692

693

695

694

Angophora cordifolia Cav., Metrosidèros hispidus Smith, (Bot. Mag., t. 1960. ; and our fig. 699.) is a native of New Holland, with yellowish flowers, rather large, which are produced from May to August. In British green-houses, it is a shrub, seldom growing to the height of more than from 8 ft. to 10 ft. It was introduced in 1789.

A. lanceolata Cav., the Apple Tree of New Holland, Metrosidèros spléndens Gært., (see our fig. 702, which is a portrait of a tree, in the neighbourhood of Sydney, 60 ft. high,) is a native of Port Jackson,

697

the leaves of which vary in their position from opposite to alternate. It was introduced in 1816; and in British green-houses, where it is not more than 4 ft. or 6 ft. high, when grown in pots, it flowers from May to August.

Callistemon salignus Dec., Metrosidèros salfgnus Smith, is a native of New Holland, with lance. 700

olate leaves, and pale yellow flowers. In British green-houses, it grows to the height of 10 ft., and flowers from May to July. There are several other species in British gardens.

C. lanceolatus Dec.; Metrosidèros lanceolatus Smith; M. citrina Bot. Mag., t. 260.; and our fig. 700.; is a native of New Holland, with scarlet flowers, which are produced from June to November.

It was introduced in 1788; and in Buchanan's arboretum, at Camberwell, it has stood three years, without the slightest protection. The genus may be considered nearly as hardy as that of Eucalyptus. Metrosideros corifolius Vent.; Leptospermum ambiguum Smith Exot. Bot., t. 59. ; and our fig.705.; the Coris-leaved Iron-wood; is a native of New Holland; which, in British green-houses, forms a shrub from 4 ft. to 6 ft. high. There are many other species described, and two or three more introduced.

Leptospermum grandifolium Smith (Bot. Mag., t. 1810.; Bot. Cab., t. 701.; and our fig. 701.) is a New Holland shrub, with large white flowers, produced in June and July. It was introduced in 1803; and, in British gardens, grows to the height of 6 ft. or 7 ft.

L. lanigerum Ait., Bot. Cab., t. 1192.; Philadélphus lanígerus Ait.; is a Van Diemen's Land shrub, introduced in 1774; and so hardy, that it frequently stands the open air for two or three years together, in the open ground, in the London nurseries, without the slightest protection. There are numerous species described, and above a dozen of them introduced.

Billotia marginata R. Br.; Leptospermum marginatum Labill. Nov. Holl., 2. p. 10. t. 148.; is a shrub with the habit of 702 Leptospermum, introduced in 1820, and flowering in June and July. There are two other species of this genus, one of which, B. flexuosa D. Don, has been introduced.

Fabricia myrtifolia Gærtn. (Bot. Mag., t. 1304. ; and our fig. 703.) is a shrub from New South Wales, growing to the height of 10 ft., and producing its white flowers in May

and June. It was introduced in 1788.

F. stricta Lodd. (Bot. Cub., t. 1219.) was introduced in 1827, and flowers from April to July; but neither this nor the preceding species blossoms till it is 5 or 6 years old.

Ba'ckia virgata Andr. Bot. Rep, t. 598., Bot. Cab., t. 341., and our fig. 704.; Leptospermum virgatum Forsk.; Melaleuca virgàta Lin. fil.; is a native of New Caledonia, where it grows to the height of 3 ft. or 4 ft., and produces its white flowers from August to October. There are 19 species described in Don's Miller, ii. p. 827., about half a dozen of which have been introduced.

Sect. III.

MY'RTEA.

Stamens free. Fruit fleshy.

Psidium Cattleyanum Sabine, Bot. Reg., t. 622., and our fig. 706. ; P. coriaceum Marsh. Herb.; P. chinense Lodd.; Cattley's Guava; is a native of China, where it grows to the height of 20 ft. It was introduced in 1818, and is generally kept in stoves along with the other species of Psidium; but, as it has been known to ripen its fruit in a green-house, we have introduced it here, as there can be no doubt that the plant might be preserved against a conservative wall.

Mýrtus communis L., the common Myrtle, is a well-known evergreen shrub, a native of the south of Europe, which is found wild in France, about Marseilles, and from that city, along the coast, to Genoa (growing in thickets, even within reach of the spray of the sea), and throughout Italy. It was a great favourite among the ancients, by whom it was held sacred to Venus. The name is said to be taken from that of Myrsine, an Athenian maiden, a favourite

of Minerva, who, suffering love to overpower her wis-
dom, was changed into a myrtle by her offended mis-
tress, and taken pity on by Venus. Others say that
Venus, when she first sprang from the bosom of the
sea, had a wreath of myrtle on her head. The temples
of this goddess were always surrounded by groves of
myrtle; and in Greece she was adored under the name
of Myrtilla. Pliny says that the Romans and Sabines,
when they were reconciled, laid down their arms
under a myrtle tree, and purified themselves with its
boughs. Wreaths of myrtle were the symbols of
authority worn by the Athenian magistrates. The
weapons of war were also formed of this tree;
and sprigs of myrtle were entwined with the laurel wreaths worn by those
conquerors, during their triumphs, who had gained a victory without
bloodshed. The victors in the Olympic and other games were also
adorned with myrtle. In Rome, two myrtles were placed before the temple
of Romulus Quirinus, to represent the plebeian and patrician orders, which
were predicted to be in the ascendency according to the state of the trees. The
Roman ladies put the leaves of the myrtle into their baths, persuaded that the
plant of Venus must be favourable to beauty. The branches and berries
were steeped in wine to give it a flavour; and the fruit was used in cookery,
as the entire plant was in medicine. The ancient poets made it their favourite
theme; and Virgil represents Encas discovering it to be the metamorphosed
Polydorus. (Eneid, book iii.) The myrtle has been known in England since
1597; and has been frequently noticed by British poets. Spencer says,-

"Right in the middest of that Paradise,
There stood a stately mount, on whose round top

A gloomy grove of myrtle trees did rise,
Whose shady boughs sharp steel did never lop,
Nor wicked beasts their tender boughs did crop;
But, like a girland compassed the height,

And from their fruitful sides fresh gum did drop,

That all the ground with precious dew bedight,
Threw forth most dainty odours, and most sweet delight."

Faerie Queene.

Milton places the myrtle in the bower of Eve; and Thomson, in those beautiful lines, beginning, "The lovely young Lavinia once had friends," compares Lavinia to a myrtle which

"Rises far from human eye,

And breathes its balmy fragance o'er the wild."

Scasons. Autumn.

Though the myrtle is now common as underwood in Italy, Pliny tells us that it was not a native of that country; and that the first myrtle seen in Europe was planted near the tomb of one of the companions of Ulysses at Circeii; and he adds that it still retained its Greek name of murtos. It is remarkable, that this name is still preserved in all the European languages; the myrtle being called myrtus in Latin; myrto, in Italian and Spanish; murte, in German; myrter, in Danish; myrten, in Swedish; mirte, in French; and myrta, or murta, in Portuguese. Pliny mentions eleven sorts of myrtles, and says that the most odoriferous grew in Egypt. Cato only speaks of three kinds. The first cultivation of the myrtle in England is assigned, in the Hortus Kewensis, to the year 1629; when Parkinson informs us that he had three sorts in his garden; viz. the broad-leaved, and two varieties of the boxleaved. Gerard, however, in 1597, says that "myrtles never bear any fruit in England;" which, surely, implies the cultivation of it in this country before that period. Bradley states that myrtles were introduced by Sir Francis Carew and Sir Walter Raleigh, in 1585. When they returned to England, after a residence in Spain, just before the invasion of the Spanish armada, one of these myrtles was planted by Sir F. Carew at Bedington. Evelyn, in 1678, says, "I know of one (a myrtle) near 80 years old, which has been continually exposed, unless it be that, in some exceeding sharp seasons, a little dry straw has been thrown upon it;" and it is supposed that he alluded

to the tree at Beddington, which was of the Spanish broad-leaved, or orangeleaved, variety, and which Miller and Bradley report, in 1724, to have been above 18 ft. high, and to have spread about 45 ft. This tree, however, must have been of more than the age assigned to it by Evelyn; and is supposed to have been killed by the severe frost of 1739-40, when it was 160 years old. Johnson, in his edition of Gerard, states that the broad-leaved and narrowleaved varieties were, in 1633, "nourished in the garden of Mistress Tuggie, in Westminster." (Mart. Mill.)

Varieties. The following forms, or varieties, of myrtle, the first of which may be considered as the species, are given in Don's Miller, ii. p. 834. :—

§i. Melanocárpa Dec., with black Fruit.

The varieties comprised in this group are all frequent in the south of Europe, where there are subvarieties belonging to this division with double flowers and variegated leaves.

M. c. 1 romana Dec. Prod., 3. p. 239.; the common broad-leaved, or Roman, Myrtle, with ovate leaves, and long pedicels. This kind is sometimes called the flowering myrtle, because it flowers more freely in England than any other variety.

M. c. 2 tarentina Mili. Icon., t. 184. f. 1.; the Tarentum, or Box-leaved Myrtle. - Leaves small and ovate. Flowers small, and opening late in the autumn. Berries round.

M. c. S itálica Mill. Dict.,the Italian, or upright, Myrtle, has the leaves ovate-lanceolate and the branches erect.

M. c. 4 b tica Mill. Dict., Blackw., t. 114.; the Andalusian, or Orange-leaved, Myrtle, has the leaves lanceolate and acuminate.

M. c. 5 lusitánica Lin. Sp.; M. acuta Mill. Dict, Clus. Hist., 1. p. 66. fig. 1.; the Portugal Myrtle. The Nutmeg Myrtle appears to be only a subvariety of this.

M. c. 6 bélgica Mill. Dict., the broad-leaved Dutch Myrtle, has the leaves lanceolate, acuminated, crowded together, and of a dark green. The double-flowered Myrtle appears to be a sub variety.

M. c. 7 mucronata L.; M. mínima Mill. ; the Rosemary, or Thyme-leaved, Myrtle; has the leaves linear-lanceolate, acuminated.

ii. Leucocarpa Dec. Fruit white.

M. c. 8 leucocarpa Dec., the white-berried Myrtle.-This variety is a native of Greece and the Balearic Islands. The fruit is rather large, and edible, with a grateful taste and smell.

The above varieties are constant; but there are many varieties in gardens which are more variable: the following are the names of most of these :

1. Gold-striped broad-leaved Myrtle.

2. Broad-leaved Jews' Myrtle. This variety has its leaves frequently in threes, on which account it is said to be in esteem among the Jews in their religious ceremonies.

3. Gold-striped Orange-leaved Myrtle.

4. Silver-striped Italian Myrtle.

5. Striped-leaved Myrtle.

6. Silver-striped Rosemary-leaved Myrtle.

7. Silver-striped Nutmeg Myrtle.

8. Cock's-comb, or Bird's-nest Myrtle.

9. Spotted-leaved Myrtle.

Propagation, Culture, &c. All the varieties are readily propagated by cuttings; and those which ripen their fruit, such as the common broad-leaved myrtle, come up in abundance from seeds. Cuttings may either be made of the ripe wood, or of that which is in a growing state; the latter root soonest, but they require most care, and success will be most certain when they are planted in sand, and covered with a bell-glass. The finer varieties of myrtle might be grafted on the common and hardier sorts; and perhaps something might be gained in rendering the Australian Myrtacea more hardy, by grafting them on the common myrtle. Perhaps, also, something might be done in the way of cross-fecundation between Mýrtus, Psidium, Melaleùca, &c.

Statistics. In the environs of London, the broad and narrow-leaved myrtles stand out, in dry warm situations, as bushes; sometimes having the extremities of the shoots killed down by frost; but more frequently by the direct influence of the sun after a frosty night, accompanied with snow and sleet. After such nights, the plants should either be watered overhead with water, to thaw the frost; or covered with a mat, to prevent them from thawing suddenly by the sun's rays. The safest mode in such weather is, to cover the plant with mats at night; because, though frost will not kill it, yet it always injures the foliage. Both double and single varieties of the common myrtle cover large spaces of a wall in the Horticultur l Society's Garden; and there are many houses and gardens in the neighbourhood of London that can exhibit trained plants from 10 ft. to 20 ft. high, and nearly as wide. At Cobham Hall, in Kent, there are several trees against the house 30 ft. high. On the Sussex coast, about Worthing, there are some very fine plants against houses. In the Isle of Wight, and in Devonshire, the myrtle forms hedges to gardens, and, in shrubberies, grows as large as the arbutus does about London. At the Willows, near Swansea, in Glamorganshire, there were, in 1828, two myrtles 15 ft. high, as standards in the open ground, the branches of the largest of which covered a space 90 ft. in circumference. (See Gard. Mag., xi. p. 360.) In Scotland, in East Lothian, more especially at Biel, the myrtle grows against a wall with very little protection. In Ireland, in the Trinity College Botanic Garden, Dublin, all the varieties, except the orange-leaved, stood out against a wall with a southern aspect; and at Youghall, near Cork, there is a plant in the open garden 20 ft. high, which has never had any protection. The myrtle will not stand out against a wall, in the neighbourhood of Paris, without a good deal more protection than it requires about London; but, about Toulon and Nice, it grows wild in abundance; and in gardens it not only forms hedges, but is sometimes trained as a tree with a clear stem. This, however, is no improvement to it; for, as the head is thickly crowded with small branches, which only bear leaves at their extremities, it presents, when the eye is beneath it, a miserable appearance, looking, as is observed in the Nouveau Du Hamel, more like a magpie's nest, or a dead bush placed on a pole, than a living tree.

M. tomentosa Ait., M. canéscens Lour., (Bot. Mag., t. 250.; and our fig. 707.;) is a native of China, Cochin-China, and the Neelgherry Mountains, in the East Indies, with rose-coloured flowers, which appear in June and July. It was introduced in 1776, and grows to the height of 5 ft. or 6 ft. This very handsome plant is not unfrequent in collections, though it has been seldom tried against a wall, except in the south of England; where, in Pontey's Nursery at Plymouth, and in other places, it has been found quite hardy. In the neighbourhood of London, it might be grafted on the common myrtle; and surely some interesting hybrids might be originated between this and the common species. There is a variety of M. tomentosa in some nurseries, with leaves less downy than the species, which is known as M. affi'nis.

M. tenuifolia Smith in Lin. Trans., ii. p. 380., Don's Miller, ii. p. 836., is a native of New Holland, with leaves an inch long and one line broad; and with white flowers one half smaller than those of M. communis. It was introduced in 1824; but, as its fruit and seeds have not been examined by botanists, it may probably belong to some other genus. Some other greenhouse species of Myrtus are described in Don's Miller, and particularly M. nummulària, a creeping species from the Straits of Magellan, and M. myrsinöldes from the colder parts of Peru; but both of which will probably prove half-hardy, and neither of which have yet been introduced.

Sect. IV. CHAMELAUCIE E. Stamens free, or somewhat polyadelphous. Fruit dry, with 1 cell. Ovules erect.

Chamalaucium ciliatum Desf. Mém. Mus., v. p. 40. t. 3. f. B., is a native of New Holland, at King George's Sound, a very singular shrub, with opposite, crowded, linear, triquetrous leaves, and axillary white flowers on short pedicels. The flower is girded by two concave bracteas before evolution, each terminating in a dorsal mucro, which afterwards separates transversely. This very singular shrub is not yet introduced. Calythrix glabra R. Br. (Bot. Cab., t. 587.; and our fig. 708.) is a shrub, a native of New Holland, with small cylindrical leaves, and pale-reddish flowers, which are produced from April to June. It was introduced in 1818, and grows to the height of 3 ft. or 4 ft.

C. ericoides Cunningh., Don's Mill., ii. p. 812., is a handsome heath-like shrub, a native of New Holland, in pine ridges at Bathurst, where it grows to the height of from 4 ft. to 6 ft. It was introduced in 1824, and there are plants of it in the Kew Garden.

Darwinia fasciculàris Rudge in Lin. Trans., xi. p. 299. t. 22., is a decumbent shrub, a native of New Holland, with red flowers. Introduced in 1820, but not very common in collections.

CHAP. L.

OF THE HALF-HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER PASSIFLORA CEÆ.

THE common passion flower (Passiflòra cærùlea) is so hardy in the neighbourhood of London, as to flower freely against a wall, in most years, without any protection whatever during winter. In very dry sheltered situations, it will even endure the open air as a trailing bush; but as, in this state, it is liable to be killed by winters of unusual severity, unless protected, we have decided on treating the genus as only half-hardy. It is propagated by cuttings or layers, and grows freely in common garden soil.

Passiflora cærulea L. (Bot. Mag., t. 28.; and our fig. 709.) is a well-known climbing green-house plant, which will also grow and flower freely on garden walls, and on the sides of houses with a southern exposure. It is a native of Brazil and Peru, and has been in cultivation since 1699. The prevailing colour of the flower is blue; and that of the fruit, which is eggshaped, and about the size of a Mogul plum, is yellow. In fine summers, the fruit ripens in the open air, in the neighbourhood of London, both against a wall, and when the plant is treated as a bush, and allowed to trail along the surface of the ground. It ripened fruit in the last state, in the Goldworth Nursery, in 1835.