in Brittany and Normandy. 227 



placed under the shade of the trees, so that it forms, in hot 

 weather, a most agreeable place of resort. 



We visited the nursery of the Messieurs Lansezeur, and 

 found the usual stock of a respectable French nursery, viz. 

 oranges in pots, pomegranates, and other showy greenhouse 

 plants, with rather a large stock of standard roses ; but no new 

 plants, either species or varieties, of any interest : but I ought 

 to except a moss rose obtained here from seed, and named 

 " Lansezeur." 



Nantes, July 24. — After a dreary ride of twelve hours from 

 Rennes, partly through the " Landes " of Brittany, consisting 

 of a sterile flat surface, with occasional detached masses of 

 furze and heath, we arrived at this beautiful city. I observed 

 in the hedge-rows, as we approached Nantes, the Quercus Tauzin 

 mixed rather abundantly with the common oak. We were 

 struck with the massive magnificence of the houses here : whole 

 streets consisted of houses from six to eight stories in height, 

 all of which were built of stone. I was reminded of St. 

 Germain-en-Laye, which has something of the same character. 

 Our first visit was to the quays on the banks of the " beautiful 

 Lou'e," which seem much resorted to by promenaders; and 

 most beautiful they are. Our next was to the Jardin des Plantes, 

 with which we were highly interested; not so much by its 

 collection of plants, which was mediocre, as by its fine speci- 

 mens of Magnoh'a grandiflora. We here saw what is generally 

 considered the first plant of this species imported into Europe. 

 This tree [the history of which is given in the Arboretum Bri- 

 tannicum, vol. i. p. 263.] appeared about 30 ft. in height, and 

 was 3 ft. in girt at 6 ft. from the ground. The avenue of Mag- 

 noh'a grandiflora (Exmouth variety) consists of twenty- four 

 plants on each side of a long walk, planted about 20 ft. 

 apart ; these were coming into fvdl bloom ; they have compact 

 round heads. I calculated they were about 20 ft. in height ; 

 their girt, at 6 ft. from the ground, was 24 in. A fine speci- 

 men of niia alba pendula, 30 ft. in height, with its numerous 

 shoots in curious fascicles, attracted much of our notice ; its 

 branches Avere not strictly pendulous, but rather horizontal, and 

 its appearance highly picturesque and elegant. Chionan- 

 thus virginicus, grafted on the ash, had leaves quite double 

 their ordinary size ; in fact, some of these were more than 

 12 in. in length. A fine tree of Sophora japonica pendula, 

 grafted on a straight stem, perhaps 20 ft. in height, formed a 

 regular and beautiful column of foliage ; its shoots descending 

 pei'pendicularly nearly to the ground. I could scarcely leave 

 this tree, so much did I admire it. Some immense trees of 

 !Robin«« inermis were also remarkable. A standard Althtea 

 frutex, in full bloom, gave indications of the warmth of this 



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