Mahonia napaulensis DC.

The mahonia described in previous editions under this name was really M. acanthifolia, which is part of M. napaulensis as understood by many botanists until recently. With M. acanthifolia separated from it, M. napaulensis becomes a species of little garden merit, being less hardy and not so handsome. The leaves have fewer leaflets – up to fifteen – and are therefore shorter than in M. acanthifolia. It is reported to be an inhabitant of the mainly evergreen type of forest that occurs in Nepal and Sikkim at 6,000 to 9,000 ft. The cultivated plants flower in early spring, i.e. later than M. acanthifolia, but this difference does not hold good for all the wild plants.M. napaulensis is in cultivation at Wakehurst Place, Sussex, from seeds collected by A. D. Schilling in Nepal, and there is a plant in the Savill Gardens, Windsor, introduced from the same region by Dr Herklots. At Kew there is a plant about 8 ft high in the Temperate House. The cultivar ‘Maharajah’ is in cultivation at Wakehurst Place and in the Savill Gardens; it bears flowers of a deep yellow, and Mr John de Putron informed us that it was imported from India as a plant.