244 CHAPTER XXXIII. 



all along the coast. Lindley states that the fading 

 flowers of the Tuberose emit sparks on the evening 

 of a sultry day. 



The Bay Tree (Lauras nobilis) is said to give its 

 name to Vallauris, the "Vale of Laurels," near 

 Cannes. So Laurentum in Latium was famed for its 

 Laurel groves. Here dwelt the younger Pliny, and 

 hither in the second century fled the plague-stricken 

 Romans, seeking the protection of the spicy air. The 

 allied Camphor Tree (Lauras Camphora) is not very 

 common in gardens, and those which I have seen do 

 not look flourishing, but in the Pallavicini park at 

 PegK ; near Genoa, there stands a specimen with a 

 trunk at least three feet in thickness, teste E. M. 

 Holmes, F.L.S. 



The aromatic Chenopodium ambrosioides is sub- 

 spontaneous at several points along the coast. 



There are some odours which are not usually 

 considered pleasant, but which I am not ashamed to 

 say that I enjoy. For instance, that of the large 

 coarse yellow Composite Inula viscosa, a plant so 

 common on all waste ground that it may be said to 

 take the place of our Ragwort (Senecio Jacobcea). If 

 you bruise the leaves you find that the plant is 

 strong-smelling. But in certain conditions of the 

 weather it gives out, without being touched, a 

 pungent odour which is far from being disagreeable. 

 I am not quite sure that I dislike even the smell of 

 Rue (Ruta). 



Of our sweet-scented British plants, Melilote is 

 common : Anthoxanth lends it perfume to the hay, 

 as in the North ; but Woodruff (Asperula odorata) is 

 wanting, or rather it occurs in a part of the mountain 



