112 Mr William Oorric on the 



24. Elymus condensatus. — " The Imncli grass of British 

 Columbia," being found beyond latitude 58° north in Western 

 America, this elegant as well as useful grass has never 

 suffered from our severest frosts. A plant which was sown 

 in 1866 is now a little over a yard in diameter at the 

 earth's surface, composed of very close-growing, fertile or 

 seed-bearing, and barren or leafy stalks, in about equal 

 numbers of each. For the past ten years the average 

 height of the former has been 9^ feet, while the latter have 

 mostly been from 5 to 7 feet ; so that in annual bulk and 

 weight of produce it far surpasses all our so-called agricul- 

 tural grasses ; it is also earlier than any of them, and its 

 young growths never suffer from spring frosts. Being 

 highly nutritious, and greedily eaten in all stages of growth 

 by live stock, it is difficult to account for the neglect that 

 it has hitherto met with from cultivators. 



25. Elymus crinetum. — Seeds brought from the American 

 prairies some years since have produced plants that are 

 quite hardy, and yield a heavy crop of early and nutritious 

 herbage ; but the ears, which appear about the beginning 

 of August, are armed with long rough awns, which are 

 an annoyance to animals that feed upon them, 



26. Eulaliajaponicavariegata. — This recently introduced, 

 handsome, variegated grass proves to be quite hardy, and 

 must ere long take a prominent place among outdoor 

 decorative plants. 



27. Gaultheria nummularioides {Vaccinmin nummidari- 

 folium). — This pretty evergreen fern-like native of Nepaul 

 did not suffer in the least ; and its graceful leaf-clad twigs 

 are well suited to take the place of some favourite tender 

 ferns in bouquets. 



28. and 29, Hydrangea paniculata and H. rosea-alba. — 

 Plants of these pretty little shrubs, growing on a westerly 

 exposed rockery, were not in the least injured. 



30. Hymenanthera angustifolia. — Plants reared many 

 years since from Tasmanian seeds, and grown in the open 

 ground, have only sustained slight injury in the most 

 severe winters ; and occasionally small bushes of 2 to 2| 

 feet in height have been thickly loaded with white mistletoe- 

 like berries, each of which was tipped with a small dark spot. 



31. Magnolia CamphelU. — Of this " superb tree" a plant 



