NOVEMBER 239 



in the month of June that I beheld it, a mass of 

 myrtle green thickly covered with hanging clusters of 

 pink bells. I thought it one of the loveliest things I 

 had ever seen, never imagining that it was destined 

 to eclipse with its intense fiery glow every other wood- 

 land flame. Moreover it has the merit of prolonged 

 display, for no sooner is the blossom past in July than 

 the young growths begin to kindle, and the fire spreads 

 stealthily along the branches until it culminates in a 

 conflagration which must be seen to be believed. This 

 bush appears to be known to very few amateurs ; but 

 it is one to be sought after by the very elect. It 

 takes the place in our humid atmosphere of Nandina 

 domestica, which, although quite hardy, never in Eng- 

 land, except on the sunniest parts of the south coast, 

 flames out in the splendid way it does in southern 

 France and along the Mediterranean. 



The Japanese plantain lily, Funkia ovata and sub- 

 cordata, are gorgeous beside woodland paths just now, 

 their great leaves having turned to the clearest, 

 brightest yellow, fully atoning for the rather dull tint 

 of their lilac flowers in July. This plant has the merit 

 of being unpalatable to rabbits. 



LVII 



George Bentham, nephew of the great jurisconsult, 

 earned the gratitude of generations unborn Autumnal 

 by compiling his invaluable Handbook to Bowers 

 the British Flora; but one is sometimes tempted to 



