JULY 79 



large as an apple, and of a deep green ; it is closely 

 allied to our wild bladder nut (Staphyleia), and the 

 horse-chestnuts, and it gets its name of Xanthoceras, 

 or Yellowhorn, from the curious yellow horn -like 

 glands placed between the stamens. In the July of 

 1893 the Mentone Asparagas (A. acutifolius) was also 

 in full flower for the first time, and the Cochineal Oak 

 (Q. pseudo-coccifera) produced abundance of acorns ; these 

 I had seen before, but they generally are formed too 

 late to come to perfection. This interesting oak is 

 very seldom seen in gardens ; indeed, I have never 

 seen it in England but at Kew and in my own garden ; 

 yet it is a very hardy evergreen, and forms a good 

 bush, and is by no means a rare plant in its native 

 countries ; for it has a very wide geographical range, 

 stretching from Spain to beyond Syria. Abraham's 

 Oak at Mamre is of this species, and it is so abundant 

 in Syria, that, according to Sir Joseph Hooker, who 

 published a most interesting account of the oaks of 

 Syria from personal observation in 1860 'On Mount 

 Carmel it forms nine-tenths of the shrubby vegetation, 

 and it is almost equally abundant on the west flanks of 

 the Anti-Lebanon, and many slopes and valleys of 

 Lebanon.' The acorns on my tree are never larger 

 than peas, but in Syria they are larger than any 

 English acorns. 



