of the Neighbourhood of Hyeres. 193 



loaded with thick clusters of lilac flowers. This plant, to- 

 gether with the shrubby A'triplex Halimus, are woven to- 

 gether with the prickly branches of the Smilax aspera, and 

 form an impenetrable fence to the few patches of ground that 

 are enclosed. These two plants are also the most interesting 

 to an English botanist, who, in his own country, has been 

 accustomed to see species of this last genus scarcely able to 

 raise their head from the ground ; and he who has been for- 

 tunate enough to meet with the Lavatera arborea, which 

 adorns some of our mountainous provinces, will be capable to 

 judge of the magnificence of a tree of .the same genus. The 

 Equisetum ramosum is another interesting specimen of the 

 vegetation of the neighbourhood of Hyeres. But our ad- 

 miration was most excited by the date palms, one of which 

 caught our attention on entering the town, raising its crested 

 head to the height of nearly 30 ft. ; the Chamae'rops humilis 

 is not uncommon in the gardens at Hyeres, but does not 

 form a very conspicuous object. The Agave americana, 

 though certainly not indigenous, finds means of support upon 

 every old wall by the road side. This plant, together with 

 the two palms just mentioned, almost realise the idea of a 

 tropical climate. The bright scarlet flowers of the pome- 

 granate tree attracted our attention at every step ; and this 

 brilliant production of Flora and Pomona, raised in our con- 

 servatories as an invalid, here rejoices in the open ground, 

 basking itself in the rays of the sun, and exposing its branches 

 to the free and pure air of the Mediterranean. 



The cultivation of the caper bush is carried on to a great 

 extent in the neighbourhood ; and the few flowers that are 

 allowed to expand* arrest the attention of the traveller by 

 their large pure white corolla, filled with a fascicle of stamens 

 tinged with purple. The rarest plant that we met with in 

 the neighbourhood of Hyeres was the Acanthus mollis, which 

 we found abundantly at the foot of an old wall near the 

 church. The Nerium Oleander, although a native of tropical 

 climates, is generally indicated as growing in the south of 

 France ; and I was indeed delighted to see this beautiful 

 shrub in full flower, forming a hedge of about a quarter of a 

 mile in length at the outskirts of the town. There is a great 

 scarcity of wood in the neighbourhood of Hyeres: the sur- 

 rounding hills are clothed with a vegetation consisting prin- 

 cipally of Pinus halepensis and Picea, A'rbutus LTnedo ; 

 Quercus Flex, coccifer, and Suber; Erica arborea vagans and 



* It may not be generally known to your readers that it is the hud of 

 this plant which is sold in the shops under the name of capers. 



