[THE GARDEN.]
THE HORNBEAMS.
The genus Carpinis is widely distributed throughout the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. There are nine species known to botanists, most of them being middle-sized trees. In addition to those mentioned below, figures of which are herewith given, there are four species from Japan and one from the Himalayan region which do not yet seem to have found their way to this country; these five are therefore omitted. All are deciduous trees, and every one is thoroughly deserving of cultivation. The origin of the English name is quaintly explained by Gerard in his "Herbal" as follows: "The wood," he says, "in time, waxeth so hard, that the toughness and hardness of it may be rather compared to horn than unto wood, and therefore it was called horne-beam or hardbeam."
CARPINUS ORIENTALIS.
Carpinus Betulus,[1] the common hornbeam, as is the case with so many of our native or widely cultivated trees, exhibits considerable variation in habit, and also in foliage characters. Some of the more striking of these, those which have received names in nurseries, etc., and are propagated on account of their distinctive peculiarities, are described below. In a wild state C. Betulus occurs in Europe from Gothland southward, and extends also into West Asia. Although apparently an undoubted native in the southern counties of England, it appears to have no claim to be considered indigenous as far as the northern counties are concerned; it has also been planted wherever it occurs in Ireland.
CARPINUS AMERICANA.
Few trees bear cutting so well as the hornbeam, and for this reason, during the reign of the topiarist, it was held in high repute for the formation of the "close alleys," "covert alleys," or the "thick-pleached alleys," frequently mentioned in Shakespeare and in the works of other authors about three centuries ago. In the sixteenth century the topiary art had reached its highest point of development, and was looked upon as the perfection of gardening; the hornbeam—and indeed almost every other tree—was cut and tortured into every imaginable shape. The "picturesque style," however, soon drove the topiarist and his art out of the field, yet even now places still remain in England where the old and once much-belauded fashion still exists on a large scale—a fact by no means to be deplored from an archæological point of view. Dense, quaintly-shaped hornbeam hedges are not unfrequent in the gardens of many old English mansions, and in some old country farmhouses the sixteenth century craze is still perpetuated on a smaller scale.
CARPINUS BETULUS, LEAF, CATKINS, AND FRUIT.
Sir J.E. Smith, in his "English Flora," after enumerating the virtues of the hornbeam as a hedge plant, gives it as his opinion that "when standing by itself and allowed to take its natural form, the hornbeam makes a much more handsome tree than most people are aware of." Those who are familiar with the fine specimens which exist at Studley Park and elsewhere will have no hesitation in confirming Sir J.E. Smith's statement. The Hornbeam Walk in Richmond Park, from Pembroke Lodge toward the Ham Gate, will recur to many Southerners as a good instance of the fitness of the hornbeam for avenues. In the walk in question there are many fine trees, which afford a thorough and agreeable shade during the summer months.
CARPINUS VIMINEA.
In any soil or position the hornbeam will grow readily, except exceedingly dry or too marshy spots. On chalky hillsides it does not grow so freely as on clayey plains. Under the latter conditions, however, the wood is not so good. In mountainous regions the hornbeam occupies a zone lower than that appropriated by the beech, rarely ascending more than 1,200 yards above sea level. It is not injured by frost, and in Germany is often seen fringing the edges of the beech forests along the bottom of the valleys where the beech would suffer. Scarcely any tree coppices more vigorously or makes more useful pollards on dry grass land.
BRANCH OF CARPINUS BETULUS.
On account of its great toughness the wood of the hornbeam is employed in engineering work for cogs in machinery. When subjected to vertical pressure it cannot be completely destroyed; its fibers, instead of breaking off short, double up like threads, a conclusive proof of its flexibility and fitness for service in machinery (Laslett's "Timber and Timber Trees"). According to the same recent authority, the vertical or crushing strain on cubes of 2 inches average 14.844 tons, while that on cubes of 1 inch is 3.711 tons.
LEAVES OF CARPINUS BETULUS QUERCOFOLIA.
A few years ago an English firm required a large quantity of hornbeam wood for the manufacture of lasts, but failed to procure it in England. They succeeded, however, in obtaining a supply from France, where large quantities of this timber are used for that purpose. It may be interesting to state that in England at any rate lasts are no longer made to any extent by hand, but are rapidly turned in enormous numbers by machinery. In France sabots are also made of hornbeam wood, but the difficulty in working it and its weight render it less valuable for sabotage than beech. For turnery generally, cabinet making, and also for agricultural implements, etc., this wood is highly valued; in some of the French winegrowing districts, viz., Côte d'Or and Yonne, hoops for the wine barrels are largely made from this tree. It makes the best fuel and it is preferred to every other for apartments, as it lights easily, makes a bright flame, which burns equally, continues a long time, and gives out an abundance of heat. "Its charcoal is highly esteemed, and in France and Switzerland it is preferred to most others, not only for forges and for cooking by, but for making gunpowder, the workmen at the great gunpowder manufactory at Berne rarely using any other. The inner bark, according to Linnæus, is used for dyeing yellow. The leaves, when dried in the sun, are used in France as fodder; and when wanted for use in water, the young branches are cut off in the middle of summer, between the first and second growth, and strewed or spread out in some place which is completely sheltered from the rain to dry without the tree being in the slightest degree injured by the operation." (Dict. des Eaux et Forêts, art. Charme, as quoted by London).
LEAVES OF CARPINUS BETULUS INCISA.
It hardly seems necessary to dwell upon the value of the hornbeam as a hedge or shelter plant. In many nurseries it is largely used for these purposes, the russet-brown leaves remaining on the twigs until displaced by the new growths in spring.
Var. incisa (Aiton, "Hortus Kewensis," v., 301; C. asplenifolia, Hort.; C. laciniata, Hort.).—These three names represent two forms, which are, however, so near each other, that for all practical purposes they are identical. A glance at the accompanying figure will show how distinct and ornamental this variety is.
HORNBEAMS (ONE WITH INOSCULATED TRUNK).
Var. quercifolia (Desf. tabl. de l'ecol. de bot. du Mus. d'hist. nat., 213; Ostrya quercifolia, Hort.; Carpinus heterophylla, Hort.)—This form, as will be seen by the figure, is thoroughly distinct from the common hornbeam; it has very much smaller leaves than the type, their outline, as implied by the varietal name, resembling that of the foliage of the oak. It frequently reverts to the type, and, as far as my experience goes, appears to be much less fixed than the variety incisa.
Var. purpurea (Hort.).—The young leaves of this are brownish red; it is well worth growing for the pleasing color effect produced by the young growths in spring. Apart from color it does not differ from the type.
Var. fastigiata (Hort.).—In this variety the branches are more ascending and the habit altogether more erect; indeed, among the hornbeams this is a counterpart of the fastigiate varieties of the common oak.
Var. variegata, aureo-variegata, albo-variegata (albo-marmorata).—These names represent forms differing so slightly from each other, that it is not worth while to notice them separately, or even to treat them as distinct. In no case that I have seen is the variegation at all striking, and, except in tree collections, variegated hornbeams are hardly worth growing.
FULL GROWN HORNBEAM IN WINTER.
CARPINUS BETULUS (Full grown tree at Chiswick, 45 ft. high in 1844).
Carpinus orientalis[2] (the Oriental hornbeam) principally differs from our native species in its smaller size, the lesser leaves with downy petioles, and the green, much-lacerated bractlets. It is a native of the south of Europe, whence it extends to the Caucasus, and probably also to China; the Carpinus Turczaninovi of Hance scarcely seems to differ, in any material point at any rate, from western examples of C. orientalis. According to Loudon, it was introduced to this country by Philip Miller in 1739, and there is no doubt that it is far from common even now. It is, however, well worth growing; the short twiggy branches, densely clothed with dark green leaves, form a thoroughly efficient screen. The plant bears cutting quite as well as the common hornbeam, and wherever the latter will grow this will also succeed. In that very interesting compilation, "Hortus Collinsonianus," the following memorandum occurs: "The Eastern hornbeam was raised from seed sent me from Persia, procured by Dr. Mounsey, physician to the Czarina. Received it August 2, 1751, and sowed it directly; next year (1752) the hornbeam came up, which was the original of all in England. Mr. Gordon soon increased it, and so it came into the gardens of the curious. At the same time, from the same source, were raised a new acacia, a quince, and a bermudiana, the former very different from any in our gardens." This memorandum was probably written from recollection long afterward, with an error in the dates, and the species was first entered in the catalogue as follows: "Azad, arbor persica carpinus folio, Persian hornbeam, raised from seed, anno 1747; not in England before." It appears, however, from Rand's "Index" that there was a plant of it in the Chelsea Garden in 1739. The name duinensis was given by Scopoli, because of his having first found it wild at Duino. As, however, Miller had previously described it under the name orientalis, that one is adopted in accordance with the rule of priority, by which must be decided all such questions in nomenclature.
The American Hornbeam [3] also known under the names of blue beech, water beech, and iron wood, although a less tree than our native species, which it resembles a good deal in size of foliage and general aspect, is nevertheless a most desirable one for the park or pleasure ground, on account of the gorgeous tint assumed by the decaying leaves in autumn. Emerson, in his "Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts," pays a just tribute to this tree from a decorative standpoint. He says: "The crimson, scarlet, and orange of its autumnal colors, mingling into a rich purplish red, as seen at a distance, make it rank in splendor almost with the tupelo and the scarlet oak. It is easily cultivated, and should have a corner in every collection of trees." It has pointed, ovate oblong, sharply double serrate, nearly smooth leaves. The acute bractlets are three-lobed, halberd-shaped, sparingly cut-toothed on one side. Professor C. S. Sargent, in his catalogue of the "Forest Trees-of North America," gives the distribution, etc., of the American hornbeam as follows: "Northern Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, through the valley of St. Lawrence and Lower Ottawa Rivers, along the northern shores of Lake Huron to Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota; south to Florida and Eastern Texas. Wood resembling that of ostrya (hop hornbeam). At the north generally a shrub or small tree, but becoming, in the Southern Alleghany Mountains, a tree sometimes 50 feet in height, with a trunk 2 feet to 3 feet in diameter." It will almost grow in any soil or exposition in this country.
Carpinus viminea [4] is a rather striking species with long-pointed leaves; the accompanying figure scarcely gives a sufficiently clear representation of their long, tail-like prolongations. Judging from the height at which it grows, it would probably prove hardy in this country, and, if so, the distinct aspect and graceful habit of the tree would render it a decided acquisition. It is a moderate-sized tree, with thin gray bark, and slender, drooping warted branches. The blade of the smooth leave measures from 3 inches to 4 inches in length, the hairy leaf-stalk being about half an inch long. It is a native of Himalaya, where it occurs at elevations of from 5000 to 7000 feet above sea-level. As in our common hornbeam, the male catkins appear before the leaves, and the female flowers develop in spring at the same time as the leaves. The hard, yellowish white wood—a cubic foot of which weighs 50 lb.—is used for ordinary building purposes by the natives of Nepaul.
GEORGE NICHOLSON.
Royal Gardens, Kew.
IDENTIFICATION.—Carpinus Betulus, L., Loudon, "Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum," vol. iii., p. 2004; Encycl. of Trees and Shrubs, 917. Boswell Syme, "English Botany," vol. viii., p. 176, tab. 1293; Koch, "Dendrologie," zweit. theil. zweit. abtheil., p. 2: Hooker, "Student's Flora of the British Islands," ed. 2, p. 365. C. Carpinizza, Host., "Flora Austriaca," ii., p. 626. C. intermedia. Wierbitzsky in Reichb Ic. fl. Germ. et Helvet., xxii., fig. 1297.
IDENTIFICATION.—Carpinus orientalis. Miller, "Gardener's Dictionary," ed. 6 1771); La Marck, Dict, i., 107; Watson, "Dendrologia Britannica," ii., tab. 98; Reich. Ic. fl. Germ. et Helvet., xxii., fig, 1298; Tenore, "Flora Neapolitana," v., 264; Loudon, Arb. et Fruticet. Brit., iii., 2014, Encycl. Trees and Shrubs, p. 918; Koch, "Dendrologie." zweit, theil zweit, abtheil, p. 4. C. duinensis, Scopoli, "Flora Carniolica," 2 ed., ii., 243, tab. 60; Bertoloni, "Flora Italica," x., 233; Alph. De Candolle in Prodr., xvi. (ii.), 126.
IDENTIFICATION.—Carpinius caroliniana, Walter, "Flora Caroliniana," 236; C. americana, Michx. fl. bor. Amer., ii., 201; Mich. f. Hist. des. Arbres Forestiers de l'Amerique Septentrionale, iii., 57, tab. 8; Watson, "Dendrologia Britannica," ii., 157; Gray, "Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States," p. 457.
IDENTIFICATION.—Carpinus viminea, Lindl. in Wall. Plant. Asiat. Rar., ii., p. 4, t. 106; D. C. Prodr., xvi., ii., 127. Loudon, "Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum," iii., p. 2014; Encycl. of Trees and Shrubs, p. 919. Brandis, "Forest Flora," 492.
FRUIT OF CAMELLIA JAPONICA.
The fruiting of the camellia in this country being rather uncommon, we have taken the opportunity of illustrating one of three sent to us a fortnight ago by Mr. J. Menzies, South Lytchett, who says: "The fruits are from a large plant of the single red, grown out of doors against a wall with an east aspect, and protected by a glazed coping 4 feet wide. The double, semi-double, and single varieties have from time to time borne fruit out of doors here, from which I have raised seedlings, but have hitherto failed to get any variety worth sending out or naming."
In the annexed woodcut the fruit is represented natural size. Its appearance is somewhat singular. It is very hard, and has a glazed appearance like that of porcelain. The color is pale green, except on the exposed side, which is dull red. It is furrowed like a tomato, and on the day after we received it the furrows opened and exposed three or four large mahogany-brown seeds embedded in hard pulp—The Garden.
FRUIT OF CAMELLILA JAPONICA.