178 HISTORICAL NOTES ON 



respecting the following species : the Acacia or Locust-tree 

 (Robinia pseudacacia), the Tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipiferum), 

 the Mai/noJia (Magnolia grandiflora), the Black Wahmt (Juglans 

 nigra), the Nerfundo Ash (Negundo fraxinifolia), the Deciduous 

 Cypress (Taxodium distichuni), the Gleditschia triacanthos, 

 Bignonia Catalpa, Pyrus coronaria, and Jnniperus viryiniana. 

 They all succeed remarkably well in Italian climates, to which 

 they had been introduced at various periods during the course 

 of the eighteenth century. 



The Casse or Cassis of French perfumers (Acacia farne- 

 siana), of South American origin, is much cultivated in 

 Southern Europe for ornament, and in some localities for the 

 exti-action of the essence from its flowers. It is so generally 

 spread over the hotter regions of both hemispheres, that it 

 has been recorded as indigenous to many parts of the Old World, 

 as well as of America ; and some of the most careful observers 

 among modern East Indian botanists, seeing it so abundant in 

 parts of the peninsula at considerable distances from the haunts 

 of Em-opeans, have felt convinced that it was a real denizen. 

 Yet there are many circumstances which induce us to come to 

 the conclusion that it has only become naturalised after cultiva- 

 tion. It has ever found much favour with the Arabs and other 

 Mahometan races, and sows itself with remarkable facility, and it 

 is most frequently found in India around villages. On the other 

 hand it is an undoubted native of the West Indies and of South 

 America, and was never known in the Mediterranean region until 

 introduced from thence. We are told that the first seeds were 

 raised at Rome in 1611, in the garden of Cardinal Odoardo 

 Farnese, having been imported direct from St. Domingo, and 

 that from the issue of these plants it subsequently spread over 

 Southern Europe. It is not stated whether it may not also 

 have been at an early period brought over from South America 

 by the Spaniards. 



Schinus moUe, commonly but improperly called the p)epper-tree, 

 was certainly first introduced by the Spaniards from Chili or 

 Peru before the year 1570, when a fruiting branch was sent to 

 Clusius from Spain. It is now very common in Southern Italy, 

 but less so in Tuscany, where it is often injured by the winter 

 frosts. 



Among Eastern trees introduced' into Italy through France or 

 England in the course of last century, the Broussonetia jjapyrifera, 

 Ailmithus glandtdosa, Sterculia X)l(itanifolia, and Oinkyo biloha 



