Chimaphila
(from cheima, winter, and phileo, to love; the plants are green in winter). ORD. Ericaceae Ornamental evergreen suffruticose plants, with creeping roots. Flowers corymbose; scapes naked. Leaves lanceolate, serrated, verticillate. For culture, see Pyrola.
C. corymbosa (corymbose).* fl. greenish-white, tinged with red, corymbose, pendulous, at length somewhat erect. June. l. cuneate-lanceolate, serrated, four to five in a whorl. h. 3in. to 6in. Northern hemisphere, 1752. SYN. Pyrola umbellata. (B. M. 778.) C. maculata (spotted).* fl. white, pendulous; peduncles downy, bearing a two to three-flowered corymb at the apex. June. l. lanceolate, acute, with white bands on the upper surface along the nerve and veins, under surface red; opposite, or four in a whorl. Stem procumbent at base and ascending at apex. North America, 1752. SYN. Pyrola maculata. (B. M. 897.) CHIMONANTHUS from cheimon, the winter, and anthos, a flower; in reference to the time of flowering, December and January). ORD. Calycanthaceae. A hardy shrub, with the flowers appearing before the foliage, in the axils of the leaves of the preceding year. Flowers whitish or yellow, purplish inside, very sweet-scented. Bark and leaves without scent. Where sweet-scented flowers are in request during the winter months, the delicious aromatic fragrance of the blossoms of this shrub makes it a general favourite. It is suitable for training against walls and buildings having a south or western aspect. It thrives best in a deep rich sandy soil, and should be kept neatly trained to the wall against which it is planted. It also requires pruning annually, so as to have the principal branches well clothed with young wood, as the blossoms are produced on the previous season's growth. Therefore, when the plants have finished flowering, go over them, and cut in close to the main branches all the young shoots that have flowered, except the leading ones, which must only be shortened to about half their length. The result of this treatment will generally be a good crop of wood, suitable for blossoming the following season. Propagation is best effected by means of layering, in the autumn. C. fragrans (fragrant).* fl. very fragrant. l. lanceolate, acumimate, scabrid, slightly hairy beneath. A slender branching shrub. Japan, 1766. SYN. Calycanthus praecox. (B. M. 466.) Of the two varieties, grandiflorus is by far the best; its flowers are considerably larger and more spreading. (B. R. 451.)