170 



HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF TREES. PART I. 



there are portions of it which, from local circumstances, possess so mild a 

 climate, that, with very little art, Lombardy might be made to exhibit speci- 

 mens of the ligneous vegetation of every part of the globe. 



SuBSECT. 2. Of the Trees and Shrubs of Spain and Portugal. 



From the indigenous trees and shrubs of this immense tract of country we 

 may estimate its capacity for growing the trees and shrubs of other climates ; 

 and, while those of the North of Europe will find a congenial climate in the 

 mountain ranges, and the elevated region of Madrid, those of the tropics will 

 grow along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. 



There are numerous botanic gardens throughout Spain, and two in Portugal. 

 In these gardens, La Gasca infoniis us, the trees and shrubs of most parts of 

 the world have, at one time or other, been seen in a flourishing state. In the 

 gardens in the neighbourhood of Madrid are found, the cedar of Lebanon and 

 various other Coniferae, different species of lime, maple, ash, ^'sculus, 

 Juglans, jTiorus, C'ratEe'gus, Primus, Pyrus,and Cerasus, Asimina triloba, Mag- 

 nbiia grandiflora, So2)hdra japonica, the Calycanthus floridus, the Chimonan- 

 thus fragrans, and many others. Capt. S. E. Cook informs us {Sketches in 

 Spain, Sfc,) that the date palm will, in sheltered situations, resist the cold of 

 Madrid; though its fruit only acquires perfect maturity on the coast of 

 Western Andalusia, and in other parts of the shores of the Mediterranean. 

 In the gardens in the neighbourhood of Cadiz the ilfusa sapientum ripens 

 fruit every year ; as do the different species of Capsicum, Cactus, Cereus, and 

 Mesembryanthemum. All tlie trees and shrubs of the Cape of Good Hope 

 and Australia grow here as well as in their native countries. In the gardens 

 of Seville, similar exotics thrive freely, and the country is covered with orange, 

 lemon, citron, and lime trees, olives, pomegranates, and algarobas, or carob trees. 



We shall pass over the other gardens in Spain, detailed particulars of the 

 more rm-e foreign trees contained in which, by Sr. La Gasca, will be found in 

 the first and second volumes of the Gardener'' s Magazine, to notice the trees 

 and shrubs of the botanic garden of Lisbon. In this garden the orange, lemon, 

 and citron ripen their fruit in the open air. The Erythrina picta grows to 

 the height of 15 ft. in one season, and ripens seed. Psidium pyriferum and 

 poraiferum as standards, set their fruit, and ripen it against a wall. Coffea 

 arabica flowers in October, and the berri es ripen in the May or June follow- 

 ing. Carica Papaya forms a fine umbrageous tree in the open garden, and 

 ripens its fruit; though, being a tree with a succulent or spongy trunk, it is 

 occasionally cut down to the ground. These instances are sufficient to prove, 

 that, with the art of the gardener and the aid of walls, without hot-houses, all 

 the ligneous plants of the world might be grown in the peninsula. 



The prominent trees in the forests of Spain are, the Quercus iEobur, 

 Q. Cerris, and its numerous varieties ; Q. /Hex, with its varieties still more 

 numerous than those of Q. Cerris ; Q. .Suber ; and Pinus Z^inea, Pinaster, 

 sylvestris, uncinata, &c. The silver fir is also abundant in some native 

 forests, and the iarix in the alpine regions of the northern provinces. The 

 most remarkable of the indigenous trees are the cypresses in the gardens of 

 the palaces wdiich belonged to the Moorish kings ; nuuiy of these venerable 

 specimens are supposed to be upwards of five centuries old. The prevaiHng 

 tree about Madrid, as about Paris and London, is the narrow-leaved elm. 



_ The geographical distribution of the indigenous trees of Spain has been 

 given, for the first time, after several years of ardent research and travel, by 

 Capt. S. E. Cook, hi his Sketches of Spain, published in 1834. Capt. Cook 

 divides Spain geologically into three grand regions. The first is the northern, 

 which includes Galicia, Asturias, &c., and the maritime part of Old Castile. 

 This is the region of humidity and moisture, of the Quercus iJobur, and Q. /Mex, 

 Z7Hex europEe'a, and U. e. stricta; and the Dabce'c/a _poHifdlia. The second 

 region includes the Castiles, Estremadura, Aragon, &c. ; this is the region of 

 dryness, over which the Merino sheep wander, and in which the olive and the 



