ELEMENTS OF BARTRAM'S LANDSCAPE 83 



he remarks that notwithstanding the " scent," the inhabitants 

 give it a place in soups and sauces " (p. 425). The " prickly 

 limbs " of the Erythryna corallodendrum " stride and wreathe 

 about with singular freedom, and its spikes of crimson flowers 

 have a fine effect amidst the delicate foliage" (p. 162). He 

 notes that the " flame coloured flowers " of the Gerardea " give 

 the plant a very splendid appearance, even at a great distance " 

 (pp. 412-413). He describes several species of Hibiscus; one 

 whose large and expanded flowers are " pale yellow and white, 

 having a deep crimson eye " (p. 19) ; another which grows to 

 the " size and figure of a beautiful little tree " and whose 

 flowers are crimson (p. 104) ; still another which has flowers 

 "of a fine damask rose colour" (p. 105); and still another 

 whose flowers are " of a moderate size, and of a deep splendid 

 yellow" (p. 104). A "very singular and beautiful shrub," 

 presumably a species of Hydrangia, receives a long paragraph 

 of minute description (p. 382) . So does a species of Ipomea, 

 whose " beautiful flowers are of a perfect rose colour, elegantly 

 besprinkled on the inside of their petals with crimson specks " 

 (p. 377) . A " beautiful species of Lantana " is described by 

 its colors and " most agreeable scent " (pp. 103-104) . A species 

 of Aiaha is characterized by the adjective " charming " and by 

 the color-scheme of its flowers (p. 327) . There is something 

 of the curiosity-hunter in Bartram's description of the wild lime 

 shrub, which has small flowers " of a greenish yellow colour, 

 and sweet scented." This shrub, Bartram informs us, was 

 named by his father " tallow-nut," because of its " large oval 

 fruit " which " covers a nut . . . enclosing a white kernel some- 

 what of the consistence and taste of the sweet Almond, but 

 more oily and very much like hard tallow " (p. 115) . Similarly 

 he describes a species of Myrica, a " beautiful evergreen shrub, 

 which the French inhabitants [in the neighborhood of Mobile] 

 call the Wax tree," because of its fruit, an " abundance of large 

 round berries, nearly the size of bird cherries, which are covered 

 with a scale or coat of white wax " (p. 405). He takes issue 

 with the people of Louisiana who claim that the Humble plant 

 (Mimosa pudica) is indigenous to their region; he has not seen 

 it " growing wild in the forests and fields, and it differs in no 

 7 



