INTRODUCTION 5 



bined possibly with the flaunting red pointsettia 

 blossoms, will quickly show the fresh arrival the 

 bewildering variety of the vegetation so much 

 so that I cannot fail again to sympathize with 

 Mr. Bowdick, who, writing on the subject, says : 

 "The enchanting landscape which presents itself 

 flatters the botanist at the first view with a rich 

 harvest, and not until he begins to work in earnest 

 does he foresee the labours of his task. What can 

 be more delightful than to see the banana and the 

 violet on the same bank, and the Melia adzerach, 

 with its dark shining leaves, raising its summit as 

 high as that of its neighbour, the Populus alba? 

 It is this very gratification which occasions the 

 perplexity, at the same time that it confirms the 

 opinion, that Madeira might be made the finest 

 experimental garden in the world, and that an 

 interchange of the plants of the tropical and tem- 

 perate climates might be made successfully after 

 they had been completely naturalized there." 



Since the above was written (1823) no doubt 

 much has been done in the way of naturalizing 

 plants from other countries, chiefly by the English, 

 who are the owners of most of the principal 

 gardens in and around Funchal. Many a plant 

 and bulb from the Cape has found a new home 



