:\IYRTLE. 



69 



Var. Italica ; the " Italian or upright myrtle " (Mill. Diet.) ; 



leaves ovate-lanceolate, acute; branches more erect. 



Bcetica; the "Orange-leaved myrtle" (Mill. Diet.); 



leaves lanceolate, acuminate. 

 Lusitanica; the "Portugal myrtle" (Lin. Spec. syn. M. 

 acuta, Mill. Diet. ; Clus. Hist., i. p. 66 f. 1.) ; leaves 

 lanceolate-ovate. The Xutmeg myrtle" appears to 

 be only a variety of this. 

 Belgica ; the " Broad-leaved Dutch myrtle " (Mill. Diet.) ; 

 leaves lanceolate, acuminated, crowded. The " Double- 

 flowering myrtle " appears to be of this variety. 

 Mucro7mta; the " Eosemary or Thyme-leaved myrtle" 

 (Lin. spec. ; syn. M. minima Mill.) ; leaves linear- 

 lanceolate, acuminated. 

 „ Leucocar-pa (D. C. prodr. iii. p. 239 ; Smith, prodr. Flor. 

 GrcTC, p. 36). Fruit white, rather large, edible, with 

 a grateful taste and smell. Native of Greece and 

 the Balearic Islands. 

 There are other varieties in gardens which are less constant in 

 their distinctive characters than the above, such as :— 

 Gold-striped broad-leaved myrtle. 

 Broad-leaved Jews' myrtle. 



This variety has its leaves frequently in threes, on which 

 account it is said to be in esteem among the Jews in their 

 religious ceremonies. 

 Gold-striped-leaved orange myrtle. 

 Silver-striped Italian myrtle. 

 Striped box-leaved myrtle. 

 Silver-striped rosemary-leaved myrtle. 

 Silver-striped nutmeg myrtle. 

 Cock's-comb or birds' nest myrtle. 

 Spotted-leaved myrtle. 

 All the species of myrtle grow well in a mixture of sandy loam 

 and peat, and cuttings, not too ripe, strike root readily in sand or 

 mould. 



Myrtus Chekan, Spreng, is an evergreen shrub, from four to 

 six feet high, indigenous to the central provinces of Chili, where it 

 grows abundantly,'^f orming a kind of underwood in all the quebradas 



