T REE HEATH. — PHILLYREA. 133 



like t)ur Asparagus. In Sicih' the tast^- ^ouiig shoots of the 

 prickly "Butcher's Broom" {/^//scas acidealits) are eaten 

 as "Asparagus"; and these were considered as delicacies 

 b\' the ancients. 



Another plant al\va\s to be met with in the Maciuis. 

 and whicli grows here on the Cap, Is the Tree Ileatli, 

 (Jirica arborea. Fig. ]?. 17?)- This Erica, which in Greece 

 \\'as considered an antidote to snake -bite, is \er\ like 

 our own Heatli but it grows up more than a \'ard abo\'e 

 tlie surrounding plants. Clusters of small, white and 

 nearly globular dowers with deep violet stamens hanging 

 out of them, deck the twigs in countless numbers. 

 Though not efficaceous against snake - bite it is a fa- 

 vourite with bees, and its wooch' roots are used for car- 

 ving and especialh' for making pipes. 



We must not omit the Philhrea (P/iillyrra aii^'iis/i- 

 lolicij Fig. p. ,-!4.-5) as it is also one of the ^Xhujuis phmls. 

 Tills busJi grows to a lieight of Ironi one to two )-ards 

 and is characterised b^' its linear-lanceolate, leather\' 

 leaves, inclining upwards, and its small white dowers 

 wliicli are crowded together in close set clusters. Tliis 

 bush belongs to the same famih" as the Olive tree which 

 it somewhat resembles. Ciicoriim iricoccuiu (Fig. p. 107), a 

 bush plentiful on the Cap, is botanically interesting as 

 belonging to a famih' not commonly represented here — 

 the Cneoraceae. It has shiny, green, lancet-shaped leaves 

 and bears small, yellow flowers in twos or threes at the end 

 of the twigs. This plant is grown in man\- gardens on the 

 Riviera for its graceful appearance and it is even to be 

 seen in the formal Casino gardens at Monte Carlo. 



