Simons’s Cotoneaster ([page 31]) forms a much-branching, usually evergreen shrub about six feet high. In April, solitary, white, and sessile flowers are borne on lateral branches. Foliage angular-shaped and silky beneath. Its bright scarlet fruits are conspicuous in late autumn.
Deutzia gracilis ([page 32]) is a well-known Japanese shrub seen in florists’ shops in early spring. It forms a compact-growing bush two feet high, producing in April terminal spikes of pretty white blossoms set amidst the small egg-shaped and narrow-pointed leaves.
The Common Mock Orange ([page 33]) is an erect-growing shrub, from six to ten feet high, profusely covered in May with white and strongly orange-scented flowers. The ovate-shaped leaves are said to have the odour and taste of cucumbers when crushed. A native of the South of Europe.
On [page 34] is illustrated the Large-flowered Mock Orange, a shrub from the Southern United States. It differs from the Common Mock Orange in its taller growth (fully 12 feet), and in the large white blossoms, which open in midsummer, being practically scentless. The leaves also are more narrow at the point and more rounded at the base.
Philippi’s Escallonia ([page 35]) forms a straggling bush, and in July the shoots are densely covered with panicles of small white flowers set amidst small dark-green leaves.
The Dotted Escallonia ([page 36]) is a much-branched evergreen bush, five to six feet high, with the shoots terminated by deep-red-coloured flowers which open in July. The common name of this plant is derived from the leaves having little dot-like swellings (glands) on the lower side of the leaves, which are sharp-pointed, ovate in form, and very glossy on the upper surface.
Early in May the Buffalo or Missouri Currant ([page 37]) one of the North American Currants, opens its golden-yellow flowers, which are borne in drooping clusters on short shoots arising from the main stems. It is a loosely-growing plant, about four feet high, with long-stalked, three-lobed leaves.
One of the European (British) shrubs, the Wild or Red Currant ([page 38]) is found in the woodlands, where its red-coloured and acid-tasted fruits are found in late summer. It throws drooping clusters of green-coloured flowers in early spring, and the three to five-angled leaves are a distinctive feature of this plant. It is from this plant that the garden forms of the Red Currant have arisen.
To those familiar with the West Coast of Scotland, the Riccarton Fuchsia ([page 39]) will have been noticeable to them there as forming hedges often over six feet in height. It is a handsome plant, with its shoots laden in summer and autumn with drooping red-coloured flowers.
The White-fruited Dogwood ([page 40]) is usually found in moist situations, and opens its flat-shaped flower-heads in May. They are succeeded in autumn by clusters of small, white-coloured, fruits. A plant that is easily recognisable by its bright-red-coloured shoots and large ovate-shaped and sharp-pointed leaves.