apart every way. All the culture which is required afterwards is, keeping the soil free from weeds. In a few years the plants will have grown sufficiently to touch each other; and in this state they will remain from fifteen to twenty years, according to the nature of the soil: they are then taken up, and the ground cropped for two or three years with turnips and other field crops; after which the lavender plantation is renewed. The flowers are obliged to be either sold to a regularly licensed distiller, or distilled on the premises, on account of the excise laws. The oil from the plantation here is said to be of the best quality; doubtless from the calcareous nature of the soil." (Gard. Mag., ix. p. 661.) Miss Kent, in her Flora Domestica, mentions that the stalks of lavender, when stripped of their flowers, form an agreeable substitute for pastiles, and burn very well in the little vessels made for burning pastiles in. (p. 219.) The poets have not quite neglected the lavender. Shenstone, in his Schoolmistress, says, – "And lavender, whose spikes of azure bloom Shall be erewhile in arid bundles bound, To lurk amidst her labours of the loom, And crown her kerchiefs clean with mickle rare perfume." A'cynos graveolens Link, and A. rotundifoliu Pers., the former a native of the Crimea, and the 1141 latter of Spain, are small thyme-like shrubs, seldom exceeding 1 ft. in height, which might be placed on rockwork. Gardoquia Hookeri Benth., Swt. Brit. Fl. Gard., 2.- s. t. 271., is a small upright-branched shrub, with obovate pointed leaves; a native of South Carolina, where it was discovered by Mr. Alexander Gordon, a collector sent out by Mr. Charlwood, and was introduced in 1831. It is a delicate, but showy, little shrub, with brilliant scarlet flowers, and in all probability is half-hardy. Westringia rosmariniformis Sm., Bot. Rep., t. 214., is a native of New South Wales; introduced in 1791, and producing its pale blue flowers from May till August. It is a very eligible shrub for a conservative wall, from the rosemary-like character of its evergreen foliage. In the conservatory of the Cambridge Botanic Garden, it is 9 ft. high in a pot, and will doubtless grow much higher when trained against a wall. 1142 Sálvia officinalis L., N. Du Ham., 6. t. 25., and our fig.1141., is a well-known suffruticose plant, which, though seldom seen above 2 ft. in height, yet, in deep sandy soil, will grow to the height of 5 ft. or 6 ft., and produce a stem as thick as a man's leg. We have seen plants of this size in Donald's Nursery, at Goldsworth, in Surrey; and we have seen hedges of sage on chalky soils, between 3 ft. and 4 ft. high. It is a native of the south of Europe, and has been known in British gardens from time immemorial, and when grown in masses, and abounding in racemes of flowers, it is very ornamental. The virtues of sage have been celebrated from time immemorial. The Latin name of the plant, Salvia, is derived from salvere, to heal; and one of the Latin poets asks, “Why should a man die who has sage in his garden ?" According to Gerard, "No man needs to doubt of the wholesomeness of sage ale, being brewed as it should be with sage, scabious, betony, spiknard, squinanth, and fennel seeds." (Herbal, p. 766.) There are several varieties; one of which has the leaves variegated; another has the whole plant of a reddish hue; and one (fig. 1142.), common in the neighbourhood of Paris, and of which there are plants in the Horticultural Society's Gar- 1143 den, has leaves larger than those of the species. S. Hablitziana Willd., Bot. Mag., t. 1429., and our fig. 1143., is a native of Siberia, and appears tolerably dis tinct. S. pomifera L.; S. crética frutéscens pomífera Tourn., 1144 Fl. Græc., 1. t. 15.; and our fig. 1144.; is a native of Candia; introduced in 1699. This sort of sage is described as growing 4ft. or 5 ft. high, and having pale blue flowers, like S. officinalis. The branches are liable to be punctured by insects; in consequence of which protuberances are produced as big as apples, in the same manner as galls are produced upon the oak, and mossy excrescences upon the rose tree. Tournefort says the spikes of flowers of this kind of sage are 1 ft. in length, and that the odour of the plant partakes of the common sage and lavender. In the Isle of Crete, the common sage is said to produce the same excrescences as those of S. pomífera; and the inhabitants carry them to market there under the name of sage apples. 1145 This circumstance, and some half-hardy species, some of which will be noticed in Audibertia incana Benth., Bot. Reg., t. 1469., and our fig. 1146., is a curious little evergreen shrub, sent from Colombia, in 1827, by Douglas. It grows to the height of 1 ft. or 2 ft., and produces its pale blue flowers from July to September. There are plants in the Horticultural Society's Garden. App. I. 1146 Half-hardy ligneous or suffruticose Species of Labiaceæ. Lavándula Sto'chas L., Bar. Ic., 301., N. Du Ham., 3. t. 43., and our fig. 1149., is an elegant little evergreen shrub, with conspicuous lilac-coloured flowers. It is a native of the south of Europe, and has been known in gardens since the days of Gerard. It is commonly kept in green-houses'; but it will pass the winter on dry rockwork, with little or no protection. L. dentata L., Bot. Mag., t. 401., and our fig. 1146., is a native of Spain; and L. pinnata Bot. Mag., t.400., and our fig. 1147., is a native of Madeira. Both sorts are curious in their leaves, and well deserve a place in collections. L. vi. ridis L'Hérit., Fl. Port., 1. t. 4., is a native of Madeira, with purple flowers, which are produced from May to July. Plectranthus fruticosus L'Hérit. Sert., 85. t. 41., and our fig. 1148., is a native of the forests near the Cape of Good Hope, an old inhabitant of our green-houses, and one of the few green-house plants that were found in old conservatories in France before the Revolution. In that country, among the old orange trees, pomegranates, olives, and oleanders, which are occasionally found lingering about the few old châteaux that still exist, Plectranthus fruticosus 1147 1148 may be found sometimes Sideritis cándicans There are several other sorts, from the Canaries, Spain, the Levant, &c., which will be found enumerated in the Hortus Britannicus, all of which would probably live on rockwork, with very little protection during winter. Leonotis Leonurus R. Br.; Phlomis Leonurus L., Bot. Mag., t. 478.; is a Cape shrub, which has been in the country since 1712. It grows to the height of 3 ft. or 4 ft., and is tolerably hardy. It bears showy scarlet flowers, but does not flower freely in Britain. Sphacele campanulata Benth., Bot. Reg., t. 1582, and our fig. 1151., is a shrub, from Chili, which grows to the height of 2 ft. or 3 ft., and produces its pale blue flowers in July and August. There is a plant in the Horticultural Society's Garden,,which has stood out at the foot of a wall since 1832. S. Lindley Benth., Bot. Reg., t. 1226., is another species which was introduced from Valparaiso in 1825. 1151 Salvia splendens Ker, Bot. Reg., t. 687.; S. formòsa Willd., Bot. Mag., 375.; S. fúlgens Cav., Bot. Reg., 1356.; and S. Grahami Benth., Bot. Reg., t. 1870., and our fig.1151.; are all splendid suffruticose plants, natives of South America, which will live through the winter against a wall, and flower beautifully during summer; but, though technically shrubs, in prac tice they are best treated as herbaceous plants, kept in pots and pits, or green-houses, through the winter, and turned out into the open borders in spring. S. Grahami has stood in our garden, in the open border, through the severe winter of 1835-36, without any protection whatever. S. chamaedryoides Cav. is a dwarf species, the flowers of which are of a peculiarly intense and brilliant blue. It is frequently grown in England for planting out in beds in regular flower-gardens, where its flowers form a mass of beautiful blue. There are some Cape species, which are truly ligneous, that might be tried against a wall. Of these, S. aurea is one of the most splendid. Prasium majus L., Fl. Græc., t. 584., is a native of Spain, which has been in the country since the time of Gerard. It grows 3 ft. high, and produces its white-spotted flowers, some of which are fol lowed by pulp-covered seeds, from June to August. Prostanthera lasiánthos Lab., Bot. Reg., t. 143., is a native of New South Wales, which has stood in the Horticultural Society's Garden, at the foot of a wall, since 1831; but it was killed in the spring of 1836. Other half-hardy Species belonging to this order may be found in considerable numbers by looking over the lists in our Hortus Britannicus; but, with the exception of the salvias, the phlomises, and the lavandulas, we can hardly recommend any of them for culture, except in the warmer situations of the south of England, where they will grow with little or no protection. Where much labour and expense are required to protect tender plants during winter, only those that are truly ligneous ought to be made choice of; but where the climate is such as to render protection easy, a greater latitude may be allowed. CHAP. LXXXVII. OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER VERbena ceæ. THIS order, which is closely allied to Labiàceæ, consists chiefly of plants natives of tropical countries; and, among these, the most remarkable is the Tectona grándis L., or teak tree, the oak of India. This tree, Mr. Royle informs us, has been planted as far north as Saharunpore, lat. 29° 57′ N., or about the parallel of the Canary Islands; from which we should think it might be grown in the south of England against a wall. GENUS I. VITEX L. THE CHASTE TREE. Lin. Syst. Didynàmia Angiospermia. Identification Lin. Gen., No. 790.; Reich, No. 853.; Schreb., No. 1060.; Tourn., t. $73.; Juss., 107.; Gærtn., t. 56.; Mill. Icon., t. 275.; N. Du Ham., 6. p. 115., Lindl. Nat. Syst. Bot., p. 278.; Don's Mill., 4. Synonymes. Gatilier, Fr.; Kenschbaum, Ger. Derivation. From vico, to bind, as with an osier; in reference to the flexibility of the shoots. Gen. Char., &c. Calyx short, 5-toothed. Corolla bilabiate; upper lip bifid, lower one trifid; middle segment of the lower lip the largest. Stamens 4. didynamous, ascending. Stigma bifid. Drupe containing a 4-celled nut. Cells 1-seeded. (Don's Mill., iv.)- Deciduous shrubs and trees, natives of the south of Europe, India, China, and North America. The only hardy species is a native of Sicily. 1. V. A'GNUS CA'STUS L. The officinal, or true, Chaste Tree. Identification. Lin. Sp., 890.; Lam. Dict., 2. p. 611.; Don's Mill., 4. Synonymes. Eleagnum Theophrasti Lob. Icon., 2. 138.; Agnus castus Blackw.; Arbre au Poivre, : Spec. Char., &c. Leaves opposite, digitate, 7-5-lobed leaflets lanceolate, mostly quite entire, hoary beneath. Racemes terminal, panicled. Flowers verticillate. (Don's Mill., iv.) A shrub, of the height of 5 ft. or 6 ft., which produces its white, bluish white, and sometimes reddish white, flowers in September. It is a native of Sicily, Naples, the north of Africa, and Egypt, and has been in cultivation since 1570. In favourable situations, in the neighbourhood of London, it grows to the height of 8 ft. or 10 ft. The flowers are produced in spikes at the extremities of the branches, from 7 in. to 15 in. in length. In fine seasons, they appear in September, but in bad autumns not till October; and then they never expand freely. Its flowers have an agreeable odour; but the leaves have an unpleasant smell, although aromatic. No seeds are produced in England. The plant received the name of chaste from the Greeks; because, according to Pliny, the Athenian matrons, during the festival in honour of Ceres, called Thesmophoria, when they were dressed in white robes, and enjoined to preserve the strictest chastity, strewed their beds with it. The seeds Bergius states to be carminative; and those of Vitex trifòlia L., a native of India and China, are much used, on this account, by Indian practitioners. The plant grows freely in any soil that is tolerably dry; and it is readily propagated by cuttings, put in in autumn, and protected with a hand-glass. Price of plants, in the London nurseries, ls. 6d.; at Bollwyller, I franc 50 cents; and at New York, 50 cents. 1152 Variety. V. A. 2 latifolia Mill. (N. Du Ham., vi. p. 116.) has the leaflets broader and shorter than those of the species. The spikes of flowers are shorter, and the flowers are always blue. It is a native of the south of France and Italy, and was known to Lobel and Bauhin. There are plants of it in the Cambridge Botanic Garden. App. i. Half-hardy Species of Vitex. V. incisa Lam., Mill. Ic., t. 275. figs. 1. and 2.; V. Negundo Bot. Mag., t. S64.; is a native of China, where it grows to the height of 4 ft., and flowers from July to September. It was introduced in 1758, but is not common in green-houses. App. I. Half-hardy Plants of the Order Verbenacea. 1153 Clerodendrum inérme R. Br.; Volkamèria inérmis L., Jacq. Suppl., 117. 4. f. 1.; and our fig. 1153. This shrub grows, with the greatest vigour, against the wall in the Horticultural Society's Garden, where it has stood since 1829; uninjured by any of the winters that have occurred during that period. Clerodendrum speciosissimum Paxton's Mag of Bot., S. p. 217. A branching shrub, growing to the height of 4 ft., with an erect stem, and cordate pointed leaves, and flowers produced in large spreading terminal panicles, of a vivid scarlet colour, and each averaging 2 in. in length, tubular below, with a 5-parted spreading limb. The native country of this plant is not stated; but it is probably Japan. Messrs. Lucomb and Pince of the Exeter Nursery received the plant from Belgium in 1835, and it flowered profusely in their nursery in August and September, 1836, and at Chatsworth in October of the same year. Mr. Paxton describes it as one of the finest plants which he has had the good fortune to figure; and as far superior in beauty to any of the family to which it belongs. Messrs. Lucomb and Pince have a very fine plant in the open border. Duránta cyanea Hort. is a native of South America, and is generally considered as a hot-house plant; but a plant has stood against the wall in the Horticultural Society's Garden since 1833; and, though the shoots are killed back during the winter season, it always grows vigorously during summer, attaining nearly the height of the wall. 1154 Aloysia citriodora Or.; Verbèna triphylla L'Herit.; Lippia citriodòra Kunth, Bot. Mag., t. 367.; and our fig. 1154.; is a native of Chili, and has been in the country since 1784. In dry soils, in the neighbourhood of London, it will live in the open border for many years, without any protection, except a little litter thrown about the roots; for, though frequently killed down to the ground, it seldom fails to spring up with vigour the following spring, and continue flowering the greater part of the summer. In the Chelsea Botanic Garden, there is a plant against the wall, which in six years has attained the height of 10 ft., growing vigorously, and flowering freely. The leaves are gratefully fragrant when slightly bruised; and on this account, and also on that of its small elegant whitish flowers, it well deserves a place in collections. Of all those shrubs, Dr. Macculloch observes," which require the protection of a green-house in England, the Verbèna triphýlla (Aloysia citriodòra) is that of which the luxuriance is in Guernsey the most remarkable. Its miserable stinted growth, and bare woody stem, are well known to us. In Guernsey it thrives in exposed situations, and becomes a tree of 12 ft. or 18 ft. in height, spreading in a circle of equal diameter, and its long branches reaching down to the ground on all sides. Its growth is indeed so luxuriant, that it is necessary to keep it from becoming troublesome by perpetual cutting: fresh shoots, 14 ft. in length, resembling those of the osier willow, being annually produced." (Quayle's Jersey and Guernsey, Appendix, p. 341.) It is also commonly said that this shrub attains a large size in the Isle of Jersey; but a writer in the Gardener's Magazine, vol. xii. p. 551., says that he expected to see it generally cultivated, but that the only plant he saw in the island was one in the garden of a nurseryman, and that not of extraordinary size. The nurseryman, however, told him there were trees in the island with stems as thick as his wrist, and proportionably high. |