1 8 LA MORTOLA. 



species there is the tender green of the Schinus molle, L., which 

 is called Pepe in Italy, on account of the slight resemblance of its 

 berries to those of the true Pepper. (Spica, in the "Gazzetta Chimica 

 Italiana," 1884, p. 199, has recorded some of his observations upon 

 the chemical constituents of the Schinus molle, not Schinus mollis. 

 The volatile oil contained in the leaves resembles oil of turpentine 

 very closely.) Then there are further Punica Granatum, Ferula 

 nodiflora, Hedera Helix, Elms, and many other native or imported 

 trees and bushes. Leaning against the marble steps beside the 

 bushy Senecio, may be seen the Euphorbia Abyssinica, 16^ feet 

 high, with green, four or five cornered branches, the edges are 

 beset with spines instead of leaves, the flowers are insignificant, 

 the fruit smooth and globular, an unusual incident among the 

 Euphorbiaceae, and only indented with six faintly indicated furrows. 

 The milky juice flows readily at the slightest puncture. It possesses 

 the acridity and most probably also the constituents of the juice 

 of the other Euphorbiae. Close by the gigantic Euphorbia Abys- 

 sinica may be seen immense specimens of Opuntia subulata and 

 O. cylindrica, their rod-like stems and branches differing greatly 

 from the ordinary characteristics of most of the Cactaceae, which 

 order is further represented by several specimens of Cereus, Mam- 

 millaria, etc. From this terrace the eye roams freely down the 

 slope to the narrow coast-line, and to the rocks, against which the 

 surf foams and dashes. The plantations down there of the shore 

 pine, Pinus Pinaster, Solander, promise an efficient protection in 

 a few years' time against the stormy west winds and the parching 

 heat. Everywhere the native wild plants of the country push 

 their way in among the cultivated garden plants, some of them 

 have been mentioned already. Walking through the garden, or 

 in the neighbourhood of La Mortola, in the middle of the month of 

 April, the botanical observer notices the following specimens out 

 of the wealth of the Ligurian Flora, not by any means the whole 

 number of plants to be met with : Ranunculus muricatus, L., 

 certainly a very ordinary species, though really pretty, and some- 

 times to be found with R. Ficaria, Glaucium luteum, well known 

 to the people along the coast as Papavere carnuto. Among the 

 Cruciferae, Raphanus Landra, Moretti, with yellow blossoms, and 

 globular pods ending in a sharp-pointed beak, Cakile maritima, 

 Scopoli, and Alyssum maritimum, Lamarck, the latter growing 

 in such masses that its pleasant odour may be smelt quite a dis- 



