210 State of Horticulture m Italy. 



ful ; Cedar of Lebanon, 35 feet ; Eucalyptus pulverulenta and 

 tremulifolia, 20 feet; Edwardsia grandiflora, 20 feet; LdiU- 

 rus Camphora, (camphor tree,) 50 feet; Araucaria excelsa; 

 clumps of Camellias, 8 to 10 feet ; some single Camellias, 10 

 feet in diameter, and many other beautiful and rare trees too 

 numerous to mention. There was also a fine hedge of Fibur- 

 num tinus. The trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants Avere 

 arranged, as much as possible, in families, and were all dis- 

 tinctly and botanically marked. There was a very good col- 

 lection of all the varieties of oranges, citrons, and others of 

 the same family, some of which bore very curiously formed 

 fruit. I was not there, however, at the right season, to see 

 them in perfection. It is rather singular that notwithstand- 

 ing the propitious climate and soil of Naples, the oranges grown 

 in its vicinity are comparatively worthless, and the very deli- 

 cious ones that are sold on market are brought from Palermo 

 and other parts of Sicily. The season for eating them in per- 

 fection is only during the three spring months. Citrons are 

 found only in small numbers, and what the French generally 

 call citrons are only a species of lemon. The Cedrat, which 

 has a peculiar form, is the fruit from which they distil the 

 essence, and is cultivated only for that purpose. 



The greenhouses were in good condition, and contained 

 many rare plants, whose growth was very vigorous in the fine 

 air of Naples. They do not heat the houses except at night. 

 There was a curious plant of the Tillandsia bianthoidia, a 

 plant of Brazil, which grows suspended on a wire in the air. 

 It has no roots, and flourishes without water. In Naples, du- 

 ring the winter, they keep it in the greenhouse, and occasion- 

 ally give it a little water, but when spring arrives, it is placed 

 outside, and never watered except by the dew at night. Its 

 beautiful red and violet flowers continue a long time. I was 

 also much struck with the i^icus stipule ta, an immense vine, 

 covering more than 800 square feet of the Greenhouse. There 

 was a Dracae'na fragrans, 35 feet high ; Panddnus odoratissi- 

 mus, 15 feet in diameter ; India Rubber Tree, 40 feet high ; 

 Bananas, 20 feet ; several varieties of the Strelitzia, with its 

 curious pink and blue flowers ; Ficus galactophora, 15 feet 

 high, with leaves 15 inches long, and yielding from its body 

 very palatable milk ; Myrtus ^cris, 18 feet, fragrant leaves, 



