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ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

Engravings. Pall. Ross., 1, t. 4.: N. Du Ham., 1. t. 89.; Bot. Reg., t. 1156,; our Jig. 1203., and theplate in our last Volume.

Spec. Char., Sjc. A tree, growing to the height of from 15 ft. to 20 ft. Leaveslanceolate, hoary all over, as are the shoots of the current year, with starsof hairs of a hoary colour. Branches brown and smooth, more or less spiny.Leaves 2 —3 in. long; upon the upper surface whitishgreen, and upon the under one very hoary. Flowers2 or 3 together, axillary, upon short peduncles, fragrant;bisexual flower 4-cleft, interior of a pale yellow; maleones 5 or more cleft, interior of a golden yellow. Bothare furnished on the exterior with stars of hairs, like theunder surface of the leaves. Fruit of a red-brown colour,something like a small date. A native of the south ofEurope , in Bohemia , France , Spain , the Levant , Tar-tary, and various parts of Asiatic Russia; flowering inMay, and ripening its fruit in August. It was introducedin 1 633, and is frequent in collections. The silverywhiteness of the foliage of this tree renders it a mostconspicuous object in plantations; and hence, in anyview where it is wished to attract the eye to a par-ticular point, it may be usefully employed. For ex-ample, suppose a villa surrounded by grounds perfectly flat, with a boundarystrip of plantation, or shrubbery, in the middle distance, a monotonousthird distance, in which there is no object of interest but the spire of achurch, and that scarcely perceptible over the tops of the trees of theplantation: plant one or two trees of elseagnus in that part of theplantation over which the eye sees the spire, and they will, by the lightcolour of their foliage, attract the eye in that direction. This tree, whichis called by the Portuguese the tree of Paradise, is also remarkablefor the fragrance of its blossoms, which are produced in great abundancein May, and perfume the air for a considerable distance around. Forthis reason it is a most desirable tree for a lawn or shrubbery. Thereare good specimens in the Horticultural Society’s Garden; but the finesttrees that we have seen, were, in 1815, in the grounds of Malmaison, nearParis , where they were nearly 30 ft. high, and with heads nearly as much indiameter. In the Levant , the fruit of the cultivated varieties, E. h. orientalsand dactyliformis, is made into preserves, and also dried like pistachia nuts.The plant requires a sheltered situation, and, to attain any size, must beplanted in a good soil. Price of plants, in the London nurseries, 2s. 6d.each ; at Bollwyller 1 franc 50 cents; and at New York , 1 dollar.

Varieties. Bieberstein, in his FI. Taur. Cauc., i. p. 112, 113., as quoted in Rcem.et Schult. Syst. and Bot. Beg., has comprehended under one species severalforms, some of which are treated of as specifically distinct by Linnaeus andother botanists. He gives E. hortensis as the name of the species, whichhe considers to exist under the four following forms : —

5; E. h. 1 angustifolia Bieb., E. angustifolia L. — Leaves lanceolate,shining. Fruit insipid. This is the most common sort in Britishgardens. There is a tree of it in the Horticultural Society’s Garden,20 ft. high ; and one at Kew, 8 ft. high.

% E. h. 2 dactyliformis. —Leaves lanceolate, shining. Fruit date-shaped,eatable.

% E. h. 3 orientalis, E. orientalis L., Pall. FI. Boss., i. t. 5., Gmel. It.III., t. 4.—Branches not spiny. Fruit date-shaped, eatable; almostas large as that of a jujube, and used in the dessert in Persia , whereit is called zinzeyd. The flowers are more fragrant than those ofE. h. angustifolia. ( Lindl. in Bot. Beg., t. 1156., and in Nat. Syst.Bot., p. 194.) There are plants of this variety in the Horti-cultural Society’s Garden, and there is one in the Chelsea BotanicGarden.