very small and lodged in the leaf-scar, which is oval, with the bud in the centre, and displays three crescentic small cicatrices left by the vascular bundles of the petiole. The leaf-scar is set obliquely on a projecting leaf-cushion. The branchlets in winter are the same as in summer, but they show more clearly their zig-zag nature, and at their apex will generally be seen a little stub which indicates the point where the end of the branchlet fell off in summer, no true terminal bud being developed. Occasionally a true terminal bud may be seen at the apex of the shoot, which is open and not concealed in the leaf-scar, minute, bearing two scales outwardly, and very pubescent.[1]
Varieties
In addition to the pubescent form of Central China, not yet introduced, a few varieties occur, concerning the origin of which little is known.
Var. variegata.—Leaves dull yellowish white in patches. This form is neither robust in growth nor attractive in appearance.
Var. pendula[2] (Weeping Sophora).—One of the most formal of weeping trees. It is usually grafted by budding on seedlings of the common Sophora about 6 to 8 feet high; and from this elevation the branches hang down until on reaching the ground their tips spread out or turn up. It can be used as an arbour; and even in winter the light, smooth, green branches make it ornamental. The only trouble is in procuring smooth, straight stems of the ordinary Sophora of a sufficient height. F. L. Temple[3] says: "In spring plant dormant Sophoras about ¾ inch in diameter in the fairly rich earth bottom of a greenhouse. Cut them back to the ground, and set them 1 foot apart each way; and by December first they will be out of the top of the house and as smooth as willows. Then lift and keep them protected in a cellar or frame, or heel them deep in a well-drained place till spring, when they can be planted in nursery rows, and grafted at the same time with the most gratifying results." With regard to the origin of the weeping Sophora nothing is known definitely; but Fortune[4] states that at Shanghai in 1853 he saw "pretty specimens of Sophora japonica pendula, grafted high as we see the weeping ash in England."
It is probable that this variety was imported early from China.
Var. crispa.—Leaves curled, the points of the shoots resembling as it were clusters of ringlets. We have never seen a specimen of this curious variety, which is not mentioned in the Kew Hand-list.
Var. Korolkowii (Sophora Korolkowii, Cornu).[5]—This has longer and narrower leaflets than the type, and the young shoots, leaf-stalk petiole, and under surface of the leaflets, are whitish pubescent. The flowers are said to be of a dirty white in colour. Kohne[6] states that one of Dieck's introductions from Mongolia is identical with the plant cultivated at Segrez under this name, the origin of which is unknown. In the summer of 1904 I visited the Arboretum at Segrez, and saw this
- ↑ A Plate showing buds will appear in a later part.
- ↑ An excellent article upon different species of weeping trees was published in the Gardeners' Chronicle, 1900, xxviii 477; and on p. 479 there is a good figure of a fine specimen of the weeping Sophora.
- ↑ Garden and Forest, 1889, 164.
- ↑ Fortune, Residence among the Chinese, 139.
- ↑ Cornu's name is given on the authority of Zabel, in Laubholz-benennung (1903), p. 256. We have been unable to find Comu's description of the species.
- ↑ Köhne, Dendrologie, 1893, p. 323.
