CHAP. I.XXXIII.

COR DIA'CEJE.

1265

C scopctrius L., and C .JUridus L., are natives of the Canaries , where they form trailing shrubs ,from 1 ft to S ft. in height; and they might probably be treated as half-hardy.

CHAP. LXXXII.

OF THE HARDY AND HALF-HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS BELONGINGTO THE ORDER NORAGINA'CEJE.

H- 'Lithospirmum fruticomm L. ( Garii. Ah., p. 68. 1.15.) is a native of the south of Europe andnorth of Africa , where it forms a shrub from 1 ft. to 3 ft. high, producing its blue flowers in Mayand June. It was introduced in 1683, but is not common in collections.

tt L .fruticomm mnjus Lehm.; L. rosmarinifblium Tenor e, Sot Reg., 1.1736.; and our fig. 1101.is a native of Naples, and on the mountains of the Grecian Archipelago.

1102

L . prostr&tum Lois. FI. Gall., 3. p.

105. t. 4., is a prostrate suffruticose plant,a native of France . Introduced in 1825.

The corolla is of a bluish purple ; andthe whole plant is pilose and canescent.

It is, in all probability, only a variety ofL. fruticosum.

Kchium L. There are some species ofthis genus natives of Teneriffe , the Ca­ nary Islands , and Madeira, on rocks.

They have mostly splendid blue or whiteflowers, and some of them, such as E. gi-gant&um, grow as high as 10 tt. On dryrockwork, in a warm sheltered situation,we have no doubt they would all provehalf-hardy. E. candicans L., Sot Reg.,and t. 44., our fig. 1102., is one of the mostcommon species in British green-houses.

It is a native of Madeira, on high rocks ;was introduced in 1777; grows to theheight of from 2 ft. to 4 ft.; and producesits blue, campanulate flowers in May andJune.

Helwtrbpium peruvihnum L., H. p.hf/bridum Hort. Brit., and H. corym -bbsum Ruiz et Pav., Bot. Mag., 1.1609.,are Peruvian under-shrubs, well knownfor their fragrant flowers, and on that account introduced into every flower-garden. Plants are raised bycuttings early in spring ; and, being turned out into a bed of rich light soil, they flower freely all thesummer, till they are destroyed by frost. Two or three stock plants should be kept through thewinter, in the green-house or pit, to be ready to be placed in a hot-bed or stove, in order to furnishabundance of cuttings in spring. (See the mode of treating Rbs a fndica by Mr. Elies, noticed p. 801.)

CHAP. LXXXIII.

OF THE HALF-HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER COR DIA CEJE,

Ekrbtia serrata Roxb. Cor., 1. 1 . 55., and our fig. 1103., is alow tree, a native of the East Indies and China . Introducedin 1795, and generally kept in stoves; but a plant has stood,since 1830, against a wall in the Horticultural Society’s Gar-den ; where it grows rapidly, flowers freely, and appearsquite hardy. A plant, as a standard, in the open garden, atMessrs. Loddiges’s, has the shoots killed down every year towithin 1ft. of the ground; but the stool sends out freshshoots every spring, which generally attain the height of 3 ft.or 4 ft. in the course of the summer, and make a fine appear-ance, from the large size of their leaves. The circumstanceof a plant like this, a native of the East Indies, and so longconsidered as a stove plant in England, having lived in theopen garden for several years; and, against a wall, having notonly lived, but flowered freely; ought to be a great encourage- <£ment to cultivators to try almost every kind of plant, what-ever be its native country, in the open air, when they havean opportunity. We do not recommend the trial of scarceand valuable stove plants; and from the palms, Orchid&ceffi ,and other endogenous orders or tribes, perhaps little is tobe hoped for in the way of acclimatisation : but all her-baceous plants that die down annually to the ground, andall exogenous ligneous plants, deserve a trial, when a plantcan be spared without injuring the collection to which itbelongs. If, after a thousand trials, one species only shouldhave proved sufficiently hardy to endure the open air in ourclimate, the recompense to the cultivator will be ample.Let him not forget, in making experiments of this kind, thatAucuba japonica was originally treated as a stove plant, andKema japonica as an inhabitant of the green- house.

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