THE PLANTS AND GARDENS OF THE CANARY ISLANDS. 81 
are, as already indicated, the ornamental, large-fruiting species 
of Ficus, such as F. Boxburghii, F. hirta, and F. glomemta. 
Next come the noble specimens of Palms, such as the native 
Phoenix caiiariensis, the majestic Washing tonia filif era, and the 
stout-stemmed Coquito Palm of Chili {Juhcea spcctahilis). The 
Norfolk Island Pine (Amitcaria excelsa) is one of the finest in 
the islands ; the Moreton Bay Pine (A. Cunninghami) is to be 
seen in fruit, while the Queensland Bunya-bunya (^4. BidwilU) 
is a very handsome specimen. The giant Abyssinian Plantain 
(Musa Ejisete) attains a height of 30 feet. A very interesting 
tree is the indigenous Laurel (Laurus canariensis), a venerable 
tree planted more than fifty years ago by S. Bertholet, one of the 
authors of " Histoire Naturelle des lies Canaries." It may be 
mentioned that very few copies of this noble work exist in the 
islands. One is in the library at Laguna, and another is in a 
private library at Realejo. A fine specimen of the singular 
Screw-pine (Pandanus utilis) stands in the middle of one of the 
circular beds. Of Canamia campanulata there are two varieties : 
one is of a dark red colour, found only on rocks near Tacoronte, 
below Laguna. 
The charm of the garden lies, however, in the diversity of 
the plants represented in it. Along with such northern forms 
as the common Oak, Ash, Bramble, the Tulip tree, Ailanthtis 
glandtdosa, the Ginkgo tree, the White Poplar, and the Stone 
Pine, there flourish in the open air such strictly tropical 
plants as Ipomoea Hors/allicB, Glerodendroii ThomsoncB, Brownea 
Ariza, Plumeria alba, Coccoloha uvifera, the Sugar-cane, the 
Banana, the Oil Palm of Africa, and the Cocoa-nut Palm. 
The climate is singularly equable — the lowest temperature even 
in winter is said to fall very rarely below 50° Fahr. Plants 
thus testify to the mildness of the climate almost as accurately 
as the most careful observations. 
No catalogue of the Orotava Garden has been issued for many 
years, and possibly no account of it has ever appeared in English. 
With the view of assisting in the former direction, I have prepared 
a list of the most striking plants noticed there in 1893. This is 
given in Appendix II. In many cases the names attached to the 
plants are not those generally in use in current literature. I 
have recorded these names only so far as to enable visitors to 
identify them with the names now adopted. 
