ACCLIMATIZATION, ETC. 279 



The peculiar climate of the Mediterranean district, with its long, 

 dry summer heat, is not favourable to the camellia. It is really 

 easier and cheaper to bring their flowers to perfection in St. Peters- 

 burg or Berlin, than in Seville, for instance, in whose hot and dry 

 summer it never develops into a tree, but grows only 2 to 3 m. 

 high. It does not thrive in Lisbon either, but grows well in the 

 moister air of Cintra. Here, low camellia bushes in full bloom 

 may be seen in March and April by some cool brook-side in the 

 beautiful parks of Montserrat and of Penha, also in Malaga. But 

 the bushes must be shaded during the summer and kept as cool 

 as possible. 



In Florence, the camellia needs a certain protection from the 

 cold, as roses with us. But in and around Constantinople, where 

 fifteen years ago it was planted in open spaces, it proved itself quite 

 capable of resisting the severe winter of 1879-80. At the same time 

 in Naples, outdoor plants such as the Pelargonium, Myrtle, Oleander 

 and many other indigenous or long ago naturalized species, perished, 

 but not the camellia. 



The Riviera, and the shores of the Northern Italian Lakes offer 

 unquestionably more favourable conditions to the camellia and a 

 large number of other Japanese plants, e.g. the Camphor-laurel 

 and most Japanese Conifers, than any other part of Europe. The 

 Tsubaki thrives here without protection almost as well as in its 

 Japanese home. At the Villa Charlotte for instance, there are trees 

 of 8 m. height and 18 cm. circumference. It blossoms here, as at 

 home, sometimes in mid-winter, but in greatest abundance during 

 the spring months, and here too, later on, its fruits ripen in per- 

 fection. 



Pyriis japonica^ Thunb., Jap. Boke and Yama-boke. This 

 genuine Japanese quince-bush grows 2 to 3 m. high and is one ot 

 the first and greatest ornaments of our gardens. In its wealth 

 of blossoms it is more beautiful and lasting than Forsythia, as well 

 as much more hardy and wide-spread. The large fire-red blossoms 

 appear before or with the leaves, and cover the naked branches. 

 Besides this original kind which blossoms in the woods and parks 

 of Japan, as well as here, in April, (a month earlier in the south, 

 later in the mountains), we have several varieties with light-coloured 

 flowers, which are not as beautiful, however, as the former. The 

 bush is easily cultivated when its stands alone and can develop 

 symmetrically. It was introduced into England by Sir Joseph 

 Banks in 1796, and has thence extended very widely. It is not 

 found so frequently on the other side of the Alps and Pyrenees, 

 although it flourishes in the south. In some of the park-like 

 gardens of Malaga it blossoms as abundantly and as beautifully as 

 with us, toward the end of March, and around Tokio a month 

 later. 



Wistaria chinensis, S. and Z. {Glycine chinensis, Sims), Jap. Fuji. 

 The flowering of the fruit trees is scarcely over in spring before 



