French Works. 183 



dispensed with. Possibly Dr. Lindley may have done something of this kind 

 in the forthcoming new edition of his Introduction to Botany. 



Plantes Phanerogames qui croissent naticrellement aux Environs de Toulon. 

 8vo, pp. 116. Brignoles, 1838. 



We are indebted to our esteemed friend M. Vilmorin for a copy of this 

 pamphlet, which, in a botanical point of view, is extremely interesting. It 

 contains the flora of the most southern point of France, where there is the 

 greatest variety of soil and surface, cut into by the sea in the most irregular 

 and boldest manner. Here the orange tree flourishes in the open air, pro- 

 ducing abundance of fruit ; and the weeds consist of many of our green-house 

 plants. The author of this flora is M. Robert, the curator of the Botanic 

 Garden at Toulon. He has added several plants to the French flora, and 

 every year he, or M. Auzande of the Botanic Garden, is adding some others. 

 The work is divided into three parts. The first contains the principal locali- 

 ties, arranged alphabetically, described, and a list of the more rare plants 

 found there added. The second contains the genera and species, arranged 

 alphabetically ; and the third contains observations on some of the species. 



In the preface, M. Robert informs us that the herborisations may be 

 arranged in three classes : — I. Those which are not further than a league 

 from Toulon, and can be accomplished in the course of half a day ; II. Those 

 which require an entire day ; and, III. Those which require three days, viz. 

 one to go there, one to examine the locality, and one to return. The 

 most important herborisations are made in early spring, on the hilly and 

 mountainous districts, and, later in the season, on the meadows near the sea 

 shore. The greater part of the Liliaceae, the .Ericaceae, and the Orchidaceae, 

 are in flower at the end of February and the beginning of March. 



In looking over the different localities, it is extremely interesting to see the 

 names of some of the plants found there, and occasionally a notice given of 

 the uses to which they were applied. For example, at Mouriere, a place 

 situated four leagues north of Toulon, behind a chain of mountains covered 

 with wood, there are valleys covered with green turf, a rare sight in these 

 countries, where the vegetation is quite different from what it is in the neigh- 

 bourhood. There Carlz«« acanthifolia is found, and the inhabitants eat the 

 receptacle of the flower as they do that of the artichoke. At Saint Mandrier 

 the Phormium tenax thrives surprisingly ; and at Sainte Marguerite, a league 

 from Toulon, the Agave americana raises its flower-stems majestically among 

 the rocks almost every year. Whoever wishes to renew his stock of heli- 

 anthemums should go to Toulon, where he will find twelve woody species, 

 besides an H. guttatum and H. Tuberaria, which are herbaceous. 



Among the observations, we quote the following, respecting the Agave 

 americana. " It is so common on several parts of the sea shore, that it seems 

 indigenous. Some plants flower every year. It is remarked, the year before 

 it flowers, that the centre leaves become straighter and smaller than they ordi- 

 narily are. For the first few days, the stem rises about 4 in. in 24 hours. 

 The growth is less considerable when the ramifications which form the great 

 panicle are developed. In the space of two months, this stem acquires the 

 height of from 20 ft. to 22 ft. : it is then about 15 or 16 inches in circumfe- 

 rence at its base. The whole inflorescence resembles very much several 

 Umbel liferas, such as Ferula. I have observed that the Agave, according to 

 its localities, flowers at different periods, varying from thirty to forty years : 

 it dies after having flowered, but its leaves are not completely withered till the 

 following year. The common people tell absurd stories about the flowering 

 of this plant; that its stem rises 20ft. in height in 24 hours, after an 

 explosion like that of a cannon, and that it flowers only once in a hundred 

 years. 



Acrostichum leptophyllum Dec. appears to be annual, a unique circumstance 

 in the family of Ferns. _<4rundo Dbnax L. always produces sterile seeds. 

 There is a variety of Anemone coronaria L. in the neighbourhood of Hieres 



