requires a dry sheltered situation, or to be planted against a wall. It will grow in any common soil, and is readily propagated by cuttings put in in autumn, and protected from the frost by a hand-glass. Price of plants, in the London nurseries, 1s. 6d. each. A plant at Purser's Cross is 12 ft. high and 15 ft. in diameter; and it has frequently ripened seeds, from which young plants have been raised. App. i. Half-hardy Species of Búddlea. Buddlea salvifolia Lam.; Lantàna salvifolia Lin., Jac. Sc., 1. t. 28. ; is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, bearing some resemblance to the common species, but smaller in all its parts. It has been known to stand out for two or three years together against a wall, without any protection. B. paniculata Wall. is a native of Nepal, introduced in 1823, but not common in collections. B. saligna Willd., Jacq. Sc., 1. t. 29., is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, with white flowers, which are produced in August and September. B. crispa Royle Illust., p. 291., is said to be a highly ornamental shrub, found at moderate elevations in the Himalayas. App. I. Half-hardy ligneous Plants of the Order Scrophulariacea. Halleria lucida L, Bot. Mag., t. 1744., and our fig. 1125., is a shrub, a native of the Cape of Good Hope, with shining leaves, and scarlet flowers, which are produced from June to August. A plant has stood out in front of the stove at Kew since 1826. Maurándya semperflorens Jacq., Bot. Mag., t. 460.; and M. Barclayana Bot. Reg., t. 1108.; are Mexican climbers, well known for the beauty of their flowers; and which, in warm situations, grow and flower freely against a wall in the open air, and may be protected during winter; or seeds, which 1127 they produce in abundance, may be sown early in the season in a hot-bed, and the plants brought forward in pots, and in due time turned out. Mimulus glutinosus Willd., Bot. Mag., t. 354., is an evergreen shrub, a native of California, with rich orange-coloured flowers, which would, in all probability, thrive against a conservative wall with very little protection. Anthocercis viscosa R. Br., Bot. Reg., t. 1624., is a native of New Holland, introduced in 1822. It is a handsome evergreen shrub, with dark green leaves, and rather numerous, large, white flowers, which are produced in May and June. It is easily propagated by cuttings, on which account it well deserves a place in a warm sheltered border) during the summer season, or against a conservative wall. Calceolaria integrifolia L., Bot. Reg., t. 744.; C. rugòsa Fl. Per., Hook. Ex. Fl., 29.; and C. sessilis Hort., see our figs. 1127, 1128.; and many other suffruticose hybrids; stand through the winter, as border shrubs, in many of the warmer parts of Devonshire and Cornwall, and with due care, in the neighbourhood of London, they may be kept alive on a conservative wall. 1128 Verónica decussata Ait., Bot. Mag., t. 242., and our figs. 1129, 1130., is an evergreen shrub, a native of the Falkland Islands, which grows to the height of 1 ft. or 2 ft., and produces its white or bluish white flowers from June to August. It is very easily protected, either at the foot of a wall or on rock work, and stands out without any protection in the Isle of Portland, where it grows to the height of 4 ft. or 5 ft. 1129 Celsia landta Jac., Bot. Reg., t. 438., and our fig. 1126., is a suffruticose plant of uncertain origin, but with showy yellow flowers, which it produces from July to September. It is commonly kept in a frame, but would thrive well on conservative rockwork, in a favourable situation. Capraria lanceolata L.; Frælínia salicifolia Bot. Mag., t. 1556.; is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, introduced in 1774. A plant has stood against the wall in the Chelsea Botanic Garden for several years; and, though it is generally klled down to the ground in winter, it has always hitherto sprung up again in spring, and made a much finer appearance than it could possibly have done in a pot. The genera Aionsda R. et P., Angelònia H. B. et Kunth, Lophospermum Don, Rhodochiton Zucc., Nycterinia D. Don, all contain species which might be tried against a conservative wall in the south of England. If, after perusing what is stated in this work respecting the half-hardy ligneous plants of any order or tribe, the reader will turn to the same natural order or tribe in our Hort. Brit., he will generally find a number of other species, green-house or stove plants, and suffruticose or completely ligneous, from which he may increase his selection for trial in the open air. CHAP. LXXXVI. OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER LABIA CEÆ. ALMOST the whole of the plants of this order, which are technically ligneous or suffruticose, may be more properly treated, in gardens, as herbaceous plants than as shrubs; nevertheless, as this work would be incomplete without noticing them, we shall name some of the principal species, and refer for the remainder to our Hortus Britannicus. The best situation for a collection of ligneous Labiàceæ, is on dry rockwork. Satureja montana L., Fl. Græc. t. 543., and our fig. 1131., is a well-known culinary herb, a native of the south of Europe, which, on dry calcareous soil, will form a neat little evergreen bush, our Thymus vulgaris L., and 1133 by itself, such a beautiful and fragrant genus as Thymus may have a small cone or hemisphere of rockwork devoted to each species or variety. There are some half-hardy species, which might also be tried. They are not only beautiful when in flower, but are highly fragrant, and attractive to bees. Hyssopus officinalis L., and our fig. 1133., forms an undershrub of 2 ft. in 1134 height, and is very ornamental when Teucrium angustifolium Schreb. is 1135 species, which will sometimes stand the open air in the T. flavum, T. Pòlium, and various others has attained the height of 3 ft. 1138 with yellow flowers, appearing in June and July. green, hardy species, with yellow flowers, will be found mentioned in our Hortus Britannicus. + P. purpurea Smith Spic., 6. t. 3., and our fig. 1138., differs from the preceding sort, in having its flowers of a pale purple colour. Both sorts have a peculiar soapy smell. Rosmarinus officinalis L., Fl.Græc., 1. t. 14., and our fig. 1139., is a well-known evergreen shrub, a native of the south of Europe, which has been an inhabitant of our gardens since 1548. There are plants of it in different gardens in the neighbourhood of London, which, as bushes in the open border, in 5 or 6 years have attained the height of as many feet, and breadth in proportion; thus forming very handsome evergreen bushes. We may refer in proof of this to the Twickenham Botanic Garden, and to the gardens of many small suburban villas. In a wild state, the rosemary grows 4 ft. or 5 ft. high; but there is a variety with broad leaves, which, when trained against a wall, will grow to the height of 10 ft. or 12 ft. As the plant flowers from January to April, it forms, when so treated, a very desirable garden ornament. There are, also, a variety with the leaves variegated with gold colour, and a silvery-leaved variety; but these are often rather weaker, and more dwarf, than the species. 1139 The wild rosemary is a native of the south of France, Spain, Italy, the Levant, Barbary, &c., on rocks and rocky hills; and, in some places, it is so abundant, that in spring, when it is in flower, the air is perfumed with its odour to a considerable distance. On this account, and also from the powerful attraction which it forms to bees, at a season when there are few other plants in flower, it has long been partially cultivated by the inhabitants of those countries of which it is a native. In Narbonne and Mahon, the rosemary is so abundant, partly from being indigenous, but principally from its being frequently used there to form hedges to gardens, that it communicates its flavour to the honey, which is considered the finest in France. The rosemary is mentioned, in many of the old Continental songs of the troubadours, as emblematic of that constancy and devotion to the fair sex, which was one of the characteristics of the days of chivalry. Garlands and chaplets were formed of myrtle, laurel, and rosemary, and put on the heads of the principal persons in fêtes. It was formerly held in high esteem as a comforter of the brain, and a strengthener to the memory; and, on the latter account, is considered as the emblem of fidelity in lovers. Formerly, it was worn at weddings, and also at funerals; and it is still grown for that purpose in many parts of the Continent. Many allusions have been made to both customs by poets, and also to its being the symbol of remembrance. Shakspeare makes Ophelia say, "There's rosemary for you: that's for remembrance;" and in the notes to Stevens's edition of Shakspeare are many references to passages referring to this plant in the works of the old poets. It is said to be found wild in the Great Desert; and Moore, in allusion to this, and its use for funerals, says,— "The humble rosemary, Whose sweets so thanklessly are shed To scent the desert and the dead." The points of the shoots are a most powerful bitter, and they are aromatic; they, also, when distilled with water, yield a thin, light, pale, essential oil, at the rate of 8 oz. of oil to 100 lb. of the herb in a green state. The oil of the flowers (which ought always to be gathered with their calyxes) is somewhat more volatile than that of the leaves, and is readily extracted with spirits of wine. This oil contains a considerable quantity of camphor. The oil of rosemary was in great use among the Greeks and Romans, and still forms an article of the materia medica. Hungary water (so called from being first used by the Queen of Hungary) is made with rosemary, and is considered excellent for keeping the hair in curl. If constantly used, however, the hair will lose its colour, and become wiry. The smell of the plant is fragrant and aromatic; and the taste pungent and bitter. Its properties are effectually extracted by rectified spirit, and partly, also, by water. In France, besides its use by the apothecaries and perfumers, a conserve, a honey, and a liqueur, are made from it by the confectioners. Though the rosemary is indigenous to the south of France, it will scarcely live through the winter, in the open air, in the neighbourhood of Paris; and the varieties, except the broad leaved one, are kept there in the conservatory. In some parts of Germany, especially in the Catholic countries (at Nuremburg, for example), rosemary is cultivated in quantities, in pots, by the commercial gardeners, for the purpose of selling sprigs of it when they come into flower, in winter and early in spring, for religious purposes. (See Enyc. of Gard., edit. 1835, § 545.) Like almost all the plants of this chapter, it is easily propagated by cuttings, and it also ripens seeds in abundance in fine seasons. It is said always to thrive best near the sea; as is indicated by the name, which is compounded of two Latin words, ros, marinus, signifying sea-dew. Stachys fruticulosa Bieb. is a low evergreen shrub, from Caucasus, which seldom grows above 1 ft. in height; but which may be planted where it is desired to include as many species as possible in the arboretum. S. stenophylla Spr., from Spain, and S. palestina L., from Syria, grow about the same height. Stachys lavandulæfòlia is a native of the Levant, and produces its purple flowers in May and August. Lavandula Spica L., N. Du Ham., 3. t. 42., and our fig. 1140., the common lavender, is a well-known fragrant shrub, which, like the rosemary, has been long an inhabitant of British gardens. In deep, dry, calcareous soils, it will grow to the height of 3 ft., and form a compact hemispherical bush, flowering abundantly every year. The flowers are generally purple, but there is a variety with white flowers; and L. latifolia Ehrh., which is not uncommon in gardens, and which has lilac flowers, though treated by some as a species, is probably nothing more than another variety. The common lavender is a native of the south of Europe, the north of Africa, and the west of Asia, in warm, rocky, and barren places. It is particularly abundant in Provence; where, as the rosemary, the thyme, and the heath do in other districts, it gives a 1140 peculiar flavour to the honey, which is known as the miel de Provence, and which, after that of Narbonne, a kind that, as already mentioned, takes the flavour of rosemary, is considered the best in France. The lavender was held in high estimation by the Greeks and Romans, for its fragrance and aromatic properties; and it has been esteemed, on the same account, in Britain, and cultivated in gardens for its medicinal virtues from time immemorial. Medicinally, in the form of tincture, spirit, or essential oil, it is considered a powerful stimulant to the nervous system, and is, conse quently, generally had recourse to in headachs and hysterical affections. The odour resides entirely in the essential oil, which is contained in every part of the plant, but principally in its spikes of flowers and flower-stalks, from which the oil is obtained by distillation. This oil, rectified, and again distilled, and mixed with spirits of wine, forms the well-known lavender water of the perfumers. The flowers, on account of their powerful aromatic odour, are frequently put into wardrobes among clothes, as an antidote to moths, particularly in the case of woollen stuffs. A few drops of the oil will serve the same purpose. So powerful are the effects of this oil, that, if a single drop of it be put in a box along with a living insect, the latter almost instantly dies. The lavender is cultivated in various parts of France; and it is so much hardier than the rosemary, that it is grown in quantities for perfumers, even in the neighbourhood of Paris. The driest soil, in the warmest situation, produces most oil; and, as the odour of this plant and the rosemary, as, indeed, of all the Labiacea, depends on the disengagement of their oil, of course it is most felt in hot days and during sunshine. The lavender has been long cultivated in the neighbourhood of London, and in other parts of England. Park Place, near Henley on Thames, is celebrated for its lavender plantations, which occupy between 40 and 50 acres. "The plants are raised from cuttings, which are slipped off and prepared by women in the autumn, and bedded in, in rows, in any spare piece of garden ground, where they remain for two years. The ground into which they are to be transplanted, being prepared by shallow trenchings or double ploughing, the plants are placed in rows 4 ft. apart, and at 2 ft. distance in the rows. For three or four years, a row of turnips or potatoes is grown between the rows of lavender; after which period, or about the time that the lavender plants in the rows touch each other, half of them are removed, leaving the field covered with plants 4 ft. |