Rhaphiolepis
(from rhaphis, a needle, and lepis, a scale; alluding to the narrow, subulate bracts). Erroneously spelt Raphiolepis. Indian Hawthorn. ORD. Rosaceae. A genus comprising about five species of interesting, hardy or half-hardy, evergreen shrubs or trees, natives of China and Japan, one being also found in the Sandwich Isles (?). Flowers white or red; calyx with an obconical or funnel-shaped tube and five deciduous, subulate lobes; petals five, clawed, oblong, acute; stamens many; inflorescence paniculate or corymbose; bracts subulate, deciduous. Berries pulpy. Leaves alternate, petiolate, coriaceous, entire or serrulate. The most suitable compost for these shrubs and trees is one of loam, peat, and sand. Ripened cuttings will readily root in sand, under a hand glass. Some of the species will stand our winters outside, if planted against a south wall, and covered with mats during severe weather. Those best known in gardens are described below.
R. indica (Indian). East Indian Hawthorn. fl. white or pinktinted, the size of those of the Hawthorn, in short, terminal panicles. February to August. l. ovate or lanceolate. h. 4ft. China, 1806. Half-hardy shrub.
R. i. phaeostemon (brown-stamened). fl., petals white; filaments brown. l. lanceolate, acuminated at both ends. 1820. (B. R. 468, under name of R. indica.)
R. i. rubra (reddish). fl. reddish; petals lanceolate. l. ovate-lanceolate, acuminated at both ends. 1806. (B. R. 1400 and L. C. B. 3, under name of R. rubra.) R. i. salicifolia (Willow-leaved). fl. white. l. long-lanceolate. 1821. (B. R. 652, under name of R. salicifolia.)
R. japonica integerrima (entire-leaved Japanese). fl. snow-white, odorous, 2/3in. in diameter; panicles terminal, erect, 2in. to 4in. high, densely clothed below with large, ciliated bracts. June. l. alternate and obscurely whorled, 2in. to 3in. long, broadly obovate, obtusely apiculate, dark green and shining above, paler below. Branches stout. Japan, 1865. Hardy shrub. (B. M. 5510.)