THE HEATHS 229 



but none more so than E. arborea and its near ally, 

 E. lusitanica. The flowers are almost globular and 

 nearly white ; they are quite small individually, but 

 produced so abundantly that the plants are smothered 

 with them from March to May. My experience of 

 this species is that it is hardier and thrives altogether 

 better in the London district than E. lusitanica, a species 

 for which it is often grown. It ripens seed every 

 year almost, and can thus be readily increased in a 

 natural way. The young wood is densely covered 

 with short dark hairs and the leaves are closely 

 packed in whorls of three. 



E. lusitanica (syn. codonodes). Many will not recog- 

 nise the name lusitanica as applied to the well-known 

 E. codonodes, but lusitanica is really an older designa- 

 tion. This Heath, as its name implies, comes from 

 Portugal ; it is also a native of Spain, and is often 

 confounded with E. arborea. Briefly, they differ in 

 the following respects : The flowers of E. lusitanica 

 are longer and more bell-shaped than the globular 

 ones of E. arborea; the foliage of E. lusitanica is a 

 rather pale green, and has a rather more plumose 

 look, the individual leaf being longer and more 

 slender ; the young wood, although downy, is not so 

 hairy as in E. arborea. The remarkable abundance 

 of flowers, a feature of E. arborea^ is quite as apparent 

 in this species, their colouring is a faintly pink-tinged 

 white. From Messrs. R. Veitch and Sons, of Exeter, 

 who are taking a special interest in these tree Heaths 

 Kew has lately received a form intermediate between 

 E. arborea and E. lusitanica probably it is a hybrid. 



