THE JARDIN DES PLANTES. 75 



have ever seen, and for a well made and tasteful rockwork it 

 will prove one of the best summer ornaments. Geranium 

 platypetalum is very good here, and one of the best of the 

 family. Erodium carvifolium is so elegantly cut that I 

 should not hesitate to place it beside Thalictrum minus, 

 from which it is, of course, quite distinct in character. 



There is a capital collection of the very neat Semper- 

 vivum family, planted in the open air, •where they do re- 

 markably well. Seseli gummiferum is a pretty umbelliferous 

 plant, of a peculiarly distinct and pleasing glaucous hue. 

 Thapsia villosa is also fine, and so is Aralia edulis. Vicia 

 tenuifolia formosa is a very handsome climber; and Orobus 

 rosea is one of the most elegant and pretty of its family, 

 having arching and drooping shoots, and being well suited 

 for a large rockwork. There are many others in various 

 departments, but as the subject is not of interest to a very 

 wide class, it must not be enlarged upon further. 



For the information of curators of botanic gardens, and 

 those taking a botanical interest in curious plants, I may 

 state that Cuscuta major is luxuriantly grown here upon the 

 nettle, C. Epithymum upon Calliopsis tinctoria, C. Engel- 

 manii upon a Solidago, and Orobanche grows upon Hemp. 

 I have grown O. minor upon perennial Clovers, and O. He- 

 derse may be readily grown upon the Ivy at the bottom of a 

 wall (I once saw it growing freely on the top of a wall near 

 Lucan, in Ireland) ; so that there ought not to be the diffi- 

 culty which our botanic gardeners find in growing these 

 curious plants. Orobanche ramosa is also grown here upon 

 Calliopsis tinctoria. The safest way with the Orobanches 

 is to scrape away the soil till you come near the root of the 

 plant on which you intend it to be parasitical, and then sow 

 the seed. 



A very old and fine pair of dwarf fan palms, given to 

 Louis XIV. by Charles III., Margrave de Bade, are usually 

 placed in summer one at each side of the entrance of the am- 

 phitheatre. They have straight clean stems, and are more 

 than twenty feet high. They escape the notice of many 

 visitors, but are well worth seeing by all plant-lovers, not 

 only from their age, but their exceptional height. Should any 



