ITALIAN GARDENS, 



281 



too dingy for effect. In the course of its 

 chequered history the plant has passed under 

 several names, being at first mistaken for a 

 Foxglove, then called Gerardia, and finally 

 Rehmannia, in honour of Joseph Rehmann, a 

 doctor of St. Petersburg. 



R. rupestris. — A pleasing greenhouse pe- 

 rennial from western China, introduced in 

 1 890, and still rare in gardens. It is of pretty 

 habit, with numerous stems of 1 2 to 1 8 inches, 

 those in the centre standing erect, while the 

 side-shoots droop gracefully on all sides. Its 

 ovate fleshy leaves are deeply toothed, and 



ITALIAN GARDENS. Pursuing 

 our series upon such famous southern 

 gardens as have influenced garden craft, 

 ancient and modern, we give a scene 

 from the grounds of the Villa Pamphili- 

 Doria, one of the great Roman houses 

 whose garden was created while its 

 owner occupied the Holy See as Pope 

 Innocent X. This was one of the most 

 important of the old gardens in the 



THE PAMPHILI GARDENS, ROME. 



covered with long silky hairs ; the widely tu- 

 bular flowers, opening in July , are white daintily 

 shaded with rose. 



R. lute a. — A Japanese species of which 

 little is known, save its description, from which 

 it appears to be a pretty little plant with yel- 

 low flowers, quite distinct from those in cul- 

 tivation. 



R.Piasezkii. — A Chinese species described 

 by the Russian traveller Maximowicz, but as 

 yet unknown in gardens. B. 



suburbs of Rome, but being less central 

 and reputedly unhealthy, it was less fre- 

 quented than others of the great gardens 

 thrown open to the public by the princes 

 both of Church and State. The entrance 

 to the grounds, richly adorned with 

 statuary and architectural dressings, 

 commands a view of thepalazzo,a small 

 but beautiful structure almost covered 



