LAPAGERIA. 79 



into the classical connection ; but we shall resist the temp- 

 tation, and say that in the country it adorns its roots are 

 used for the same purposes as sarsaparilla, while, the ripe 

 pulpy fruit is eaten, and is much prized for its agree- 

 able flavour. It was first described, as noted above, by 

 Ruiz and Pavon, in " Flora Peruviana/' and was by Dr. 

 Lindley included in a new order called Philesiea? ; but Dr. 

 Hooker, in his ." Flora Antarctica," placed it in the Smilax 

 alliance, and there it remains most properly. The genus 

 is named in honour of Josephine Lapagerie, wife of Napo- 

 leon Bonaparte, who, in her gardens of Malmaison, ren- 

 dered some special services to botany. 



Lapageria rosea, and its white variety alba, have given 

 much trouble to cultivators ; but being now well under- 

 stood, they occasion trouble no longer. They are so nearly 

 hardy, that the cool plant-house is the best place for them, 

 generally speaking, while it is probable that in some 

 favoured spots in Devon and Cornwall they may prove to 

 be sufficiently hardy to thrive on open walls and trellises 

 through a series of average seasons, and perhaps survive 

 the occasional severe winters that put all such plants of 

 doubtful hardiness to the extreme and final test. The soil 

 for the lapageria should be good turfy peat, with a con- 

 siderable mixture of sharp siliceous grit. It should be free 

 from calcareous matter, and, generally speaking, what is 

 known as silver-sand and brown orchid peat are the safest 

 materials for a compost. We have found that the fine grit 

 . sifted out of the sweepings of gravel roads and paths is the 

 best of grit for such a purpose, provided the material is 

 siliceous, and not calcareous — a point on which any one 

 may be easily satisfied. Another requisite is an abundance 

 of root moisture. It is not, indeed, necessary to provide the 



