Evergreen Oak of California 
is a very remarkable plant, having smooth leaves when 
quite young, but as the plant gets older the leaves turn 
as prickly as those of a Holly. “ The long, narrow acorns, 
almost conical, are a remarkable feature in the species.” 
Nuttall, the American botanist, who knew this Oak 
in California, says, “As a hedge it would form a very 
close shelter, and the leaves, evergreen and nearly as 
prickly as a Holly, would render it almost impervious 
to most animals.” The wood is of no account. 
Quercus scleropiiylla (Hard-leaved Oak).—A new 
one from China, a very marked evergreen species. It was 
sent over by Mr. Fortune, in 1850, and being quite 
hardy, it promises to make a handsome addition to our 
large evergreens. 
Quercus inversa. —Another Evergreen Oak, from the 
north of India, by Mr, Fortune, quite different from any 
we had before, but in habit somewhat like our old ever¬ 
green Oak. These China Oaks are sold by the Messrs. 
Standish and Noble, of Bagshot, but, of course, any 
nurseryman in the kingdom could get them for any gen¬ 
tleman in the neighbourhood, and that is always the 
best and cheapest way to go to work. If I wanted a 
new plant from Dublin, or Glasgow, or Edinburgh, 1 
would order Mr. Jackson, of Kingston, to get it for me. 
Of course, if I did not deal with him I could not ask 
him to take the trouble, and even then I would give 
him his own time. 
OAKS IN GENERAL. 
The kinds or varieties of Oaks, in all parts of the 
world, are just as numerous as the Geraniums, and as 
easily multiplied by seeds ; they also run into sections, 
as distinct from one another as the sections of Gera- 
] niums. The Ilex, or Evergreen Oak section, and the 
i Willow Oak ( Phellos ) section, are the most sought after 
for pleasure grounds and large gardens, and there is 
| hardly an end to the variations they run into from the 
acorn. The Lucomb Oak is the finest tree that ever 
originated in England. If people would but manage the 
different kinds of Ilex, or Evergreen Oak, so as to get 
them up like the Lucomb, or the Turkey Oak, some of 
the broad-leaved sorts of Ilex would make more hand¬ 
some heads than even the Lucomb Oak. There are no 
plants in England worse managed than the old Evergreen 
Oaks, and that principally for not knowing how to prune 
them when they are young. They should never have but ! 
one leader ; and when they come busli-headed from the j 
first, heading them back to near the ground is the easiest 
way to manage them. 
SYMPLOCOS JAPONICA. 
Quite a new evergreen from Japan, with leaves like 
the Sweet Bay, and growing as tall at home as the Bay 
does here ; the flowers are of no account. They have a 
Symplocos (tinctoriaJ in the southern States of N orth 
America, called the Sweet Leaf, which they use for 
dyeing yellow; and the Japanese use this one lor 
decorating their idols, as we use the Christmas Holly. 
This promises to be a very beautiful evergreen, and to 
be as hardy as the Cryptomeria. Mr. Fortune sent it, in 
1850, to the Bagshot collection of his novelties. 
VIBURNUM PLICATUM. 
A large, handsome-flowering, deciduous shrub from 
the north of China, sent home by Mr. Fortune, with 
round balls of snow-white flowers, after the manner ol 
the Guelder Rose, very much cultivated in the best 
gardens in China. It comes nearest to an old American 
Viburnum, called dentatum ; and I think, to make the 
best of it in this country, it ought to be grafted on 
dentatum, which will grow in any good garden soil, while 
plicatum refuses to grow well in many places. 
Viburnum macrocephalum. — Another of Mr. For¬ 
tune’s plants, from the north of China, where it seems to 
be as great a favourite as the Camellia. He says, there is 
a plant of it, in the island of Chusan, 20 feet high, and 
flowers all over, down to the ground, something like 
large heads of Hydrangea. I have seen this in flower 
in the gardens of the Horticultural Society, and I can 
safely say it is superior to the Hydrangea; but the 
heads are not so flat as in the Hydrangea, and the 
flowers are pure white. I have this fine thing in my 
own garden, but do what I will I cannot make anything 
of it; no frost seems to hurt it, and no soil agrees with 
it, as far as I can make out, and I see nothing for it but 
to graft it on some near relative—on dentatum, or pubes¬ 
cent, or some such allied plant; others must find it as 
difficult, also, or otherwise we should have had it at the i 
May exhibitions among the very first. 
MYRICA CALIEORNICA. 
A sweet-leaved evergreen Gale, from California, by j 
Hartweg to the Horticultural Society. This is a valu¬ 
able evergreeen, and is quite hardy; the first time I saw 
it was in-doors in a pot, and I mistook it for a broad- 
leafed Banksia, or something that way, which will give 
a tolerable idea of it to those who know these Banksias. 
I have also seen a plant of it loaded with seeds, which 
will make it cheap for a new plant. 
DAPHNE FORTUNE 
A charming addition to our sweet-scented flowers, 
and belongs to the Mezereon section of the genus, 
coming into flower early in the spring and casting its 
leaves in the autumn. The flowers are much larger 
than those of Mezereon, and of a pale bluish-lilac. It 
has been ten years in England, but not grown half so 
much as it deserves. 
EDGWORTHIA CHRYSANTHA. 
Nearly related to the Daphne; a deciduous shrub, 
