CHAPTER II 
F Baccharis, I will merely say that the name is derived from 
() Bacchus, god of wine, and refers to the spicy odour of the 
roots. I forgot to smell the roots of mine when I pulled 
it up and flung it away. It is said to make a good hedge by the sea. 
It may be so. I glean also that A. xalapensis is rarely seen in 
gardens, and am not astonished to hear it. The noble race of 
Banksia is also rarely seen in gardens, though the south of France 
displays a few of these grand Australians under flourishing circum- 
stances. I remember a giant at La Mortala—Mecca of all shrub 
lovers. More than a hundred years ago the Botany Bay House 
was opened at Kew for Banksia and its allies ; and in the ‘“ seven- 
ties ” certain nurserymen still made a special study of them. Kew 
yet shows them under glass; though among the fifty species 
recorded, perhaps not a dozen live in England to-day. Mr. 
Boscawen is reported to have the gorgeous ‘‘ waratah ” (Telopea) 
prosperous in Cornwall; but of the Protea order I only know 
Banksia quercifolia in the open. With me it lost heart at the 
first whisper of frost, flung down its foliage and perished. And 
yet I learn that in Dorset it makes a festive display. Few English 
enthusiasts have ever seen Banksia, but let those who can do 
so consult the old ‘‘ Botanical Magazine,” plate 738, and there they 
will find B. ericefolia, and judge of the splendour and novelty of 
this genus. 
I believe we frequently err in the time of planting half-hardy 
18 
