224 CHAPTER XXX. 



many places without finding it. The full beauty of 

 the little gem is not apparent without a magnifying 

 glass, for it is frosted over with small stars which the 

 naked eye can scarcely see. Asterolinum is (in- 

 adequately) figured by Gillet et Magne. But, neither 

 in this Flora, nor in any other that I possess, are the 

 little stars mentioned. Nevertheless the specific name 

 proves that they did not escape the attention of the 

 great Swedish savant. 



While I am writing of Cimiez, I will mention a 

 plant which appeared in my garden there, and which 

 may be truly considered rare. I have, in fact, marked 

 it with a capital R : Crozophora tinctoria (Croton 

 Linn.), an annual plant of the Euphorbias, which a 

 botanist will easily recognise by the fruit. It is 

 almost useless to search for a plant of this sort, for 

 you can never tell where it may turn up. Crozophora 

 has a greyish tinge, and the leaf is furnished with two 

 glands. 



In the pebbly torrent bed of the Magnan, and 

 also in that of the little stream which issues from the 

 Vallon Obscur, Nioe, I have found the Acanthus more 

 than once. It seems likely to become established on 

 the Kiviera. In gardens it is common enough. 

 Acanthus mollis is the plant in which Goethe first 

 observed the dissemination of seeds by projection. 

 The rivers of this coast are stony, like the Arcadian 

 Crathis, but, unlike that classic stream, they are not 

 full of fish. Though the angler may be disappointed 

 with these streams, they are for the Botanist an 

 admirable hunting ground. Here we find many a 

 plant which cannot exist upon the sun-baked hills ; 

 here also we may often gather mountain species, such 



