130 FLOWERS AND GARDENS OF MADEIRA 



a most ornamental plant and a valuable acquisi- 

 tion all through the winter and early spring. To 

 Brazil we owe another favourite shrub, Frandscea 

 latifolia, as it is commonly called, though it appears 

 to belong to the Brunsfelsias, a family of shrubs 

 called after one Otto Brunsfels, who was first a 

 Carthusian monk and afterwards a physician. The 

 clear lilac blossoms have a distinct whitish eye, 

 and as they fade, turn to a greyish-white, so the 

 shrub appears to bear white and lilac blossoms at 

 the same time. The blossoms are deliciously 

 fragrant, though many people consider their scent 

 to be too strong and overpowering. A well-grown 

 specimen attains to eight or ten feet, and has 

 pleasing shiny green foliage. 



The light crimson-flowered Hibiscus rosa sinensis, 

 which ornaments most gardens in tropical or sub- 

 tropical regions, has also found a home in Madeira, 

 and the long white trumpet-flowering Brugmansia 

 suaveolens, more commonly called daturas, natives 

 of Mexico, have found so congenial a home that the 

 shrub may almost be considered to have become 

 naturalized. Growing at the bottom of many a 

 ravine rich in vegetation, the shrub will appear to be 

 in a perfectly wild state, bearing a fresh crop of 

 leaves and blossoms with every new moon, and filling 

 the air at nightfall with their heavy scent. 



