ACACIAS 47 



received the name "Farnesiana" because it was first 

 cultivated in tlie Farnese gardens at Rome, ^ifarfa, or 

 Albtzzia yiilihrissiii, is a stateh" Mimosa-like tree with 

 twice pinnate leaves, but its bright violet tiower-heads 

 do not open till Juh'. Its delicate, graceful, glaucous 

 foliage renders it conspicuous at La Mortola as elsewhere 

 on the Riviera. This tree is a native of the southern 

 shore of the Casj^ian Sea. Its specific name is Persian 

 and means "silk llower". The stifi', South African 

 A.cacia horruhi \ ields an inlerior gum known as ''Cape 

 gum". The tinest Gum Arabic exudes, like the gum 

 from our Cherr^' trees, from the bark of Acacia SciiCi^-al, 

 a native of Senegambia and Kordofan. 



A ^'ellow flowered bush, Ptcronia iiicaiia, from tlie 

 Cape, is remarkable at La Mortola for its exceptionalh' 

 agreeable perfume. It belongs to the same division of 

 the Composites as do our Asters, and its flowers emit 

 wliat I feel tempted to call etherialised odour of Apricots I 

 .\nother bush from the Cape is J)ios)ua frag-rans, of the 

 Rutaceae : the wliole plant is sweeth' scented. Xot 

 inappropriateh' has this genus been called Diosma, 

 "Perfume of the Gods". Se\'eral species are much 

 crrown in greenhouses at home, and their foliage used 

 for making up bou(.[nets. A Chilian shrub of the 

 Flacourtiaceae, Azara niicrophvUa . with small ^'ellow 

 flowers is called "Aromo" in its nati^'e countrA' on 

 account of its \'anilla-likc fragrance. A herbaceous 

 Salvia (S. albococrzdca) lias a faint, fruLt\' odour. \"arious 

 Pelargoniums, for instance P. rosntiii, and odoraiissiiuunu 

 diffuse a strong rose-like perfume when their lea\'es arc 



