1 80 THE FLOEIST ANB POMOLOGIST. [ AUGUST, 



the climate is healthy; and the improvement effected by introducing it has, it is 

 said, made itself distinctly felt in Algeria, while, from its efficacy in marsh and 

 other fevers, it has already gained the name of Fever-tree in Spain. Planted on 

 the banks of rivers, canals, or lakes, it gives solidity to earthworks, and also pre- 

 sents an obstacle to inundations. After extensive trials, Dr. Carlotti reports 

 that the whole of this giant tree — leaves, bark, and wood, are impregnated with 

 febrifugal properties. Professor Vauquelin obtained from it an essential oil, con- 

 taining eucalyptol or eucalypt-camphor, an extract resembling resin of cinchona. 

 The leaves have, moreover, been most successfully used as plasters for wounds, 

 having from their balsamio nature the property of absorbing all unpleasant 

 odour. 



In the South of France, Corsica, Algeria, Spain, and Italy, and in fact in all the 

 warmer temperate climates, the Blue Gum, which is evei'green, may be cultivated 

 with complete success, its growth being most rapid. The leaves and roots have 

 a wonderful absorptive power for moisture, which accounts for this extremely 

 rapid growth. If sown in spring, the plants send up shoots several yards in 

 length during the summer, and the growth of the second and third years is also 

 very rapid, after which the trunk thickens. Plants of eight or ten years' growth 

 acquire a mean height of 60 ft. to 70 ft., and a circumference of about 4 ft. near the 

 ground. It has been computed that in suitable climates forests of Eucalyptus 

 would yield in 15 to 20 years, what it would take 100 to 150 years to 

 obtain from ordinary forests, and thus the products of the land might be quin- 

 tupled. 



The Eucalti2)his globulus is a lofty tree in its native countries, Tasmania and 

 Victoria, sometimes exceeding 200 ft. in height. The bark is somewhat fibrous, 

 but deciduous, and the young shoots and foliage are often glaucous. On young 

 trees the leaves are opposite, sessile, and cordate (see the figure), but on those of 

 full growth they are lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, sickle-shaped, often 

 (\ in. to 1 ft. long. In favourable localities in Devon and Cornwall, as well as in 

 the Isle of Man and in Ireland, the Blue Gum ought to succeed, and perhaps 

 also along our southern coast it might be planted experimentally with a fair 

 prospect of success. The accompanying figure of this most valuable tree is 

 from M, Alphand's Les Promenades de Paris. — T, Moore. 



NEW DWAEF ALMONDS. 



r^fHE Dwarf Almond, Amygdahis nana., is a deciduous shrub of low 

 growth, which should oftener find its way into ornamental shrub- 

 beries. It is, however, one of the old-fashioned things that seem 

 to be overlooked now-a-days, M, Camere has recently described {liev. 



Ilort.., 1872, 340) two new varieties, which he calls A. n. microjlora and A. n. 



campanuloides. 



Amygdalus vaua microjlora is a branched bush with sub-erect ramifications, 



having the leaves like those of the type, oblong-lanceolate, and the flowers small, 



