Edwards's Botanical Register^ 



521 



establishment which, whether we view it with regard to the botanical or 

 horticultnral interest that attaches to it, promises to be soon the most im- 

 portant, as it is already the most magnificent, in Europe. Sir Hans Sloane 

 thus speaks of the Avocado : — " This tree grows commonly to the size of 

 our largest apple trees in Europe, and spreads pretty wide at the top. The 

 branches are very succulent and soft, the leaves oblong and veiny, and the 

 fruit of the form of a pear; but the pulp is covered with a tough skinny coat, 

 and contains a large rugged seed, which is wrapped up in one or two thin 

 membraneous covers. The fruit of this tree is one of those that are held in the 

 greatest esteem amongst all sorts of people in these colonies. The pulp is 

 of a pretty firm consistence, and has a delicate rich flavour : it gains upon 

 the palates of most people, and becomes soon agreeable, even to those who 

 cannot like it at first ; but it is so rich and mild, that most people make use 

 of some spice or pungent substance to give it a poignancy; and, for this pur- 

 pose, some make use of wine, some of sugar, and some of lime juice, but 

 most of pepper and salt. Most sorts of creatures are observed to feed on 

 this fruit with pleasure; and it seems equally agreeable to the horse, the 

 cow, the dog, and the cat, as well as to all sorts of birds, and, when plenty, 

 makes a great part of the delicacies of the negroes. The tree requires some 

 care, a rich soil, and a warm situation, to raise it to perfection. It was first 

 introduced from the Continent in 1739. — Buddle« heterophylla, A hand- 

 some stove plant, presumed to be from South America- — Pentstemon con- 

 fertum. " A very common plant, with greenish white flowers, according to 

 Mr. Douglas, found in open places, in mountainous pine woods, in dry sandy 

 soils, between Salmon River and the Kettle Falls on the Colombia, in 48° 

 N. lat. ; also in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, in similar soils, at an 

 elevation of 7000 ft. above the level of the sea. Flowering in July and Au- 

 gust. It was introduced by its discoverer in 1827 ; in the autumn of which 

 year it flowered in the garden of the Horticultural Society, where our draw- 

 ing was made. It is by no means one of the handsomest of the genus ; but 

 it is a truly distinct species. A hardy perennial, propagated by seeds and 

 division of the roots. It will grow in any common garden soil.' — Lowea 

 (named in compliment to the Rev. Mr. Lowe, travelling Bachelor of the 

 University of Cambridge ; a gentleman now resident in Madeira, from whose 

 botanical investigations of that island we expect important results) berberi- 

 folia; i?osaceffi. {fig. 106.) " This rare plant is 

 a native, exclusively, of a few districts in the 

 north of Persia, and of the Desert of Songari in 

 Chinese Tartary, From the latter place we pos- 

 sess specimens collected by Shankin, an officer 

 employed by the Russian government in survey- 

 ing the province; and of the former, the plate 

 that accompanies this article is a represeatation. 

 It was taken from a plant that flowered in Au- 

 gust, 1828, in the garden of the Horticultural 

 Society, where it had been raised from seed sent 

 home by Sir Henry Willock. The Persian plant 

 differs in some respects from the Songarese one, 

 especially in being more glaucous ; and the plants 

 raised from the Persian seeds of Sir H Willock 

 varied among each other in several slight parti- 

 culars ; none of which, however, were of any interest in a botanical point 

 of view. The two most important topics connected with it relate, first, 

 to its genus ; and, secondly, to its cultivation. In the latter respect, no 

 more appears to he known now than was known upon its first introduction. 

 It resists cultivation in a remarkable manner, submitting permanently nei- 

 ther to budding, nor grafting, nor laying, nor striking from cuttings ; nor, in 

 short, to any of those operations, one or other of v/hich succeeds with other 



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