78 MY SHRUBS 
arrests the most casual spectator. From the Cape it comes, 
and would seem to be hardier than most of it congeners. This 
honey flower is not great in the matter of blossom, and its 
long, red-brown bloom-spike does in no way add to its charm. 
The stems are hollow, and if winter brings disaster, you can 
cut the shrub down, mulch the remains, and trust it to spring up 
cheerfully again. M. pectinatus must be a choice addition to 
the greenhouse, but I know it not save by repute. M. minor 
has pink flowers, and needs the comfort of a cold house. 
Mehosma myriantha came, saw, and perished; but this 
Japanese plant should stand with us, and must be attempted 
again, for it succeeds in the gardens of Cornwall. 
Melicytus ramiflorus, from New Zealand, is a hardy little 
evergreen with good foliage and trim habit; but my piece has 
not revealed its white flowers yet. 
The Mengziesias do not flourish here. M. empetriformis should 
be a very beautiful little shrub when well grown. It comes 
from the North-West States of America, and is smaller than 
M. polifolia, the Irish heath. 
Menispermum canadense has handsome foliage, and climbs 
quickly in half shade. It flowers with small tassels of mean 
inflorescence, but I have never seen the seed, which gives the 
Moon Creeper its name. 
A neat Mesembryanthemum, and the hardiest that I know, is 
M. uncinatum, with stiff shrubby habit and pink flowers in 
August. Doubtless there are others of the Fig Marigolds that 
would do equally well, and M. edule, the great Hottentot fig, 
sprawls over our rockeries and opens its pale yellow flower very 
generously. My heart has never gone out to this huge family. 
