16 FLOWERS AND GARDENS OF MADEIRA 



splendid specimens of the commoner ferns grown 

 without that most disfiguring element. Perfect 

 shelter from wind and sun is, of course, necessary, 

 and sometimes, where no other shelter is available, 

 the dense shade of a spreading Madeira cedar-tree 

 is made use of, and from its branches will hang 

 fern-clad pots. Or a little arbour is formed of that 

 most useful of shade-giving creepers, the native 

 Allegra campo, or Happy Country. The plant is 

 also sometimes called Alexandrian laurel, though 

 for what reason it is hard to know, as it has no 

 connection with the Laurel family, but is Ruscus 

 racemorus. The plant throws up fresh shoots every 

 winter, which in their early stages appear like giant 

 asparagus, and grow and grow until sometimes they 

 reach fifteen or twenty feet in length before the 

 fresh pale green leaves develop. By the spring the 

 young leaves have unfurled, and provide a canopy 

 of delicate green through the summer. The growth 

 of the previous year can either be cut away, or if 

 retained, in late spring, little greenish-white flowers 

 will appear on the underneath of the leaves. The 

 plant is a native of Portugal, but may be found in 

 a wild state in Madeira. It is also known under 

 the name of Dance racemosus. One of the Poly- 

 podiums, called by the Portuguese Feto do metre, 



