166 TROPICAL NATURE, AND OTHER ESSAYS. 



hardly, if at all, cultivated. Thus there- are scores of 

 species of wild hollyhocks varying in colour almost as 

 much as the cultivated varieties, and the same may be 

 said of the pentstemons, rhododendrons, and many 

 other flowers; and if these were all brought together 

 in well-grown specimens, they would produce a grand 

 effect. But it is far easier, and more profitable for our 

 nurserymen to grow varieties of one or two species, 

 which all require a similar culture, rather than fifty 

 distinct species, most of which would require special 

 treatment ; the result being that the varied beauty of the 

 temperate flora is even now hardly known, except to 

 botanists and to a few amateurs. 



But we may go further, and say that the hardy plants 

 of our cold temperate zone equal, if they do not surpass, 

 the productions of the tropics. Let us only remember 

 such gorgeous tribes of flowers as the Roses, Pseonies, 

 Hollyhocks, and Antirrhinums ; the Laburnum, Wistaria, 

 and Lilac ; the Lilies, Irises, and Tulips ; the Hyacinths, 

 Anemones, Gentians, and Poppies ; and even our humble 

 Gorse, Broom, and Heather ; and we may defy any 

 tropical country to produce masses of floral colour in 

 greater abundance and variety. It may be true that 

 individual tropical shrubs and flowers do surpass every- 

 thing in the rest of the world ; but that is to be expected, 

 because the tropical zone comprises a much greater 

 land area than the two temperate zones, while, owing 

 to its more favourable climate, it produces a still larger 

 proportion of species of plants, and a greater number 

 of peculiar natural orders. 



Direct observation in tropical forests, plains, and 

 mountains, fully supports this view. Occasionally we 



