General Notices. 323 



knows the danger of allowing any of the hard-wooded plants from Austra- 

 lia or the Cape to flag. Neglect them only for one day during a dry sum- 

 mer, and their tissues become contracted, the leaves and tender tips droop, 

 and then the greatest care the gardener can bestow will not be sufBcient to 

 recover his favorites, whose roots are confined within the narrow compass 

 of the potter's handiwork. Nature has not endowed plants with the power 

 of locomotion, but by successional layers of organized matter the roots 

 become elongated, and in pot cultivation soon reach their prison walls, and 

 of course are there ill situated to withstand drought. But see similar 

 plants in their native country, — they there possess a luxuriance of growth 

 and profusion of blossom that calls forth the admiration of every traveller. 



The heath is a plant which is well known to be very impatient of drought, 

 but look at it as I have done on the mountains behind Cape Town, where 

 heat and drought far exceeds any thing of the kind in this country. Again, 

 witness the vegetation of New South "Wales, where the majority of our 

 most lovely greenhouse plants is to be found. There I have seen the 

 Banksias, the lovely Epacrises, Chorozemas, Boronias, Pultenseas, &c., 

 flourish among rocks and thrive upon sandy plains exposed to the parching 

 sun, and for a long period without a drop of rain ; but their roots are there 

 at liberty to pursue what course they please, and so they penetrate to a 

 great depth, where they are kept cool and moist during the driest seasons. 

 That king of the Australian forest, the noble Eucalyptus, whose size 

 astonishes every traveller, occupies immense tracts of strong marl, broken 

 only by an occasional gully, where I have seen the princely palm, from 80 

 to 90 feet in height, and the most lovely ferns the Cryptogamic botanist 

 could desire. Again, round the margins of swamps I have delighted in 

 the sight of the strong-growing Acacias, such as armata and dealbata, 

 many of the Melaleucas, Eutaxias, and the humble Blandfordias. On such 

 trees are numerous parasitical plants, not the least curious of which is the 

 Acrostichum alcicorne, which is perfectly at home on the top of the Casua- 

 rina, appearing at a distance like some huge bird's nest. Planted there by 

 the hand of nature, and watered by the dews of heaven, it attains a size 

 unequalled under artificial cultivation. 



Looking round on the various forms of vegetation in distant countries, I 

 thought their captive brethren were often harshly treated. For instance, 

 how frequently do I see them taken from the greenhouse and placed behind 

 some wall, hedge, or high trees during the summer months, thus depriving 

 them of part of the sun's power at the very time when they ought to receive 

 every ray of his light; for, it should be remembered, that the brightest of 

 our summers cannot for a moment be compared with those of the countries ef 

 which these plants are natives, and where the majority of them stand fully 

 exposed, ripening and hardening their systems to an extent which enables 

 them at the approach of winter to withstand degrees of cold that would 

 surprise many people. I have of»^n thought that nature's laws would be 

 more perfectly fulfilled if, on shevt removal from the greenhouse, these 

 plants were placed where they could receive the full benefit of the sun, 

 while the pots might be plunged in sand or the common soil. By so doing 



