THE BEAN-CAPER FAMILY. 



455 



buds are used as a substitute for Capers. Z. alburn^ a 

 shrubby species, native of the Canary Islands, is grown in 

 the greenhouses of this country. 



Honey-flower (^Melianthus major). A straggling soft 

 wooded shrub with large pinnate-toothed glaucous leaves, 

 having a strong Pea-meal smell. It is a native of the Cape 

 of Good Hope, and grows and flowers well in the greenhouse, 

 or even in the open air of this country when protected in 

 winter. The flov/ers are of a dark brown colour, in long 

 erect racemes, a foot or more in length, containing a large 

 quantity of honey, which is collected by the natives of the 

 Cape colony. 



Caltrops [Tribulus terrestris). A trailing spreading annual, 

 with soft succulent leaves, native of Southern Europe, having 

 hard capsular fruit, the valves of which are furnished with 

 stiff spines which stand erect. 



Larrea mexicana. A shrub, 4 to 6 feet high, very 

 abundant in some parts of Mexico, forming a dense scrub, 

 particularly on the Colorado desert. It grows in the most 

 sterile sandy soil. Its strong creasote odour renders it 

 disagreeable to travellers, as also to animals. It is unfit lor 

 firewood, as it can scarcely be made to burn, its only appa- 

 rent use being to fix the desert sands. 



Balanites mgyptiaca. A scrubby thorny bush or small tree, 

 having leaves growing in pairs. It is common throughout 

 the deserts of Western Asia, Egypt, and many parts of North 

 and Western Africa, where the fruit, which is the size of a 

 walnut, is sometimes eaten, and from which an intoxicating 

 drink is made by the natives. Its wood is hard, and is used 

 by the turners of Jerusalem for making walking-sticks. An 

 oil of a healing nature is obtained from the nuts, and as it 

 grows abundantly in the valley of the Dead Sea, it is sup- 

 posed to be one of the plants that produced the " Balm of 

 Gilead." 



(OCHNACE^.) 



Small trees or shrubs, with simple alternate toothed leaves. 

 Flowers solitary or in racemes, their petioles jointed. Petals 



