FIG. 194. AUBRIETIA PURPUREA.
A. d. Bouganvillei (Bouganville's).* fl. light violet purple, with very even imbricated petals. Habit very dwarf and compact, with short peduncles. A pretty form.
A. d. Campbelli (Campbell's).* Larger deep violet blue flowers, and of far more vigorous constitution than the typical form. Grandiflora comes very near this. SYN. A. Hendersonii.
A. d. Eyrei (Eyre's).* A very fine variety, with a free branching habit, and large flowers of a rich violet-purple colour, rather longer than broad. A. olympica is very near, if not identical with this.
A. d. græca (Grecian).* fl. light purple. h. 4in. Greece, 1872. One of the best and largest flowered forms; very vigorous grower, with neat compact habit. A variety of this, named superba, has rather deeper-coloured flowers, produced over a very extended period. (R. G. 697.)
A. d. purpurea (purple).* Larger flowers and more erect habit than the type. l. broader, with two to five teeth. Stems more leafy. There is a variegated form, which is very pleasing and effective, useful for carpeting or edging small beds. See Fig. 194.
A. d. violacea (violet).* This is a hybrid form, even finer than Campbelli, with large deep violet-purple flowers, fading to reddish-violet, and is more effective than any of the others.
A. Hendersonii (Henderson's). A synonym of A. d. Campbelli.
AUCUBA (the Japanese name of the shrub). ORD. Cornaceæ. A genus of hardy evergreen shrubs, thriving better than any other in the smoky atmosphere of dense cities. They grow in ordinary well-drained garden soil, and require no special culture. If grown in pots, they should be planted firmly in rather sandy yellow loam, with plenty of drainage. They should not be allowed too large pots, or an unfruitful growth is likely to result. During the growing season, an abundance of water is needed, which must be lessened when the plants are fully developed. If cultivated in the greenhouse or conservatory, they should be plunged out of doors during summer. To insure a good supply of the very ornamental berries, which are produced on the female plant, careful fertilising is necessary. The time for applying the pollen is when the pistil exudes a slightly gummy substance, and otherwise shows signs of maturity. When it happens, as is sometimes the case, that the male blooms are open and the pollen mature before the female blooms are ready, the pollen should be collected on a dry camel-hair pencil, transferred to a piece of glass, and covered over by another piece, both of which must also be dry. It may be applied afterwards when wanted, as it retains its power for some weeks. Propagated by cuttings, inserted in any light sandy soil, with or without a covering, in spring or autumn; or readily increased from seeds, sown as soon as ripe.
A. himalaica (Himalayan).* l. lanceolate, or lanceolate acuminate; branches of the panicle very pilose. Berries spherical, not oblong. Himalaya. (F. d. S. 12, 1271.)
A. japonica (Japanese).* l. opposite, petiolate, broad, ovate-lanceolate, acuminated, toothed, leathery, glabrous, shining, pale green, beautifully spotted with yellow, having the midrib rather prominent, the rest of the leaf reticulately veined. h. 6ft. to 10ft. Japan, 1783. The numerous varieties, both of the male and female forms, among which will be found many of great beauty, all differ, more or less, in the variegation of their leaves. They are in very general cultivation, and nearly every nurseryman has an assortment. Among the best of them are the following: albo-variegata, aurea, bicolor, latimaculata, limbata, longifolia, macrophylla, ovata, pygmæa, and pygmæa sulphurea.
AUDOUINIA (in honour of V. Audouin, a profound entomologist). ORD. Bruniaceæ. An ornamental greenhouse evergreen shrub, thriving in a mixture of peat and sandy loam. Propagated by cuttings of half-ripened wood, inserted in sand, under a bell glass, in gentle heat.
A. capitata (headed). fl. purple, crowded into oblong, spike-like, terminal heads. May. l. spirally inserted, a little keeled. Branches erect. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Cape of Good Hope, 1790.
AULACOSPERMUM. A synonym of Pleurospermum (which see).
AULAX (from aulax, a furrow; the under surface of the leaves of the original species being furrowed). ORD. Proteaceæ. Greenhouse evergreen shrubs, from the Cape of Good Hope, thriving best in a compost of fibrous loam, leaf soil, and sharp sand, with thorough drainage. Ripened cuttings, taken off at a joint, and inserted in pots of sandy soil, will root readily under a hand glass, in a cool house.
A. pinifolia (Pine-leaved). fl. yellow, racemose. July. l. filiform, channelled. h. 2ft. 1780.
A. umbellata (umbelled). fl. yellow. June. l. flat, spathulate*-linear. h. 2ft. 1774. (B. R. 12, 1015.)