Skimmia

Skimmia - The ones best worth cultivating are S. japonica and S. Fortunei. There has been much confusion between these plants, that universally known in gardens as S. japonica not being Japanese at all, but a native of China, its proper name being Skimmia Fortunei. Unlike S. Fortunei, the true Japanese plant is dioecious, and both sexes have received specific names, S. fragrans being simply the male of the true S. japonica. The Skimmias thrive as well in strong clay as in poor sandy soil and peat, doing best in partial shade and never growing fast at any time. S. japonica is one of the very best town evergreens we possess. Other forms of it are S. Foremani, S.Rogersi, S. oblata ovata, S. o. Veitchi, and S. fragrantissima. To produce well-berried plants, put the two sexes near to each other. Of S. Fortunei (the S. japonica of gardens), S. rubella is a seedling form.