80 MY SHRUBS 



Of Muehlenbeckia I have a giant, a dwarf, and a species 

 between the two. M. complexa we all know, and how it will 

 climb anywhere and creep anywhere. Its trailing masses swiftly 

 strangle lesser things. Little M. nana is a carpet plant, and very 

 neat, while M. varians would rival M. complexa in its size if long 

 neglected. The Muehleribeckias come from Australia and New 

 Zealand, and there is nothing hardier in the garden. 



Mutisia Clematis, from New Granada, and M. decurrens, out 

 of the Chilian Andes, would not live with me on a west wall 

 in half shade. I suspect the trouble was below ground, and 

 that they wanted less moisture at the root. But M. Clematis is 

 certainly hardy with us in reason and I doubt not rejoices a 

 few Devonshire gardens with its large, orange-scarlet, dahlia- 

 like flowers. 



Myoporum Icetum is a huge grower, but tender. This Australian, 

 so happy on the Riviera, has bright leaves dotted with transparent 

 spots. The flowers are small, in whitish yellow clusters. I have 

 lost it once or twice, and, for some curious reason, friends 

 continually present me with pieces of it, so it has been renewed. 

 But I do not admire it in the least. 



Myrica asplenifolia hung out its fragrant foliage here for 

 some years, then the shrub died without visible reason ; but 

 M. cerifera, the Candleberry Myrtle, still flourishes in damp 

 peat. It is not very interesting, and not half so fragrant as our 

 own precious wilding, the Sweet Gale. 



Of true myrtles I have four species, but by no means great 

 examples of any. Myrtus communis is, of course, an everyday 

 shrub in the West, and I prefer the form of this evergreen with 

 small leaves. M. bullata, from New Zealand, is not so hardy, 



