Part 8

COCCULUS CAROLINUS.--This is a half hardy, twining shrub, of free growth when planted by a tree stem in a sheltered wood, but with by no means showy flowers; indeed, it may be described in few words as a shrub of no great beauty nor value.

C. LAURIFOLIUS, from the Himalayas and Japan, is even less hardy than the above, although, used as a wall plant, it has survived for many years in the south and west of England. The foliage of this species is neat and ornamental, but liable to injury from cold easterly winds.

COLLETIA.

COLLETIA CRUCIATA (syn C. bictonensis).--Chili, 1824. With flattened woody branches, and sharp-pointed spines which take the place of leaves, this is at once one of the most singular of hardy flowering shrubs. It forms a stout dense bush about 4 feet high, and bears quantities of small white flowers, which render the plant one of great beauty during the summer months.

C. SPINOSA.--Peru, 1823. This species grows fairly well in some parts of England and Ireland, and is a curious shrub with awl-shaped leaves, and, like the other members of the family, an abundant producer of flowers. It thrives best as a wall plant, and when favourably situated a height of 12 feet is sometimes attained.

COLUTEA.

COLUTEA ARBORESCENS.--Bladder Senna. France, 1548. This is a common plant in English gardens, bearing yellow Pea-shaped flowers, that are succeeded by curious reddish bladder-like seed pods. It grows to 10 feet or 12 feet in height, and is usually of lax and slender growth, but perfectly hardy.

C. CRUENTA (syn C. orientalis and C. sanguine).--Oriental Bladder Senna. Levant, 1710. This is a free-growing, round-headed, deciduous bush, of from 6 feet to 8 feet high when fully grown. The leaves are pinnate and glaucous, smooth, and bright green above, and downy beneath. Flowers individually large, of a reddish-copper colour, with a yellow spot at the base of the upper petal. The fruit is an inflated boat-shaped reddish pod. The Bladder Sennas are of very free growth, even in poor, sandy soil, and being highly ornamental, whether in flower or fruit, are to be recommended for extensive cultivation.

CORIARIA.

CORIARIA MYRTIFOLIA.--South Europe, 1629. A deciduous shrub growing to about 4 feet in height, with Myrtle-like leaves, and upright terminal racemes of not very showy flowers, produced about mid-summer--generally from May to August. For its pretty foliage and the frond-like arrangement of its branches it is principally worthy of culture. From southern Europe and the north of Africa, where it is an occupant of waste ground and hedges, but still rare in our gardens.

CORNUS.

CORNUS ALBA.--White-fruited Dogwood. Siberia, 1741. This is a native of northern Asia and Siberia, not of America as Loudon stated. For the slender, red-barked branches and white or creamy flowers, this species is well worthy of notice, while the white fruit renders it very distinct and effective. It grows to about 10 feet in height. C. alba Spathi is one of the most ornamental of shrubs bearing coloured leaves, these in spring being of a beautiful bronzy tint, and changing towards summer to a mixture of gold and green, or rather an irregular margin of deep gold surrounds each leaf. It was first sent out by the famous Berlin nurseryman whose name it bears. C. alba Gouchaulti is another variegated leaved variety, but has no particular merit, and originated in one of the French nurseries.

C. ALTERNIFOLIA.--North America, 1760. This species is a lover of damp ground, and grows from 20 feet to nearly 30 feet high, with clusters of pale yellow flowers, succeeded by bluish-black berries that render the plant highly ornamental. It is still rare in British gardens.

C. AMOMUM (syn C. sericea).--From the eastern United States. It is a low-growing, damp-loving shrub, with yellowish-white flowers, borne abundantly in small clusters. It grows about 8 feet in height, and has a graceful habit, owing to the long and lithe branches spreading regularly over the ground. The fruit is pale blue, and the bark a conspicuous purple.

C. ASPERIFOLIA is another showy American species, with reddish-brown bark, hairy leaves, of small size, and rather small flowers that are succeeded by pearly-white berries borne on conspicuous reddish stalks.

C. BAILEYI resembles somewhat the better-known C. stolonifera, but it is of more erect habit, is not stoloniferous, has rather woolly leaves, at least on the under side, and bears yellowish-white fruit. It grows in sandy soil, and is a native of Canada.

C. CALIFORNICA (syn C. pubescens) grows fully 10 feet high, with smooth branches, hairy branchlets, and cymes of pretty white flowers, succeeded by white fruit. It occurs from southern California to British Columbia.

C. CANADENSIS.--Dwarf Cornel or Birchberry. Canada, 1774. This is of herbaceous growth, and remarkable for the large cream-coloured flower bracts, and showy red fruit.

C. CANDIDISSIMA (syn C. paniculata) is a beautiful American species, with panicled clusters of almost pure white flowers, that are succeeded by pale blue fruit. It is a small growing tree, with narrow, pointed leaves, and greyish coloured, smooth bark. Like many of its fellows, this species likes rather moist ground.

C. CIRCINATA, from the eastern United States, is readily distinguished by its large, round leaves, these sometimes measuring 6 inches long by 3-1/2 inches wide. The yellowish-white flowers are individually small, and succeeded by bright blue fruits, each as large as a pea.

C. CAPITATA (syn Benthamia fragifera).--Nepaul, 1825. An evergreen shrub, with oblong, light green leaves and terminal inconspicuous greenish flowers, surrounded by an involucre of four large, pinky-yellow bracts. It is this latter that renders the shrub so very conspicuous when in full flower. Unfortunately, the Benthamia is not hardy throughout the country, the south and west of England, especially Cornwall, and the southern parts of Ireland being the favoured spots where this handsome shrub or small growing tree--for in Cornwall it has attained to fully 45 feet in height, and in Cork nearly 30 feet--may be found in a really thriving condition. Around London it does well enough for a time, but with severe frost it gets cut back to the ground, and though it quickly recovers and grows rapidly afterwards, before it is large enough to flower freely it usually suffers again. The fruits are as large and resemble Strawberries, and of a rich scarlet or reddish hue, and though ripe in October they frequently remain on the trees throughout the winter. Both for its flowers and fruit, this Nepaul shrub-tree is well worthy of a great amount of trouble to get it established in a cosy corner of the garden. Rich, well-drained loam is all it wants, while propagation by seed is readily effected.

C. FLORIDA, the Florida Dogwood, is not always very satisfactory when grown in this country, our climate in some way or other being unsuitable for its perfect development. It is a handsome shrub or small-growing tree, with small flowers surrounded by a large and conspicuous white involucre. The leaves are ovate-oblong, and pubescent on the undersides. It is a valuable as well as ornamental little tree, and is worthy of a great amount of coddling and coaxing to get it established.

C. KOUSA (syn Benthamia japonica).--Japan. This is a very distinct and beautiful flowering shrub. Flowers very small individually, but borne in large clusters, and yellow, the showy part being the four large, pure white bracts which subtend each cluster of blossoms, much like those in Cornus florida, only the bracts are more pointed than those of the latter species. Being quite hardy, and a plant of great interest and beauty, this little known Cornus is sure to be widely planted when better known.

C. MACROPHYLLA (syn C. brachypoda).--Himalayas, China and Japan, 1827. This is an exceedingly handsome species, of tabulated appearance, occasioned by the branches being arranged almost horizontally. The leaves are of large size, elliptic-ovate, and are remarkable for their autumnal tints. The elder-like flowers appear in June. They are pure white and arranged in large cymes. C. macrophylla variegata is a distinct and very ornamental form of the above, in which the leaf margins are bordered with white.

C. MAS.--Cornelian Cherry. Austria, 1596. One of our earliest flowering trees, the clusters of yellow blooms being produced in mild seasons by the middle of February. It is not at all fastidious about soil, thriving well in that of very opposite description. It deserves to be extensively cultivated, if only for the profusion of brightly-tinted flowers, which completely cover the shoots before the leaves have appeared. C. Mas aurea-elegantissima, the tricolor-leaved Dogwood, is a strikingly ornamental shrub, with green leaves encircled with a golden band, the whole being suffused with a faint pinky tinge. It is of more slender growth than the species, and a very desirable acquisition to any collection of hardy ornamental shrubs. C. Mas argenteo-variegata is another pretty shrub, the leaves being margined with clear white.

C. NUTTALLII grows to fully 50 feet in height, and is one of the most beautiful of the Oregon and Californian forest trees. The flower bracts are of large size, often 6 inches across, the individual bracts being broad and white, and fully 2-1/2 inches long.

C. OFFICINALIS is a Japanese species, that is, however, quite hardy in this country, and nearly resembles the better known C. Mas, but from which it may at once be known by the tufts of brownish hairs that are present in the axils of the principal leaf veins.

C. STOLONIFERA.--Red Osier Dogwood. North America, 1741. This has rather inconspicuous flowers, that are succeeded by whitish fruit, and is of greatest value for the ruddy tint of the young shoots. It grows fully 6 feet high, and increases rapidly by underground suckers. The species is quite hardy.