224 ON BOTANY ArPlIED TO HORTICULTURE. 



sufficiently prove, whereas, very few of the latter, though it contains 

 some £00 or GOO species, are adapted for, and scarcely any of them 

 (I believe), with the exception of the Eryugiums and Physospermums, 

 rise alove mediocrity as objects of decoration. Dr. Hooker, in his 

 " Botany of the Antarctic Regions," speaks of " two fine kinds of 

 Anisotome," as being indigenous to the Auckland Islands; and one of 

 which (A. latifulia) is described as " one of the noblest of umbelli- 

 ferous plants, attaining the height of six feet, and bearing umbels of 

 rose- coloured or purplish flowers, each compound umbel being as 

 large as the human head." — Hort. Mag., vol. ii. p. 138. So also 

 with respect to geographical distribution. The flora of seme exten- 

 sive regions often exhibit a peculiarity in their organization and 

 external appearance, which, in some measure, points out their ap- 

 propriate mode of culture. Thus, the majority of the flowering shrubs 

 of New Holland are remarkable for a great delicacy in their roots 

 and leaves, and for their neat and compact habit, as is seen in the 

 Heaths, Pimelias, Eutaxias, Acacias, &c, of that country. The 

 intelligent amateur in their culture therefore takes care to use those 

 kinds of soil as have the least tendency to choke up their effeminate 

 organs. Accordingly, a light sandy compost, and free drainage, with 

 a pure atmosphere and moderate supply of water, is the course of 

 treatment usually adopted. Those of America are for the most part 

 quite the reverse of these ; they are characterized by their strong 

 growth and luxuriant foliage, and by a comparative coarseness of 

 outline, as may be seen in some species of Fuchsia, Gesnera, Ala- 

 manda, and especially in those of the solanaceous kind, as the Brug- 

 mansias; light rich soils and copious watering, therefore, with an 

 atmosphere highly charged with humidity, are the chief constituents 

 in the development of these exuberant features. These must be 

 understood as their usual characteristics and modes of treatment, and 

 not as applicable to every individual case, because the variable sur. 

 face of every country necessarily produces a corresponding variation 

 in the character of its plants. Indeed, so greatly is the character of 

 all kinds of vegetation modified by soil, aspect, latitude, altitude, 

 meteorological phenomena, &c, that the careful study of these cir- 

 cumstances also becomes indispensable. A plant may have come 

 from a more northern country than our own, and yet be unable to 

 endure the severity of our winters without artificial protection. This 



