upwards in good free soil; and, though it naturally
sends up abundance of suckers in every direction,
so as to form a dense mass of stems, yet, when
these are cleared away as they appear, and only
one stem left, it may be trained to form a very
handsome small tree, beautiful when in leaf, and
preeminently so when in flower. The rate of growth
is considerable, varying, according to the soil and
situation, from 18 in. to 3 ft. in a year, for the first
five or seven years. The duration is not great;
probably between twenty and thirty years, in rich
soils, and between forty and fifty in such as are
dry and comparatively poor. Plants which are
never allowed to produce suckers of any size, and
in which the bunches of flowers have been thinned
out, ripen seeds; and these, according to Miller,
produce plants which are true to their varieties.
The common lilac was, till lately, thought to be +

exclusively a native of Persia; but, within the last few years, it has been found by Dr. Baumgarten in Transylvania. (Flora Transyl., vol. i. p. 16.) The blue and the white varieties were cultivated by Gerard and Parkinson, in 1597, under the name of the blue-pipe and white-pipe; and, apparently, confounded with Philadelphus, which was also called pipe tree. The first time the lilac was made known to European botanists was by a plant brought from Constantinople to Vienna, by the ambassador Busbequius, towards the end of the 16th century. From the plant being very showy, of the easiest culture, and extremely hardy, it soon spread rapidly throughout the gardens of Europe. In some parts of Britain, and various parts of Germany, it is mixed with other shrubs, or planted alone, to form garden hedges; and, as a proof of its hardiness, we may mention that there are hedges of it by the road-sides, in the neighbourhood of Ulm and Augsburg, in the elevated, and consequently cold, region of Bavaria. Mixed with sweet briars, sloe thorns, scarlet thorns, Guelder rose trees, &c., it forms beautiful hedges to cottage gardens, where there is abundance of room. In the survey of the royal gardens of Nonsuch, planted in the time of Henry VIII., there is mentioned a fountain "set round with six lilac trees, which bear no fruit, but only a very pleasant smell." (Syl. Fl., ii. p. 47.) Many poets have alluded to this tree; and Cowper, in the following lines, enumerates some of the kinds commonly grown in British gardens:

"The lilac, various in array, now white,

Now sanguine, and her beauteous head now set

With purple spikes pyramidal, as if

Studious of ornament, yet unresolved

Which hue she most approved, she chose them all. '

2. S. JOSIKEA Jacq. Josika's Lilac.

Identification. Jacq. in Bot. Zeit., 1881, t. 67. ; Rchb. Pl. Crit, No. 1049. t. 780.; Don's Mill., 4

p. 51.; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1886.

1037

Engravings. Hook. Bot. Mag., t. 3278.; Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 1733.; Rchb. PL. Crit.,
No. 1049. t. 780.; and our figs. 1037, 1038.

ment to whom it was named by Baron Jacquin. It is an upright shrub, with spreading branches, and purple twigs. Its leaves are elliptic-lanceolate, 3 in. long, and 14 in. broad, shining and lucid green above, and white beneath, in the manner of those of the balsam poplar; but of a deep dark green, something like that of the leaves of Chionanthus. It was found growing in shady places, near water, along with Fagus sylvatica, Corylus Avellana, Fraxinus, Spira'a, Rosa, Ribes, and Atragene, and rising from the height of 12 ft. to that of 18 ft. (See Allgem. Gartenzeit., vol. i. p. 5.) This sort has certainly a very different appearance from the common lilac; but it may, after all, be only a variety of it. It was first sent to Britain by Messrs. Booth of the Floetbeck Nurseries; and there are now plants in the Garden of the Horticultural Society, in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, and in some other collections; so that there can be no doubt but that, by grafting and budding, it will soon be as easily to be procured in the British nurseries as the common lilac. The price of plants, in the Fulham Nursery, is 7s. 6d. each.

3. S. PERSICA L. The Persian Lilac.

Identification. Lin. Sp., 11.; Don's Mill., 4. p. 51.; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836.
Synonymes. Lilac minor Moench; Lilac pérsica Lam.; Lilas de Perse, Fr.

Engravings. Curt. Bot. Mag., t. 486.; Mill. Fig., 164. f. 1.; Mant., t. 57.; Pluk. Phyt., 227. f. 8.; and our fig. 1099.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaves small, lanceolate, entire.

Flowers purple. (Don's Mill., iv. p. 51.) A shrub, from 4 ft. to 6 ft. high; a native of Persia. Introduced in 1640, and flowering in May and June. It is one of the most common, and, at the same time, one of the most ornamental, of our low deciduous shrubs. It is frequently planted in pots, and forced so as to come into flower at Christmas, for the purpose of ornamenting rooms; and it is remarkable, that, though the flowers are very fragrant when they expand naturally in the open air, yet in the hot-house they are quite scentless; doubtless from the want of sufficient light to elaborate the volatile oil, which is the cause of the odour. In Paris, it is said, they retard the Persian lilacs, by placing them in an icehouse in December, and keeping them there till the September or October following, when they will come into bloom without the aid of artificial heat about

Christmas, so as to be ready for the bouquets given as presents on New Year's Day. (See Gard. Mag., vii. p. 247.) The species is generally propagated by cuttings, and the varieties by layers.

Varieties.

S. p. 2 álba Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. The white Persian Lilac.- Leaves lanceolate, entire. Flowers white.

S. p. 3 laciniata Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836,

Mill. Dict., No. 3., Icon., t. 164.
f. 2., and our fig. 1040., Lin. Hort.
Cliff. 6., Lodd. Bot. Cab., 1107.,
Munting, t. 56., Tourn. Inst., 602.;
S. capitàta Gmel. Itin., iii. p. 304.
t. 32. f. 1., Schmidt Baum., ii. p. 79. ;
Lilas à Feuilles de Persil, Fr. The
cut-leaved Persian Lilac.-This va-
riety has some of its leaves pin-
natifidly cut, and nearly all of them
cut in some manner.

1040

S. p. 4 salvifolia Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836, has the leaves somewhat hoary, like those of the common sage.

4. S. ROTHOMAGE'NSIS Renault. The Rouen Lilac.

Synonymes. S. dùbia Pers. Ench., 1. p. 9.; Lilàceum rothomagénse Renault Fl. de l'Orne., p. 100. ; S. mèdia Dum. Cours., 1. p. 709., Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; Lilas Varin, N. Du Ham.; S. chinensis Willd. Sp., 1. p. 48., Berol. Baumz., p. 498., Don's Mill., 4. p. 51.; S. sibirica Hort.; the Siberian Lilac, Hort.

Engravings. N. Du Ham., 2. t. 63. ; and our fig. 1041.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaves ovate-lanceolate. Flowers purple. (Don's Mill., iv. p.51.) An intermediate plant between S. vulgàris and S. pérsica. In Belgium, there is a hybrid between this and S. vulgáris, called S. mèdia, or the Belgic Lilas de Marly; which is probably the S. rothomagensis of Turp. et Poit. Fl. de Par. A shrub, from 6 ft. to 8 ft. high; a hybrid between S. vulgàris and S. pérsica; raised at Rouen by M. Varin, the director of the Botanic Garden there. and introduced into British gardens in 1795; flowering in May and June. It is of very vigorous growth, and a most abundant flowerer; and, in favourable soils and situations, it will attain the height of 10 ft. or 12 ft. This sort, and the preceding one, grafted standard high on the ash, or the common privet, would form very ornamental trees. Varieties. The following are mentioned in the Bon Jardinier for 1836:

1041

S. r. 2 Lilas Royal Bon Jard. has the flowers more compact than the
Belgic Lilas de Marly.

S. r. 3 saugeàna Hort.; Lilas saugé, Fr.; differs from the Lilas Varin
in having the flowers more red and more beautiful. There are
plants in the arboretum of Messrs. Loddiges. It is probably identical
with the variety mentioned in Gard. Mag., vii. p. 379., of which there
are plants in the Grosvenor Nursery, King's Road, cultivated by
Mr. Dennis. S. coccínea and S. chinénsis rubra Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836,
appear to be identical with this variety, or very slightly different; but
the plants are too small to have yet produced flowers.

App. i. Species of Syringa not yet introduced.

S. Emòdi Wall. Cat., No. 2831., Don's Mill, 4. p. 51., Royle Illust., p. 267. t. 65.. f. 2.; and our fig. 1041.; has the leaves elliptic-oblong, glaucous beneath, attenuated at the base, and acuminated at the apex. Branches warted. Thyrse terminal and panicled. Capsules almost cylindrical. The bud-scales permanent at the base of the year's shoots. A shrub, from 8 ft. to 10 ft. high, a native of Kamaon, towards the Himalayas, with purple flowers, which appears to be a very desirable plant. All the lilacs are so beautiful, both in foliage and flowers, and of such easy culture in any common garden soil, and even in climates of considerable severity, that the number of sorts, provided they are truly distinct, can hardly be too much increased. The objection which we have to this genus of shrubs is, their liability to throw up suckers, which, as we have more than once before observed, have a disorderly and ungardenesque appearance, and are only suitable for scenery in which the object is to imitate wild and neglected nature. For this reason, we have often wished that all the sorts of lilac cultivated in British gardens were worked on stocks of the common privet, on which, it is said, they will succeed perfectly. As the privet is quite hardy, and does not throw up suckers, this, we think, would be a real improvement, at least with reference to gardenesque beauty.

S. villosa Vahl Enum., 1. p. 38., Don's Mill., 4. p. 51., is a native of China, on mountains about Pekin; and, according to G. Don, it is, perhaps, the same as Ligustrum sinense Lour.

GENUS V.

FONTANE SIA Labill. THE FONTANESIA. Lin. Syst. Diándria Monogynia,

Identification. Labill. Pl. Syr., dec. 1. p. 9. t. 1.; Lam. Ill., 1. t. 22.; Lindl. Nat. Syst. Bot., ed. 2., p. 308.; Don's Mill. 4. p. 51.

Derivation. Named after René Louiche Des Fontaines, author of Flora Atlantica, 2 vols. 4to, Paris, 1798-99, and several other works.

Gen. Char., &c. Calyx 4-6-parted, permanent. Corolla 4-6-parted, deciduous. Stamens 2, elongated. Stigma bifid, hooked. Capsule a 2-4winged, 2-celled, papery, indehiscent samara; cells 1-seeded. (Don's Mill., iv. p. 51.) A subevergreen shrub, with lanceolate leaves, and axillary racemes of yellowish white flowers. This genus seems to be a connecting link between the tribes Fraxinièæ and Olèinæ.

1. F. PHILLYREÖI'DES Labill. The Phillyrea-like Fontanesia. Idetification. Labill. Syr., dec. 1. p. 9. t. 1.; Don's Mill., 4. p. 51.; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. Engravings. Lodd. Bot. Cab., t. 1308,; and our fig. 1043.

1043

Description, &c. A shrub or low tree, growing to the height of from 10 ft. to 14 ft., or upwards, with leaves acute at both ends; a native of Syria, between Laodicea and Mount Cassius, and of Sicily. It was introduced in 1787, and flowers in June. The flowers are at first of a greenish white, or yellowish green; but they afterwards become of a brownish yellow, and remain on the tree two or three months. The leaves of the plant, in Syria, and in the neighbourhood of Alexandria, and also in Italy, remain on till spring; but, in the neighbourhood of Paris and London, they drop off in the course of the winter, like those of the common privet; to which plant the fontanesia bears a close general resemblance, though it is strikingly different in having a rough exfoliating bark. It grows rapidly, forming a large bush 10 ft. or 12 ft. high in as + many years; or, if trained to a single trunk, a very handsome tree, with numerous slender, divergent, drooping branches. There are plants of it in the Horticultural Society's Garden, and in the arboretum of Messrs. Loddiges, 8 ft. or 10 ft. high, which flower freely every year; and one in the Kew Garden, 8 ft. high. It is readily propagated by layers, by cuttings, or by grafting on the common privet. Grafted standard high on the ash, it would form a very handsome drooping-branched tree. Plants, in the London nurseries, are 1s. each.

Forsythia Vahl is a genus named in honour of William Forsyth, Esq., Royal Gardener at Kensington, author of Observations on the Diseases of Trees, &c., who died in 1804; and to whose son, of the same name, who died in 1835 (See Gard. Mag., vol. xi. p. 496.), we are much indebted for contributions to the historical part of this work, and to that of the Encyclopedia of Gardening.

F. suspensa Vahl, Syringa suspensa Thunb., Lilac perpénse Lam., is a native of Japan, where it is cultivated for the elegance of its flowers, which are yellow. It is an ascending shrub, with pendent tetragonal branches, and oval, simple, or trifoliate leaves. It is probably half-hardy or quite hardy; and it is to be regretted that it is not yet introduced.

FRAXINUS Tourn. THE ASH. Lin. Syst. Polygàmia Dice'cia. Identification. Tourn. Inst., 343.; Lin. Gen., No. 1160.; Michx. Gen., 107.; Juss. Gen., 105.;

Schkuhr Handb., t. 375.; Lam. Ill., t. 858.; Gærtn. Fruct., 1. t. 39. ; Lindl. Nat. Syst., Bot., p. 308. ; Don's Mill., 4. p. 53.

Synonymes. Frène, Fr.; Esche, Ger.

Derivation. The derivation of Fraxinus given in Don's Miller is, from phrasso, to enclose; the ash having been formerly used for making hedges. Linnæus derives it from phrazis, a separation, because the wood splits easily. Others derive it from frangitur, because the young branches are easily broken; or which may have been applied ironically, in allusion to the extreme toughness of the old wood. None of these derivations, however, appears very satisfactory. The English name of ash may be derived either from the Saxon word se, a pike; or from the colour of the bark of the trunk and branches, which resembles that of wood ashes.

Gen. Char., &c. Flowers polygamous. Calyx none, or 4-parted, or 4-toothed.
Corolla none.
Stamens 2, in the male flowers. Anthers sessile, or on short
filaments, dehiscing outwardly. Female flowers the same, except that they
have no stamens, but have each a pistil, that has a bifid stigma. Fruit,
or samara, 2-celled, compressed, winged at top. Cells 1-seeded. (Don's
Mill., iv. p. 53.)—Deciduous trees, with opposite, impari-pinnate, rarely
simple leaves; and lateral racemes of greenish yellow flowers. Natives
of Europe, the north of Africa, part of Asia, and of North America.
The species are raised from seeds; and the varieties chiefly by grafting
on Fraxinus excélsior, but partly also from seeds.
There is a great
tendency in all the species to sport into varieties; and many of what
are by botanists described as species are, in our opinion, not entitled
to that distinction. In the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, on the banks
of the Esk, more especially on the estate of Dalhousie, we are in-
formed that the ash is indigenous over several acres of steep rocky de-
clivities bordering the river, and that many very distinct varieties may
there be collected. The American ash seems as prolific in varieties as the
European species; and some of these varieties, which by botanists are
treated as species, generally come true from seed; a circumstance no
more surprising than that particular varieties of fruit trees should fre-
quently come nearly as true to the parent variety, as the seedlings of
species come true to species. All the ashes are of easy culture in good
soil, and in a sheltered situation. The general price of the American
plants is from 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per plant; and seeds may be obtained of six
or seven of the sorts at 4d. per quart.

A. Leaflets broad, smooth or shining on the upper surface. Natives
of Europe.

Identification. Lin. Sp., p. 1509.; Willd. Sp., 4. p. 1099.; Don's Mill., 4. p. 53; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. Synonymes. F. apétala Lam. Fl. Fr., Lam. Ill., t. 858. f. 1. ; F. rostrata Guss. Fl. Rar., p. 574.; F. O'rnus Scop. Carn., No. 1249.; F. eròsa Pers.; F. crispa Bosc; le Fréne, Fr.; Aesche or Esche, Ger. and Dutch; Ask, Dan. and Swed.; Frassino, Ital.; Fresno, Span.; Freixo, Port.; Jas, Jasen, or Jassen, Russ.; Ese, Saz.

Engravings. Fl. Dan., t. 969.; Smith Eng. Bot., t. 1692.; Svensk. Bot., 175.; Lam. Ill., t. 858. f. 1. ; Blackw., t. 528.; Dodon. Pempt., 771.; Lob. Icon., 2. p. 107. f. 2.; our fig. 1044.; and the plates in our last Volume.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaflets almost sessile, lanceolate-oblong, acuminate, serrated, cuneated at the base. Flowers naked. Samara obliquely emarginate at the apex. The leaves have generally 5 pairs of leaflets, but sometimes 6. The flowers are produced in loose spikes, from the sides of the branches. On some there are only female flowers; on others hermaphrodite ones; and on others male ones; while on some trees the flowers are found in two of these states, or in all of them. (Don's Mill., iv. p. 53.) A tree, from 30 ft. to 80 ft. high, flowering in March and April, before the leaves appear. Varieties. These are very numerous; but we shall give chiefly those which are allowed to be varieties by botanists, and are described as such in Don's Miller, or in our Hortus Britannicus; afterwards indicating those which are treated by botanists as species, and which we have accordingly kept distinct, but which we are decidedly of opinion are nothing more than varieties.

F. e. 2 péndula Ait. Hort. Kew, ed. 2., vol. v. p. 475., Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; Frêne Parasol, Fr.; and the plate in our last Volume. The pendulous, or weeping, Ash. — Branches pendulous. This sin