double-flowered, a variegated, and several lobed and cut-leaved forms. The tree needs no description, the spikes of pinky-white flowers, which are produced in great abundance, and ample foliage rendering it one of, if not the handsomest tree of our acquaintance. It gives a pleasing shade, and forms an imposing and picturesque object in the landscape, especially where the conditions of soil—a rich free loam—are provided. Ae. Hippocastanum alba flore-pleno (the double white Horse Chestnut), has a decidedly pyramidal habit of growth, and the flowers, which are larger than those of the species, are perfectly double. It is a very distinct and desirable large growing tree. Ae. Hippocastanum laciniata and Ae. Hippocastanum digitalis are valuable for their divided leaves; while Ae. Hippocastanum foliis variegatis has the foliage rather irregularly variegated.

AE. PARVIFLORA (syn Pavia macrostachya).—Buckeye. North America, 1820. This is very distinct, and possesses feature which are shared by no other hardy tree or shrub in cultivation. Rarely exceeding 12 feet in height, and with a spread of often as much as 20 feet, this shrub forms a perfect hemisphere of foliage, and which, when tipped with the pretty fragrant flowers, renders it one of the most effective and handsome. The foliage is large, and resembles that of the common Horse Chestnut, while the pure white flowers, with their long projecting stamens and red-tipped anthers, are very pretty and imposing when at their best in July. It succeeds well in rich, dampish loam, and as a shrub for standing alone in any conspicuous position it has, indeed, few equals.

AE. PAVIA (syn Pavia rubra).—Red Buckeye. North America, 1711. A small growing and slender-branched tree or shrub, which bears an abundance of brownish-scarlet flowers. There are several good varieties, two of the best being Ae. Pavia atrosanguinea, and Ae. Pavia Whittleyana, with small, brilliant red flowers.

There are several other species, such as Ae. Pavia humilis (syn Pavia humilis) of trailing habit; Ae. flava (syn Pavia flava) bearing pretty yellow flowers; Ae. Pavia macrocarpa (syn Pavia macrocarpa) an open-headed and graceful tree; Ae. flava discolor (syn Pavia discolor); and Ae. chinensis; but they have not been found very amenable to cultivation, except in very favoured parts of the South of England and Ireland.

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 odour. It is one of the most distinct and imposing of pinnate-leaved trees, and forms a neat specimen for the lawn or park. Light loam or a gravelly subsoil suits it well.

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.

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 more brilliant-tinted fruit, and in its shorter and more compact flower racemes. The shape of the leaves cannot be depended on as a point of recognition, those before me, collected in the native habitat of the plant, differing to a wide extent in size and shape, some being coarsely serrated while others are almost entire.

A. CANADENSIS.—June Berry. Canada, 1746. Unquestionably this is one of the most beautiful and showy of early flowering trees. During the month of April the profusion of snow-white flowers, with which even young specimens are mantled, render the plant conspicuous for a long way off, while in autumn the golden yellow of the dying-off foliage is quite as remarkable. Being perfectly hardy, of free growth, and with no particular desire for certain classes of soils, the June Berry should be widely planted for ornamental effect. In this country it attains to a height of 40 feet, and bears globose crimson fruit. There are several varieties, including A. canadensis rotundifolia, A. canadensis oblongifolia, and A. canadensis oligocarpa, the latter being by some botanists ranked as a species.

A. VULGARIS.—Common Amelanchier. South of Europe, 1596. This is the only European species, and grows about 16 feet in height. It has been in cultivation in this country for nearly 300 years. Generally this species flowers earlier than the American ones, has rounder and less deeply serrated leaves, but the flowers are much alike. A. vulgaris cretica, from Crete and Dalmatia, is readily distinguished by the soft white hairs with which the under sides of the leaves are thickly covered. To successfully cultivate the Amelanchiers a good rich soil is a necessity, while shelter from cutting winds must be afforded if the sheets of flowers are to be seen in their best form.

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 shrub, and all the more valuable as it flowers at the end of summer, when few hardy plants are in bloom. To grow it satisfactorily a dry, sandy soil is a necessity.

A. FRUTICOSA.—False Indigo. Carolina, 1724. This is a fast growing shrub of fully 6 feet high, of loose, upright habit, and with pretty pinnate leaves. The flowers are borne in densely packed spikes, and are of a purplish tint with bright yellow protruding anthers and produced at the end of summer. It prefers a dry, warm soil of a sandy or chalky nature, and may readily be increased from cuttings or suckers, the latter being freely produced. Hard cutting back when full size has been attained would seem to throw fresh vigour into the Amorpha, and the flowering is greatly enhanced by such a mode of treatment. A native of Carolina, and perfectly hardy in most parts of the country. Of this species there are several varieties, amongst others, A. fruticosa nana, a dwarf, twiggy plant; A. fruticosa dealbata, with lighter green foliage than the type; and others differing only in the size and width of the leaves.

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 neat habit and pretty flowers.

See CASSANDRA, CASSIOPE, LEUCOTHOË, OXYDENDRUM, PIERIS, and ZENOBIA.

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 large and conspicuous, and impart to the tree an interesting and novel appearance. They are individually small,