Akebia
AKEBIA QUINATA.--Chinese Akebia. China, 1845. This, with its
peculiarly-formed and curiously-coloured flowers, though usually
treated as a cool greenhouse plant, is yet sufficiently hardy to grow
and flower well in many of the southern and western English counties,
where it has stood uninjured for many years. It is a pretty twining
evergreen, with the leaves placed on long slender petioles, and
palmately divided into usually five leaflets. The sweet-scented
flowers, particularly so in the evening, are of a purplish-brown or
scarlet-purple, and produced in axillary racemes of from ten to a
dozen in each. For covering trellis-work, using as a wall plant, or to
clamber over some loose-growing specimen shrub, from which a slight
protection will also be afforded, the Akebia is peculiarly suitable,
and soon ascends to a height of 10 feet or 12 feet. Any ordinary
garden soil suits it, and propagation by cuttings is readily affected.
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Abelia
ABELIA CHINENSIS (_syn A. rupestris_).--The Rock Abelia China, 1844. This is a neat, twiggy shrub, growing from 2 ft. to 3 ft. high, with slender shoots, and very pleasing, shining green serrated leaves. The tubular, sweet-scented flowers are produc... Adenocarpus
ADENOCARPUS DECORTICANS (_syn A. Boissieri_).--Spain, 1883. This little known hardy shrub, a native of the Sierra Nevada mountains, in Spain, is one of great beauty, and well worthy of extended culture. The flowers are produced abundantly, and are o... Aesculus
AESCULUS CALIFORNICA (_syn Pavia californica_).--California. This is one of the handsomest species, of low, spreading habit, and blooming freely about midsummer. AE. GLABRA (_syn Ae. rubicunda_).--Red-flowered Horse Chestnut. North America, 1820.... Ailanthus
AILANTHUS GLANDULOSA.--Tree of Heaven. China, 1751. A handsome, fast-growing tree, with large pinnate leaves that are often fully three feet long, and terminal erect clusters of not very showy greenish-white flowers that exhale a rather disagreeable... Akebia
AKEBIA QUINATA.--Chinese Akebia. China, 1845. This, with its peculiarly-formed and curiously-coloured flowers, though usually treated as a cool greenhouse plant, is yet sufficiently hardy to grow and flower well in many of the southern and western E... Amelanchier
AMELANCHIER ALNIFOLIA.--Dwarf June Berry. N.W. America, 1888. This is a shrub of great beauty, growing about 8 feet high, and a native of the mountains from British America to California. This differs from A. canadensis in having much larger and mor... Amorpha
AMORPHA CANESCENS.--Lead Plant. Missouri, 1812. This is of much smaller growth than A. fruticosa, with neat pinnate foliage, whitened with hoary down, and bearing panicles of bluish-purple flowers, with conspicuous orange anthers. It is a charming s... Andromeda
ANDROMEDA POLIFOLIA.--An indigenous shrub of low growth, with lanceolate shining leaves, and pretty globose pinky-white flowers. Of it there are two varieties. A. polifolia major and A. polifolia angustifolia, both well worthy of culture for their n... Aralia
ARALIA MANDSHURICA (_syn Dimorphanthus mandschuricus_).--Manchuria, 1866. There is not much beauty about this Chinese tree, for it is but a big spiny stake, with no branches, and a tuft of palm-like foliage at the top. The flowers, however, are both... Arbutus
ARBUTUS ANDRACHNE.--Levant, 1724. This Mediterranean species is of stout growth, with narrow Laurel-like leaves, reddish deciduous bark, and greenish-white flowers that are produced freely in May. A hybrid form, said to have originated between this ... Arctostaphylos
ARCTOSTAPHYLOS UVA-URSI.--Bearberry. Britain. A neat shrub of trailing habit, and with flowers resembling those of the Arbutus, but much smaller. The leaves are entire, dark green in colour, and about an inch long, and obovate or oblong in shape. Fr... Aristolochia
ARISTOLOCHIA SIPHO.--Dutchman's Pipe. North America, 1763. A large-growing, deciduous climbing shrub, remarkable for its ample foliage, and curiously formed yellow and purple streaked flowers. A native of North America, it is perfectly hardy in this... Asimina
ASIMINA TRILOBA.--Virginian Papaw. Pennsylvania, 1736. This is a curious and uncommon shrub that one rarely sees outside the walls of a botanic garden. The flowers are dark purple or chocolate brown, fully 2 inches across, and succeeded by a yellow,... Azara
AZARA MICROPHYLLA.--Chili, 1873. This is the only recognised hardy species, and probably the best from an ornamental point of view. In mild seaside districts it may succeed as a standard in the open ground, but generally it is cultivated as a wall p... Baccharis
BACCHARIS HALIMIFOLIA.--Groundsel Tree or Sea Purslane. North America. For seaside planting this is an invaluable shrub, as it succeeds well down even to high water mark, and where it is almost lashed by the salt spray. The flowers are not very orna... Berberidopsis
BERBERIDOPSIS CORALLINA.--Coral Barberry. Chili, 1862. This handsome evergreen, half-climbing shrub is certainly not so well known as its merits entitle it to be. Unfortunately it is not hardy in every part of the country, though in the southern and... Berberis
BERBERIS AQUIFOLIUM (_syn Mahonia Aquifolium_).--Holly-leaved Barberry. North America, 1823. This justly ranks as one of the handsomest, most useful, and easily-cultivated of all hardy shrubs. It will grow almost any where, and in any class of soil,... Berchemia
BERCHEMIA VOLUBILIS.--Climbing Berchemia. Carolina, 1714. A rarely seen, deciduous climber, bearing rather inconspicuous greenish-yellow flowers, succeeded by attractive, violet-tinted berries. The foliage is neat and pretty, the individual leaves b... Bignonia
BIGNONIA CAPREOLATA--Virginia and other parts of America, 1710. This is not so hardy as to be depended upon throughout the country generally, though in the milder parts of England and Ireland it succeeds well as a wall plant. It is a handsome climbi... Billardiera
BILLARDIERA LONGIFLORA.--Blue Apple Berry. Van Diemen's Land, 1810. If only for its rich, blue berries, as large as those of a cherry, this otherwise elegant climbing shrub is well worthy of a far greater share of attention than it has yet received,... Bryanthus
BRYANTHUS ERECTUS.--Siberia. This is a pretty little Ericaceous plant, nearly allied to Menziesia, and with a plentiful supply of dark-green leaves. The flowers, which are borne in crowded clusters at the points of the shoots, are bell-shaped, and o... Buddleia
BUDDLEIA GLOBOSA.--Orange Ball Tree. Chili, 1774. A shrubby species, ranging in height from 12 feet to 20 feet, and the only one at all common in gardens. Favoured spots in Southern England would seem to suit the plant fairly well, but to see it at ... Bupleurum
BUPLEURUM FRUTICOSUM.--Hare's Ear. South Europe, 1596. A small-growing, branching shrub, with obovate-lanceolate leaves, and compound umbels of yellowish flowers. It is more curious than beautiful. ... Caesalpinia
CAESALPINIA SEPIARIA (_syn C. japonica_).--India, 1857. This is as yet a comparatively little known shrub, but one that from its beauty and hardihood is sure to become a general favourite. Planted out in a light, sandy, peaty soil, and where fully e...