288 
The grounds are of especial interest for the large specimens of trees 
ain contain that are scarcely hardy in the British Isles or only in 
the south-west. exican pines, there are Pinus pseudo-patula 
with picturesquely rugged bark, P. Wincesteriana and P. Russelliana 
(forms of the very variable P. Montezumae), P. Llaveana an 
P. patula (the last 35 ft. high, a striking mass of drooping foliage 
of a pale glaucous hue) all trees of unusual size in Europe. P. cana- 
riensis is 35 ft. high but en suffers from cold. The most 
interesting conifer in the nursery is a superb example of Keteleeria 
(Abies) Fortunei, quite unrivalled in Europe. I ; is about 85 ft. 
high and its erect shapely trunk is about 2 ft. 9 in. in diameter, 
furnished to the base with branches. The ground aber was strewn 
with old cones. Not far from it is a grand specimen of golden 
larch (Pseudolarix Fortunei) between 90 and 100 ft. high and 9 ft. 
in girth near the base. This tree is, of course, quite hardy in 
England ; what makes the Pallanza tree so interesting besides its 
noble dimensions is its fertility. Mr. W. B. Hemsley, in writing of 
this species in the Botanical Magazine, t. 8176, observes that the 
only perfect seeds he had been able to find were some that Fortune 
collected 50 years before, now preserved in spirit at Kew. But 
beneath the branches of Messrs. Rovelli's tree are hundreds of 
Mn seedling trees that have sprouted from its fallen seeds. 
hey vary from 1 to 6 years old and from a few inches to 2 or 3 ft. 
in height. 
The New Zealand Podocarpus Totara is 30-ft. high; P. chilina 
25 ft. A female Araucaria Were is 60 to 70 ft. high with a 
slender trunk 15 inches in diameter. There are also a good Abies 
religiosa, a Mexican fir only arse in a few places in the mildest 
parts of the British Isles, a splendid A. bracteata—so rarely seen in 
fine condition, and Cunninghamia sinensis, of which the same has to 
be said. Pinus australis, the true pitch pine, is 50 ft. high. 
Other plants besides conifers that were noted are too numerous 
to mention, but a few deserve special notice :—Aegle sepiaria is 
12 ft. high and as much through and bears fruit freely ; its ally, 
the little Citrus Japonica, was covered with its brightly coloured 
yellow fruits about the size of large marbles. Eugenia apiculata is 
30 ft. high ; Illicium religiosum prettily in flower ; Camellia 
Sasanqua alba 18 ft. high and only a eves less wide, a dense bush ; 
the variety rosea nearly as large; Olea fragrans 25 ft. high and 
over 30 ft. through ; and there are large bushes of the tea plant. 
Rhododendron Sesterianum, one of the hybrids between A. ciliatum 
and R. Edgeworthii, 6 ft. high and laden with blossom, made an 
exquisite picture. 
Isota BELLA AND Isota Mapre. 
In order to visit these two islands conveniently it is best to take 
a rowing boat from Pallanza or Baveno ; the regular steamers that 
ply on Lake Maggiore call at Isola Bella but not at Isola Madre, 
which for its vegetation is decidedly the more interesting. 
Isola Bella is the most noted of the a of Borromean Islands 
and is one of the beauty spots of N. Italy. Originally a rocky 
islet, it was converted into its present fertile state about 1671 ied 
