80 • A DISCOURSE 



BOOK II. in Brittany, in places cold and very sharp in winter ; and are observed no- 

 where to prosper so well as by the sea-coasts, the air of which is more 

 propitious to them, as well as to oranges and lemons, than the inland 

 air. I know of one near eighty years old, which has been continually 

 exposed, unless it be that, in some exceedingly sharp seasons, a little dry 

 straw has been thrown upon it ; and where they are smitten, being cut 

 down near the ground, they put forth and recover again ; which many 

 times they do not in pots and cases, where the roots are very obnoxious 

 to perish with mouldiness. The shelter of a few mats and straw secured 

 very great trees, both leaf and colour in perfection, this last winter also, 

 which were planted abroad, whilst those that were carried into the con- 

 serve were most of them lost. Myrtles, which are of six or eight sorts, 

 may be raised of seeds ; but with great caution, and after all, seldom 

 prove worth the pains, being so abundantly multiplied of suckers, slips, 

 and layers. The double-flower, which is the most beautiful, was first 

 discovered by the incomparable Fabr. Peyresc ; a mule having cropt it 

 from a wild shrub. Note, That you cannot give those plants too much 

 compost or refreshing, nor clip them too often, even to the stem, which 

 will grow tall, and prosper in any shape ; so as arbours have been made 

 of single trees of the hardy kind, protected in the winter with sheds of 

 straw and reeds. Both leaves and berries refrigerate, and are very 

 astringent and drying, and therefore seldom used within, except in fluxes : 



The common kind is called Myrtus floribus solitariis j involucro diphyllo, Sp. PI. 673, 

 The broad-leaved myrtl^. 



It is of the class and order Icosandria Monogj^nia, 



The common broad-leaved Myrtle is the hardiest of all the kinds, The leaves are a,n 

 inch and a half long and one inch broadj of a lucid green, and stand upon short foot-stalks. 

 The flowers are larger than the other sorts, and come out from the sides of the branches 

 on pretty long foot-stalks : these are succeeded by oval berries of a dark purple colour, 

 inclosing three or four hard kidney-shaped seeds. It flowers in July and August, and the 

 berries ripen in winter. This, by some, is called the Flowering Myrtle. Of this species 

 there are many varieties, all of which require the shelter of a green-house in winter. By 

 sowing the seeds of the common Myrtle, new kinds may be obtained. Myrtles are easily 

 propagated by slips, cuttings, and layers. The practice is well known. 



Amongst the ancients every tree had its protector. The Myrtle was favoured by Venus ; 

 but whether from the delicacy and elegance of its form, or its love to the sea-shore, 

 *' amantes littora Myrtos," or from any other cause, I shall not take upon me to decide. 



