570 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



CATALOGUE of 1806. — As an historical curiosity, Dr. Debono has sent 

 for inspection a very rare copy of an Index Plantarum Horti Botanici, 

 1806. This was drawn up by P. F. Carolus Hyacinthus, and printed in 

 that year. It contains many of the common wild flowers of Malta, such 

 as Bellis annua and B. sylvestris, Aritndo Donax, Anagallis arvensis, flor. 

 cceridco and flor. pluvniceo, Anemone coronaria, which is always blue 

 in Malta, several species of Calendula, &c. 



Of exotic plants the following are mentioned : Amaryllis equestris, 

 A. formosissima, A. Begince, and .1. vittata : these were the original 

 parents of our modern hybrids ; numerous species of Euphorbia, abundant 

 in Malta, many forming large shrubs ; Geranium and Pelargonium. Nar- 

 cissus was only represented by the Jonquil, Daffodil, and varieties of the 

 indigenous N. Tazctta. Oxalis cernita * appears in this catalogue for the 

 first time, being the earliest known record of its existence in Malta. 

 We have it on the authority of Zerapha, a contemporary of Father 

 Giacinto (Hyacinthus), that the latter brought the first individual plant 

 from the Cape of Good Hope, and it is spoken of as having been cultivated 

 in Malta in the Botanic Gardens in 1806, for the information of his 

 pupils. Maltese botanists of a later date attribute the spread of it over 

 the island to this source. Thus, Dr.- Grech Delicata says of Oxalis 

 cenma (the ' Haxixa ta l'Englisi,' or the 1 English Weed,' as the Maltese 

 now call it), in his 1 Flora Melitensis,' p. 8, 1853: 'In campis et agris 

 ubi< me. Indigena facta ab anno 1811 ' from the bulbs received from the 

 Cape and grown in the Botanic Gardens in 1806. It has now spread all 

 over Malta and Gozo, and occurs at intervals from Egypt to Morocco, and 

 from Gibraltar to the Greek islands, having been diffused through traffic 

 with the Maltese islands. It has never been known to set seed in the 

 northern hemisphere, but multiplies itself exclusively by little bulbs. 



This catalogue of 1806 contains so many native plants, as Plantains 

 and Grasses, that it might be regarded as a mixture of wild flowers of the 

 island and exotics introduced, as it is difficult to see how they could all 

 have been grown in the "ditch." This ditch within the high w T all of the 

 fortifications still contains several Castor-oil trees, some fifteen feet in 

 height, as well as variegated stocks growing out of the walls, probably 

 descendants from those grown at the beginning of the century, as well as 

 a few other introduced plants ; but all else is a rank growth of weeds, &c, 

 as no one is ordinarily allowed within it, since it contains Government 

 army stores, &c. 



Phcenix dactyUfera and Chamcerops humilis were the only Palms 

 growing then, whereas thirty-eight species are now cultivated in the 

 Argotti Gardens. On the other hand, while thirteen species of Malva 

 were grown in 1806, only one, M. rotundifolia, is in the Antonio Gardens. 

 Similarly Plantago was represented by nine species ; now only P. major 

 is grown. In 1806 seven roses were grown ; now there are twenty- two. 

 In 1806 there were twenty-four Salvias; the present gardens contain nine. 

 Silene is represented by three species now, but in 1806 there were fourteen. 



It is not easy to suggest a reason for Father Giacinto's having col- 



* For a full description of the history, .structure, and diffusion of this plant, the 

 iiadcr is referred to my paper, 'On the Northern Distribution of Oxalis ccrnua 

 Thunb.' {Proe. Linn. Soc. 18!)0-<H. p. 81). 



