t? 



Gardening and Botany of Spain, 73 



have likewise introduced many varieties of fruit trees, which 

 formerly were only to be found in botanic gardens about 

 Madrid. Amongst their creeping plants may be observed 

 many species and varieties of Ipomoe'a, Convolvulus, the 

 Ipomoe'a Qiiambclit, coccinea, and heterophylla, both Mau- 

 randit^ ; various Cucurbitaceae, Phaseolus Caracalla, Doli- 

 chos lignosus, Clarism volubilis, indigenous at the Havannah, 

 with many species and varieties of other plants. 



In one garden, I saw, growing in the open air, the Vo'mcidna 

 pulcherrima and A'brus precatorius ; and my friend and fellow 

 professor, Don Jose Demetrio Rodriguez, told me that he had 

 often seen two species of Plumierm among the gardens of 

 Seville. The garden of the royal palace is curious from the 

 capricious variety displayed in the forms of the masses of 

 shrubs and trees ; as are those of an estate called El Retiro, 

 near Malaga, belonging to the Count Villalcazar, which is also 

 remarkable for the great variety of flowers there cultivated, 

 for its lakes, fountains, and beautiful waterworks. Adjoining 

 to the estate of the above-mentioned count are the beautiful 

 gardens of the Prussian consul, in which the coffee tree, 

 though in the open air, produces fruit plentifully. Of this, 

 in 1821, the General Don Francisco Abadia sent me, by 

 the post, two branches loaded with fruit ; and, at the same 

 time, informed me that they had many trees indigenous to 

 Cuba, among others the hatchet-breaker, so called from the 

 extraordinary hardness of the wood.* 



Alhaurin, a town situated on a hill, at the extremity of the 

 valley of Malaga, and watered by the Gaudaljarre, is not 

 more admired for its picturesque situation and fine supply of 

 water, than for the beauty of its flower-garden. During 

 summer it is much frequented by the rich inhabitants of 

 Malaga. In the romantic city of Grenada, is still preserved 

 the famous palace or Casa del Amor, built by the Moors, 

 who ruled there many centuries. It is situated on a rugged 

 eminence, and, with its spacious and picturesque gardens, 

 chiefly dedicated to the cultivation of fruit and flowers, occu- 

 pies great part of the mountain. The ground is formed into 

 terraces, and ornamented with statues, canals, fountains, cas- 

 cades, and lakes. From it may be seen great part of the 



* The tree, called in the Havannah Quiebrahacha, belongs to the 

 natural family of the Leguminosse, and is, in my opinion, a new genus, closely 

 resembling the Hymense'a, but distinguished from it by its want of corolla, 

 its membraneous legume, and being without pulp ; the leaves are bilobated, 

 ias in Hymenae'a. In my MSS. it is called Cauvajah'a, but I now propose it to 

 be called Valcarceha, in honour of the illustrious Valcarcel, author of a most 

 valuable work on agriculture. 



