64 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



30 feet, and rivalling the celebrated collection of the late Cecil Rhodes 

 at Groot Schuur, not far off, where I had the pleasure of introducing some 

 1,500 English Rhododendrons which adorn the mountain slopes and give 

 a pleasing variety to the native hedges of blue Plumbago. 



Most hard-wooded plants do well with us, and the Camellia japonica 

 is no exception, for some of the specimens on the lawn and in the open 

 border have attained a circumference of from 30 to 75 feet, and serve to 

 give colour and brightness in our winter season owing to their floriferous 

 character. Almost touching the largest specimen of Camellia is a 

 Parkinson ia, with singularly handsome light green feathery drooping 

 foliage. So graceful is it that it has earned the sobriquet of ' The Lady's 

 Tree,' and when, as in the height of summer, it is covered with its yellow 

 blooms it is singularly beautiful, and invariably attracts a great deal of 

 attention as, one of the most graceful trees in the garden. 



But I must hurry on to quite a different form of vegetable life, 

 namely, the Aloe garden. In showing a photograph of this part of the 

 garden some of my friends have remarked, " Surely this is a piece of 

 New Mexico ; if not, it is strikingly like it." However, this part of the 

 garden is more essentially colonial than any other portion, for all the 

 specimens are of colonial or South African origin. You will find there 

 specimens of Euphorbias, E. grandidens and E. natalensis 20 feet high ; 

 Aloes, A. Bainesii, A. spcciosa, A. variegata; Agave mexicana and 

 A. capensis ; Encephalartos, commonly called 1 Kaffir Breadfruit,' in 

 several varieties ; the Prickly Pear ; Stapelias and Crassulas. I may 

 mention, in passing, that I was lately honoured by a visit from the 

 botanists on board the Discovery and the German vessel Gaus, both 

 vessels bound on a scientific expedition to the South Pole, and they were 

 far more interested with this part of the garden— probably from its novel 

 character to them — than with the European trees and shrubs, which, of 

 course, they had seen in abundance elsewhere. 



A very large number of the Conifer ce rejoice in our climate. Prominent 

 amongst them &reAraucaria imbricata and A. Cunninghamii, A . brasiliana, 

 A. Rulei, A. Bidicilli and A. lanceolata ; Cedrus Libani and C. Deodara, 

 Cuprcssus macrocarpa, the Monterey Cypress ; Sciadopitys verticillata, 

 the Umbrella Pine of Japan ; Finns canariensis, P. excclsa, P. insignis, 

 P. Pinea, the Stone Pine, P. Pinasta, the Cluster Pine ; Picea excclsa, 

 the Norway Spruce, Abies religiosa pnngcns, and many others; but it 

 would only tire you if I were to enumerate them all. Pinus Pinea and 

 P. Pinasta, which thrive on the Mediterranean littoral, were introduced 

 into the Cape Colony by the early Dutch inhabitants. They have so 

 acclimatised themselves to the Cape peninsula, where they grow in 

 countless numbers, that they form the great economic trees of our end of 

 the colony and sow themselves broadcast over the most sterile areas, 

 flourishing where most other trees would perish. 



I have also lately introduced some of the beautiful golden yews, 

 Et( tinosporas and Cypresses, which I hope will take kindly to our climate and 

 form a charming contrast to the dark foliage of the native trees with which 

 tlii garden abounds, and \\ hich I DlUSl very briefly touch upon. One of the 

 most prominent is the Polocarpus capensis {^clongata), popularly known 

 ns the ' South African Yew,' or 'Yellow-wood tree,' owing to the colour 



