(.(. BORAGES. 



tree bearing fruits like Oranges and Lemons in sliape 

 but both orange in colour. 



\'isitors to La Mortola will be glad to learn the 

 names and nati\'e country of two plants \\-hich must ]ia\'e 

 struck them in other gardens — Wigaitdia (.'aracasaiia 

 and JCrJuuni ii'iik'sceiis. W e ilrst admired this \'cnezuelan 

 Wigandia on the walls ot \'illa Copley; its large ^-ioiet 

 flowers, with their \'ellow stamens, grow in spikes, which 

 are coiled up at their apex, like a crosier, as are the 

 intiorescences of other representatives of the IL'dro- 

 phyllaceae. These uncoil as the flowers open. This 

 arrangement has the advantage of ensuring a ver-\' long 

 flowering period, so that the plant can tide over bad 

 weather, or other unfavourable conditions, without failino- 

 to set seeds. Jichiutn frutcsccns, a Borage from Mexico, 

 is closeh' allied to our common Viper's Bugloss {!£. vnl- 

 gare). E. frutescens is a giant representative of this 

 latter, and those who know the Vipsr's Bugloss will at 

 once recognise it as such. It bears the same blue flowers 

 in one-sided spikes, onh- considerabh' larger. 



We now turn to the "noble Laurel", a tree whose 

 twigs have from time immemorial crowned the \'ictor's 

 brow and whose leaves also serve the modest purpose 

 of flavouring our food. The Laurel which seems as clo- 

 sel}' associated with the Italian landscape as the Agrumi, 

 was certainh- at one time indigenous to South Europe, 

 for palaeontological discoveries have established its exis- 

 tence in prehistoric times not onh" in Italy but also in 

 the South oi kVance. Its ■seneration as a sacred plant 

 seems to have come from Asia Minor, across the Medi- 



