ARMED PLANTS. 



185 



where it is planted for fences. It grows near Grasse, 

 but is rare on the Kiviera. This remarkable shrub is 

 said to be hardy in the south of England. The Jujube 

 Tree (Zizyphus) conceals beneath each leaf a very 

 effective hook, which tears anything it catches. 



One of the most extraordinary shrubs which you 

 can find in the Kiviera gardens, where so many 

 strange plants grow, is the Colletia (C. cruciata), 

 belonging to this same family. It has no leaf, no 

 vulnerable spot. There is nothing that a famished 

 beast could make a mouthful of, for the whole plant 

 consists of great curved spines, placed one above the 

 other. So closely do many of these resemble an 

 anchor that you would not find it easy to say in what 

 respect the model could be made more perfect. Count 

 Egloffstein showed me a branch of Colletia which he 

 had broken from a plant growing apparently wild, near 

 his villa on the Cimiez hill. There can be no doubt 

 that this was a garden escape. 



Fig. 69. OPUNTIA: A WELL-ARMED SPECIES. 



