170 HISTOIIY AND GEOGRAPHY OF TREES. PART I. 



there arc portions of it which, from local circumstances, possess so mild a 

 climate, tliut, witli very little art, Loiiihardy might be made to exhibit speci- 

 mens of the ligneous vegetation of every part of the globe. 



SuBSECT. 2. Of the Trees and Shrubs of Spain and Portugal. 



From the indigenous trees and shrubs of this immense tract of coimtry we 

 may estimate its capacity for growing tlie trees and slirubs of other climates ; 

 and, while tliose of the North of Europe will find a congenial climate in the 

 mountain ranges, and the elevated region of Madrid, those of the tropics will 

 grow along the shores of th.e Mediterranean Sea. 



There are numerous botanic gardens throughout Spain, and two in Portugal. 

 In these garilens. La Gasca informs us, the trees and shrui)s of most parts of 

 the world have, at one time or other, been seen in a flourishing state. In the 

 gardens in the neighbourhood of Madrid are found, th.e cedar of Lebanon and 

 various other Coniferae, dilierent species of lime, maple, ash, yK'scuIus, 

 Juglans, ^l/orus, 6'rat;e^gus, /^runus, /^yrus, and Cerasus, Asimina triloba, Mag- 

 nohrt grandiflora, Sophora japonica, the Calycanthus floridus, the Chimonan- 

 thus fn\grans, and many others, ('apt. S. E. Cook informs us (S/cctches in 

 Spain, <.^c.^ that the date palm will, in sheltered situations, resist the cold of 

 Madrid ; though its fruit only acquires [ierfect maturity on the coast of 

 Western Andalusia, and in other parts of the shores of the Mediterranean. 

 In the gardens in the neighbourhood of Cadiz the ilfusa sapientum ripens 

 fruit every year; as do the ditierent species of Capsicum, Cactus, Cereus, and 

 Mescmbryanthemum. All the trees and shrubs of the Cape of Good Hope 

 and Australia grow here as well as in their native countries. In the gardens 

 of Seville, similar exotics thrive freely, and the country is covered with orange, 

 lemon, citron, and lime trees, olives, pomegranates, and algarobas, or carob trees. 



We shall i)ass over the otlicr gardens in Spain, detailed particulars of the 

 more rare foreign trees contained in which, by Sr. La Gasca, will be found in 

 the first and second volumes of the Gardcncr^s JMagazine, to notice the trees 

 and shrubs of the botanic garden of Lisbon. In this garden the orange, lemon, 

 and citron ripen their fruit in the open air. The Eryth.rina picta grows to 

 the height of loft, in one season, and ripens seed, /-'sidium pyriferum and 

 pomiferum as standards, .Tct their fruit, and ripen it against a wall. Coffca 

 arabica flowers in October, and the berries ripen in the May or June follow- 

 ing. Carica Papdi/a forms a fine umbrageous tree in the open garden, and 

 ripens its fruit; though, being a tree with a succulent or spongy trunk, it is 

 occasionally cut dow n to the ground. These instances are sufficient to prove, 

 that, with the art of the gardener and the aid of walls, without hot-houses, all 

 the ligneous plants of the world might be grown in the peninsula. 



The prominent trees in the forests of Spain are, the Quercus iiobur, 

 Q. C'erris, and its numerous varieties ; Q. /Mex, with its varieties still more 

 numerous than those of (i. Cerris ; Q. .STiber ; ami /'inus Z^lnca, Pinaster, 

 sylvestris, uncinata, Sec. The silver fir is also al)iindant in some native 

 forests, and the Larix in the alpine regions of the nortliern provinces. The 

 most remarkable of tiie indigenous trees are the cypresses in the gardens of 

 the palaces which belonged to the Moorish kings; i ;:iy of these venerable 

 specimens are supposed to be upwards of five centuries old. The prevailing 

 tree about Madrid, as about Paris antl London, is the narrow-leaved elm. 



The geographical distribution of the indigenous trees of Spain has been 

 given, for the first time, after several years of ardent research and travel, by 

 Capt. S. E. Cook, in his Sketches of Spain, published in 1834. Capt. Cook 

 divides Spain geologically into three grand regions. The first is the northern, 

 which includes Galicia, Astnrias, c^c, and the maritime part of Old Castile. 

 This is the region of humidity and moistiu'e, of the ^^uercns Rohuv, and Q. /dcx, 

 i/Mex europa;^a, and i7. e. stricta; and the Dabce^c/Vi^;oliif61ia. The second 

 region includes the Castiles, Estremadura, .\ragon, &c. ; this is the region of 

 dryness, over which the Merino sheep wander, and in which the olive and the 



