BENTHAMIA

(in honour of George Bentham, a distinguished English botanist). O RD. Cornaceæ. Hardy evergreen shrubs or low trees, now referred to the genus Cornus. The first-named species is rather tender in the neighbourhood of London, and can only be grown succe fully against a wall, for which purpose it is very suitable. In Cornwall and other mild places, it attains a height of 20ft. in the open. Loudon thinks it might be rendered hardier by grafting it on Cornus sanguine a. Flowers disposed in heads, each head attended by an involucre, which consists of four petal-like parts, and resembles a corolla; calyx with a minute four-toothed limb; petals four, fleshy, wedge-shaped; stamens four; style one. Leaves opposite, exstipulate, sub-evergreen, entire. Fruit constituted of many pomes grown together. They thrive in rather moist, loamy soil, in a sheltered spot. Propagated by seeds, sown when ripe, in a cool-house; or by layering, in autumn.