Hardy Ornamental Flowering Trees and ShrubsWebster, Angus D.
History
Hardy Ornamental Flowering Trees and Shrubs
Webster, Angus D.
Flowering shrubs; Flowering trees
L. EUROPAEUM.--European Box Thorn. South Europe, 1730. This is a spiny,
rambling shrub, that may often be seen clambering over some cottage
porch, or used as a fence or wall plant in many parts of England. It
often grows nearly 20 feet long, and is then a plant of great beauty,
with linear-spathulate leaves of the freshest green, and pretty little
pink or reddish flowers. For quickly covering steep, dry banks and
mounds where few other plants could exist this European Box Thorn is
invaluable. Either species will grow in very poor, dry soil, and is
readily propagated by means of cuttings.
LYONIA.
LYONIA PANICULATA (_syns L. ligustrina, Andromeda globulifera, A.
pilifera_, and _Menziesia globularis_).--North America, 1806. This
species grows about a yard high, with clustered, ovate leaves, and
pretty, pinky, drooping flowers.
MACLURA.
MACLURA AURANTIACA.--Osage Orange, or Bow-wood. North America, 1818.
This is a wide-spreading tree with deciduous foliage, and armed with
spines along the branches. The leaves are three inches long, ovate and
pointed, and of a bright shining green. Flowers rather inconspicuous,
being green with a light tinge of yellow, and succeeded by fruit bearing
a resemblance when ripe to the Seville orange. It is hardy, and grows
freely in rather sandy or gravelly soil.
MAGNOLIA.
MAGNOLIA ACUMINATA.--Cucumber Tree. North America, 1736. This is a large
and handsome species, of often as much as 50 feet in height, and with a
head that is bushy in proportion. The leaves are 6 inches long, ovate
and pointed, and of a refreshing shade of green. Flowers
greenish-yellow, sweetly scented, and produced abundantly all over the
tree. They are succeeded by small, roughish fruit, resembling an infant
cucumber, but they usually fall off before becoming ripe.
M. CAMPBELII.--Sikkim, 1868. This is a magnificent Indian species, but,
unfortunately, it is not hardy except in the favoured English and Irish
localities. The leaves are large, and silky on the undersides, while the
flowers are crimson and white, and equally as large as those of the
better-known M. grandiflora.
M. CONSPICUA (_syn M. Yulan_).--Yulan. China, 1789. A large-growing
shrub, with Pea-green, deciduous foliage, and large, pure white flowers
that oft get damaged by the spring frosts. M. conspicua Soulangeana is a
supposed hybrid between M. conspicua and M. obovata. Whatever may be the
origin of this Magnolia, it is certainly a handsome and showy plant of
very vigorous growth, producing freely its white, purple-tinted flowers,
and which last for a long time in perfection. There are several other
varieties, including M. conspicua Soulangeana nigra, with dark purplish
flowers; M. conspicua Alexandrina, M. conspicua Soulangeana speciosa,
and M. conspicua Norbertii.
M. CORDATA, a native of the Southern Alleghanies (1801), is still rare
in collections. It is a small-growing, deciduous species, with yellow
flowers, that are neither scented nor showy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account