193

Spec. Char., &c. Branchlets glabrous. Leaves ovate, retuse, denticulate glabrous, or, beneath, pubescent along the nerves. Prickles not any, or twin, one of them recurved. Drupe ovate-oblong. A deciduous tree, a native of Syria, whence it was brought to Rome, during the reign of Augustus. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 19.) Introduced into England in 1640. In its native country, it grows to the height of 20 ft. or 30 ft., with a thick cylindrical stem, somewhat twisted. The bark is brown, and rather chapped. The branches are numerous, pliant, armed with prickles, zigzag in their direction; the prickles at the joints being two of unequal size, of which one is almost straight, and the other shorter and quite straight. The leaves are al

ternate and oval-oblong, somewhat hard and coriaceous. The flowers are small, axillary, of a pale yellow colour, with short peduncles. The fruit is oval-oblong, resembling that of the olive; at first green, afterwards yellow, and entirely red when ripe. It has a mild and vinous taste. The pulp encloses a nut, having a long point at one of the extremities, and it contains two seeds. In the south of France, the tree flowers in the beginning of summer, and the fruit ripens in the beginning of autumn. In the neighbourhood of Paris, it flowers in autumn, and the fruit never arrives at maturity. In England, we have only seen very small plants, kept in pots, in pits.

Geography, History, &c. This tree is indigenous in Syria, and other parts of Asia, also in Greece (see p. 165.); and it is cultivated on both shores of the Mediterranean. It has been acclimatised in Italy since the time of Augustus, and cultivated for its fruit in different parts of that country, as far north as Genoa. Pliny, speaking of the jujube, says that "this tree, and the Azedarách, were imported into Italy, from Africa and Syria, in the reign of Augustus, and planted on the ramparts of Rome, where they made a fine appearance, from their heads rising above the houses." Du Hamel recommends the tree to be cultivated generally, on account of the beauty of its foliage; and, in Languedoc, on account of its fruit. The taste of the fruit is somewhat acid; but the flesh is firm, succulent, and, when dried, it makes a very desirable sweetmeat. The syrup of jujubes is employed for abating fever, and purifying the blood; and in coughs and catarrhs: lozenges for the latter purposes are also made of it. The plant prefers a soil that is rather dry, to one that is moist; and, when once established, it is by no means liable to suffer from the winters of Paris. It is easily increased by cuttings of the roots, whether of young or old trees; or by suckers, which it throws up in the greatest abundance. Seeds may also be procured of it from Italy. We have seen the fruit on the tree in the garden of M. Cels, at Paris, in 1828; and gathered it in that of Signor di Negro, at Genoa, in 1819. In 1835, there were plants of this species in the Fulham Nursery.

2. Z. SINENSIS Lam. The Chinese Jujube. Identification. Lam. Dict., 3. p. 318.; Dec. Prod. 2. p. 19.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 24. Synonyme. Rhamnus Zizyphus Lour. Fl. Coch., 158.

Spec. Char. &c. Branchlets pubescent. Leaves ovate-oblong, acute, serrate, glabrous, except beneath, along the nerves. Prickles twin, straightish, diverging. Petals reflexed. Drupes ovate. Reputed to be a native of China, apparently on the authority of the Paris Garden; but it is a question whether correctly. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 19.) Introduced into England in 1818, and described in the Nouveau Du Hamel as requiring protection during winter in the Paris Garden. The name is in Loddiges's Catalogue, but the plant in their arboretum was dead in 1835, and we

have never seen it.

3. Z. SPINA-CHRI'STI Willd. Christ's Thorn Jujube. Identification. Willd. Spec., 1. p. 1105.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 20.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 24. Synonymes. Rhamnus spina-Christi Lin. Spec., 282., Desf. Fl. Atl., 1. p. 201. Rhamnus Nabèca Forsk. Egypt., 204., but not of Lin.; Z. africana Mill. Dict., No. 4.; Z. ;Napèca Lam. Dict., 3. p. 320.; Nábca Alp. Eg., 2. t. 4. p. 10.; Enóplia spinòsa Bauh. Pin., 477. Ger. Emac. Append., t. 1605.; Christkronen Judendorn, Ger.

Engravings. Alp. Eg., 2. t. 4. p. 10.; Ger. Emac. Append., t. 1605.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaves ovate, obtuse, toothed, glabrous, or, beneath, pubescent. Prickles twin, spreading, one straight, the other rather incurved. Flowers disposed upon peduncles, that are corymbosely divided, and villosely tomentose. Drupes ovate-globose. Inhabits the north of Africa and Palestine. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 20.) A deciduous shrub, growing to the height of 8 ft. in the north of Africa, in Palestine, in Ethiopia, and in Egypt. Introduced in 1759. The flowers are yellowish green; the fruit oblong, about the size of a sloe, with a pleasant subacid taste, and used as food by the inhabitants of Egypt and Arabia. Hasselquist thinks that this is the tree from which the crown of thorns was taken which was put on the head of our Saviour during the crucifixion; but the more general opinion is in favour of Paliurus aculeatus. Linnæus raised it from seeds sent by Hasselquist, and Miller cultivated it, in 1759, from seeds; but we have never seen the plant, and do not know whether it is now to be procured in England."

Variety.

Z. S. 2 inermis Dec. Prod., ii. p. 20.-This has no prickles, and its
leaves are larger, and very obtuse.

4. Z. INCURVA Roxb. The incurved-spined Jujube. Identification. Roxb. Fl. Ind., 2. p. 334.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 20. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 25. Synonyme. Z. paniculata Hamilt. MSS.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaves oval, obtusely acuminate, crenulate, 5-nerved, oblique at the base. Petioles and nerves pubescent. Prickles solitary, or twin, with one incurved. Flowers with the style parted half-way down, disposed in bifid peduncled cymes. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 20.) A tree growing to the height of 20 ft.; a native of Upper Nepal, and introduced in 1823. The flowers are of a yellowish green, and appear in August and September: they are succeeded by small, round, dark purple fruit. We have never seen the plant.

5. Z. FLEXUO'SA Wall. The flexible Jujube.

Identification. Wall. in Fl. Ind., 2. p. 365.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 25.

Spec. Char., &c. A smooth shrub, with spiny flexible branches, and unarmed straight branchlets. Prickles twin, one very long and straight, the other recurved. Leaves lanceolate, obtuse, crenate, smooth. Flowers axillary, usually solitary. Style deeply bifid. (Don's Mill., ii. p. 25.) A native of Nepal, where it grows to the height of 8 ft. It is considered an elegant plant, with mahoganycoloured prickles, and solitary yellowish flowers, rather large. It was introduced in 1820; but we have not seen the plant.

App. i. Half-hardy Species of Zizyphus already introduced.

194

Z. Lotus Lam., the Rhamnus Lotus of Linnæus, (Desf. Act. Par., 1788, t. 21.; Shaw's Afr., No. 652. f. 632.; and our fig. 194.) the lotos of the Lotophagi, is a deciduous shrub, from S ft. to 4 ft. in height, of considerable interest, and eminently deserving of a place against a conservative wall. It is a native of Persia, and of the interior of Africa, especially of the kingdom of Tunis, in a tract called Jereed, which was formerly the country of the Lotophagi. It has the habit of the Rhamnus, and the flowers of the common jujube; but the fruits are smaller, rounder, and sweeter, being about the size of sloes, and containing large stones: they are borne on every part of the plant like gooseberries, and have a purplish tinge. The farinaceous pulp is separated from the stone, and laid by for winter use. Its flavour approaches nearly to that of figs or dates. A kind of wine is made from the fruit by expressing the juice, and diluting it with water; but it will not keep more than a few days. The natives of some parts of Africa convert the fruits into a sort of bread, by exposing them for some days to the sun, and afterwards pounding them gently in a wooden mortar, until the farinaceous part is separated from the stones. The meal thus produced is then mixed with a little water, and formed into cakes, which, when dried in the sun, resemble in colour and flavour the sweetest gingerbread. The stones are afterwards put into a vessel of water, and shaken about, so as to separate the farina which may still adhere to them. This communicates a sweet and agreeable taste to the water; and, with the addition of a little pounded millet, it forms a pleasant liquor, called fondi, which is the common breakfast, in many parts of Ludamar, during the months of February and March. The fruit is collected by spreading a cloth upon the ground, and beating the branches with a stick. The lotos of the Lotophagi must not be confounded with the Egyptian lotos, which is the Nymphæ'a Lotus; with the lotos of Homer and Dios. corides, which is a species of Trifolium; with the lotos of Hippocrates, which is the Céltis austràlis ; or with the Italian lotos, which is the Diospyros Lòtus. (Don's Mill., ii., p. 24.) Plants of this species were introduced into Britain in 1731; but they are rarely to be met with, and, when they are, they are treated as frame plants. Plants might probably be obtained from Italy, or from the French colonial garden at Algiers.

Z. nitida Roxb. is a native of China, introduced in 1822. The fruit is 1 in. long, pale yellow when ripe, and edible; the root produces innumerable suckers, which run to a great distance from the parent tree. This species is recorded as a green-house plant, but will probably prove half-hardy.

Z. parvifolia Del. (Voy. from Egypt) is a hardy species, not yet introduced. Z. mucronata Willd. is a Cape species. Z. glabra Roxb. is a native of the East Indies. Z. Enóplia Mill., Z. tomentosa Roxb.,

and Z. álbens Roxb. are also natives of the East Indies. Z. agrestis Schult. and Z. soporiferus Schult. are natives of the north of China; and Z. capensis is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. All these species being deciduous, we have no doubt that, if once introduced, and tried in very dry soil, against a conservative wall, they would be found half-hardy.

Z. Jajuba Lam. Dict., iii. p. 318., Rhamnus Jujuba Lin. Spec., 282., the wild jujube, a tree growing to the height of 16 ft. in India, and cultivated in China and Cochin-China, was introduced into England in 1759, but, as far as we know, is now lost. It is figured and described by Rumphius (Amb., ii. t. 36.), and by Rheede (Mal., iv. t. 41.); and the following notice respecting it is in Don's Miller :-Leaves obliquely ovate, serrated, downy below, as well as the young branches, hoary. Prickles twin, the one recurved, the other straight. Corymbs axillary, almost sessile. Flowers greenish yellow. Drupe globular, size of a large cherry, smooth and yellow when ripe, containing a 2-celled, 1-seeded nut. There is a variety of this, or a new species, in the East Indies, which produces excellent fruit, of a long form, about the size of a hen's egg, known by the name of narrikellekool in Bengal. The fruit of both varieties is eaten by all classes of persons: it is sweet and mealy. The bark of the tree is said to be used in the Moluccas in diarrhea, and to fortify the stomach; which seems to confirm the general opinion entertained of the astringent properties of the bark of most of the species of this order. (Don's Mill., ii. p. 26.) This species, though marked as a green-house plant, will doubtless thrive in the open air, in the warmest parts of the south of England; but we have introduced it here, because we think it and Zizyphus Lotus likely to be desirable fruit-shrubs for Australia, the Cape, and the Himalayas. Highly improved varieties of both species, producing fruit as different from that which they now bear, as the Lancashire gooseberry is from the gooseberry of the woods of Switzerland or California, might probably be obtained by selection and cultivation.

Various species of Zizyphus are found in the Himalayas; some of which, growing on the higher parts of the mountains, may probably be found hardy. (See Royle's Illust., p. 168.) In the garden of the Horticultural Society there is an unnamed species, which has stood two winters against a wall without any protection.

GENUS II.

PALIU'RUS L. THE PALIURUS, or CHRIST'S THORN. Lin. Syst. Pentándria

Trigýnia.

Identification. Tourn. Inst., t. 386.; D. Don Prod. Fl. Nep., p. 189.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 22.; Don's Mill, 2. p. 23.; Brongn. Mém. Rham., p. 46.

Synonymes. Paliùre, Porte-chapeau, Fr.

Derivation. From pallo, to move, and ouron, urine; in allusion to its diuretic qualities; or from Paliurus, the name of a town in Africa; now called Nabil.

1. P. ACULEATUS Lam. . The prickly Paliurus, or Christ's Thorn. Identification. Lam. Ill., t. 210.; Fl. Fr., ed. 3., No. 4081.; N. Du Ham., 3. t. 17.; Don's Mill, 2. p. 23. Synonymes. P. pétasus Dum. Cours., 6. p. 266.; P. austràlis Gært. Fruct., 1. t. 43. f. 5.; P. vulgaris D. Don Prod. Fl. Nep., 189.; Rhamnus Paliùrus Lin. Spec., 281.; Zizyphus Paliùrus Willd. Spec., 1. p. 1183., Sims Bot Mag., t. 1893.; Christ's Thorn, or Ram of Libya Gerard.; E'pine de Christ, Argalon, Porte-chapeau, Fr.; geflügelter Judendorn, Ger.

Engravings. Lam. Ill., t. 210.; N. Duh., 3. t. 17.; Gært. Fruct., 1. t. 43. f. 5.; Bot. Mag., t. 1893.; E. of PL, No. 2896.; our fig. 195.; and the plates of this species, both in a young and an old state,

in our Second Volume.

195

Spec. Char., &c. Branchlets pubescent. Leaves ovate, serrulated, quite smooth, 3-nerved, with two spines at the base, one straight, the other recurved. Flowers in axillary crowded umbellules; few in an umbellule. Wing of capsule crenated. (Don's Mill., ii. p. 23.) A branching deciduous shrub, or low tree; a native of the south of Europe, and north and west of Asia, and introduced in 1596. The flowers, which are produced in great abundance, are of a greenish yellow, and they are succeeded by fruit of a buckler shape, flat and thin, but coriaceous. From the singular appearance of this fruit, which has the footstalk attached to the middle, which is raised like the crown of a hat, and the flattened disk, which resembles its brim, the French have given this tree the name of porte-chapeau. On both shores of the Mediterranean, it grows to about the same height as the common hawthorn. In the south of Russia, according to Pallas, it forms a bushy tree, with numerous branches, thickly clothed with prickles, coming out in pairs at the buds, one of them bent back, and both very sharp. It is found on the hills near the Lake of Baikal, particularly near warm springs; it is also found in the south of Caucasus and Georgia, and in the woody mountains of Taurida, where it renders some parts of them almost impervious. In many parts of Italy

the hedges are formed of this plant, as they are of the hawthorn in Britain; it is also the common hedge plant in Asia. Du Hamel recommends it for being employed for hedges in the south of France, where it abounds in a wild state. Medicinally, the entire plant is considered diuretic; and it is said to have been given with success in dropsical cases. Virgil, when describing, in figurative language, Nature as mourning for the death of Julius Cæsar, says the earth was no longer covered with flowers or corn, but with thistles, and the sharp spines of the paliurus. Columella recommends excluding the plant entirely from gardens, and planting it with brambles for the purpose of forming live hedges. In the south of France, where it has been tried in this way, the same objection is made to it as to hedges of the common sloe (Prunus spinòsa) in this country; viz. that it throws up such numerous suckers as in a short time to extend the width of the hedge considerably on both sides. As this species abounds in Judæa, and as the spines are very sharp, and the branches very pliable, and easily twisted into any figure, Belon supposed the crown of thorns, which was put upon the head of Christ before his crucifixion, to be composed of them. Josephus says" that this thorn, having sharper prickles than any other, in order that Christ might be the more tormented, they made choice of it for a crown for him." (Ant. of the Jews, book i. chap. ii., as quoted by Gerard.) Hasselquist, however, thinks that the crown of thorns was formed of another prickly plant, the Zizyphus spina-Chrísti W., Rhámnus spina-Chrísti Lin.; but, according to Warburton, it was the Acánthus móllis, which can hardly be considered prickly at all.

Statistics. The largest plant of this species in the neighbourhood of London is at Syon, where it is 33 ft. high, the trunk 1 ft., and the diameter of the head 30 ft. (See our engraving of this tree in Vol. II.) There is a fine old specimen in the Botanic Garden at Oxford about 20 ft. high, and one in the Chelsea Botanic Garden of considerable age, but not remarkable for its height. Plants, in the London nurseries, are 1s. 6d. each; at Bollwyller, 1 franc 20 cents each; and at New York, 50 cents each.

GENUS III.

BERCHEMIA Neck.

THE BERCHEMIA.
Monogynia.

Lin. Syst. Pentandria

Identification. Neck. Elem., 2. p 122.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 22.; Brongn. Mém. Rham., 49.; Don's
Mill., 2. p. 27.

Synonymes. Enóplia Hedw. F. Gen., 1. p. 151., and Schult. Syst., 5. p. 962.
Derivation. From Berchem, probably the name of some botanist.

Description, &c. Twining deciduous shrubs, of which there is only one species considered hardy.

1. B. VOLUBILIS Dec. The twining Berchemia.

Identification. Dec. Prod., 2. p. 22.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 27.

Synonymes. Rhamnus volubilis Lin. Fil. Suppl., 132., Jacq. Icon. Rar., t. 336.; Zizyphus volubilis Willd. Spec., 1. p. 1102.; Enóplia volubilis Schult. Syst., 5. p. 332.; Supple Jack, Virginian. Engravings. Jacq. Icon. Rar., t. 336.; E. of Pl., No. 2895.; and our fig. 196.

Spec. Char., &c. Branches glabrous, rather twining. Leaves oval, mucronate, somewhat waved. Flowers diœcious. Drupes oblong. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 22.) A deciduous twining shrub, a native of Carolina and Virginia, in deep swamps near the sea coast. Introduced in 1714. According to Pursh, it ascends the highest trees of Taxodium distichum, in the dismal swamp near Suffolk in Virginia; and it is known there by the name of Supple Jack. The stems twine round one another, or any object which they may be near; but, in British gardens, they are seldom seen above 8 ft. or 10 ft. high, probably from little attention being paid to place the plant in a

196

deep sandy or peaty soil, and to supply it with abundance of moisture in the growing season. The foliage has a neat appearance. The flowers are small, and of a greenish yellow colour; and, in America, they are succeeded by oblong violet-coloured berries. It is propagated by cuttings of the root, or of the branches, or by layers. Plants are in the garden of the London Horticultural Society, and in some nurseries. Price, in London, 2s. 6d. each; and at New York, 1 dollar.

App. i. Other Species of Berchèmia.

B. flavescens Brongn., the Zizyphus flavescens of Wallich, is a Nepal climber, not yet introduced. B. lineata Dec., Rhamnus lineatus Lin., is a green-house shrub, introduced in 1804 from China. It grows to the height of 8 ft. B. Loureiriana Dec., the Rhamnus lineàtus of Lam., but not of Linnæus, is a trailing shrub, a native of Cochin-China, among hedges and bushes, not yet introduced, but, in all probability, half-hardy or hardy.

GENUS IV.

RHA'MNUS Lam. THE BUCKTHORN.

gynia.

Lin. Syst. Pentándria Mono

Identification. Lam. Dict., 4. p. 461.; Lam. Ill., t.128.; Gært. Fruct., 2. p. 106. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 23. ;
Don's Mill., 2. p 29; Brongn. Mėm Rham., p. 53.
Synonymes. Nerprun, Fr.; Wegdorn, Ger.; the Ram, or Hart's, Thorne, Gerard.; Box Thorn.
Derivation. From the Celtic word, ram, signifying a tuft of branches; which the Greeks have
changed to rhamnos, and the Latins to ramus.

Description, &c. Deciduous, or evergreen shrubs, one or two of them with the habit of low trees, and some of them sub-procumbent, or procumbent; and all of them, except the latter, distinguished by an upright stiff mode of growth, and numerous strong thorns in their wild state; whence the name of ram, or buck, thorn. Many of the sorts set down in books as species are, doubtless, only varieties; but, till the whole are brought together, and cultivated in one garden, this cannot be determined. The flowers in all the species are inconspicuous; but the R. Alatérnus and its varieties are most valuable evergreen shrubs, and several of the other species are ornamental, both from their foliage and their fruit; the latter of which is also useful in dyeing. R. hýbridus, R. alpinus, R. catharticus, R. Frángula, R. saxátilis, R. alnifolius, and R. latifolius are species procurable in the nurseries, and well deserving of cultivation. They are all easily propagated by seeds or layers, and most of them by cuttings; and they will all grow in any soil that is dry. They all vary much in magnitude by culture, in common with most plants which, in a wild state, grow in arid soils.

§i. Marcorélla Neck.

Synonymes. Rhamnus and Alatérnus of Tourn.

Sect. Char. Flowers usually diœcious, and 5-cleft. Fruit a berry, with 3 seeds, or, from abortion, 2 seeds. Seeds deeply furrowed, with the raphe in the bottom of the furrow. Leaves usually permanent; coriaceous, and glabrous. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 23.)

A. Alatérnus Tourn. Flowers racemose, 5-cleft. Evergreen Shrubs.

1. R. ALATE'RNUS L. The Alaternus.

Identification. Lin. Spec., 281.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 23.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 30.

Synonymes. Alatérnus Phillyrea Mill. Dict., No. 1.

Derivation. From Altérnus, a generic name, adopted from Dioscorides, designating the alternate position of the leaves.

Engravings. Mill. Dict., t. 16. f. 1.; N. Du Ham., 3. p. 42. t. 14.; and our fig. 197.