270 WITH THE FLOWERS AND TREES 



ent of Parks of the city of Florence, Signor Pucci, 

 to whom the floral decorations had been entrusted, 

 was quite struck with lippia as it had been used in 

 the public garden of Ajaccio. He took some with 

 him to Florence, and put it on trial in one of the 

 public gardens. There it did so well that it soon 

 spread in other parts of Italy, and particularly along 

 the Eiviera, where the climatic conditions are very 

 much like Southern California. In the year 1898 

 my daughter, who had recently come from Italy, 

 called my attention to the fact that for several years 

 lippia had been used to carpet the esplanade at the 

 Naval Academy at Leghorn, where 500 boys had 

 their daily drilling and all sorts of games. It was 

 obvious that if lippia had done so well in Italy, it 

 ought to do the same in California. From the 

 Director of the Botanic Garden in Eome I secured 

 by mail a small tin box of lippia plants, less than 

 twelve ounces weight. Now after ten years, there 

 are thousands of acres planted with lippia between 

 California, Arizona, Mexico and Australia, and it all 

 came out of that small tin box." 



Apropos of creeping plants, there is now thor- 

 oughly established in California gardens the creep- 

 ing fig (Ficus repens), which has long been culti- 

 vated in Southern Europe as well as in Eastern 

 conservatories, and is a native of Japan and China. 



