76 



seleOt plants readily eligible 



Ervum Lens, Linne. {Lens esculenta, Moencli.) 



Mediterranean regions, Orient. The Lentil. Annual, afford- 

 ing in its seeds a palatable and nutritious food. A calcareous 

 soil is essential for the prolific gi'owth of this plant. The 

 leafy stalks, after removal of the seeds, remain a good stable- 

 fodder. The variety called the Winter Lentil is more prolific 

 than the Summer Lentil. 



Erythroxylon Coca, Lamarck.''^ 



Peru. This shrub is famed for the extraordinarily stimu- 

 lating property of its leaves, which pass under the names of 

 Spadic and Coca. They contain two alkaloids, Cocain and 

 Hygrin, also a peculiar tannic acid. More than .£600,000 

 worth is annually collected. The Peruvians mix the leaves 

 with the forage of mules, to increase their power of enduring 

 fatigue. Whether any of the many other species of Erythro- 

 xylon possess similar j^roperties seems never yet to have been 

 ascertained. 



Eucalyptus acmenoides, Schauer. 



New South Wales and East Queensland. The wood used in 

 the same way as that of E. obliqua (the Stringybark-tree), 

 but superior to it. It is heavy, strong, durable, of a light 

 colour, and has been found good for palings, flooring-boards, 

 battens, rails, and many other purposes of house carpentry 

 (Rev. Dr. Woolls). 



Eucalyptus amygdallna, La Billardiere. 



In our sheltered springy forest-glens attaining not rarely a 

 height of over 400 feet, there forming a smooth stem and 

 broad leaves, producing also seedlings of a foliage different to 

 the ordinary state of E. amygdalina, as occurs in more open 

 country. This species or variety, which might be called 

 Eucalyptus regnans, represents the loftiest tree in British 

 territory, and ranks next to the Sequoia Wellingtonia in size 

 anywhere on the globe. The wood is fissile, well adapted for 

 shingles, rails, for house-building, for the keelson and planking 

 of ships and other purposes. La Billardiere's name applies ill 

 to any of the forms of this species. Seedlings raised on rather 

 barren ground near Melbourne have shown the same amazing- 

 rapidity of growth as those of E. globulus; yet, like those 

 of E. obliqua, they are not so easily satisfied with any soil. It 

 has endured the frosts of the milder parts of England, with 

 E. polyanthemos, and E. viminalis. In New Zealand it has 

 survived the cold, where E. globulus succumbed. E. amyg- 

 dalina, E. urnigera, E. coccifera, E. rostrata and E. corym- 

 bosa have proved at Rome, according to the Rev. M. Gildas, 

 more hardy than E. globulus, E. diversicolor, E. resinifera, 



