1811. 
REMARKS ON THE HARDINESS OF PLANTS. 
255 
here being throughout the year so much colder than it might be 
expected in this latitude, is a proof of the very great elevation of 
surface. 
At the upper part of the ascent, in the shade of some large 
blocks of stone, lay a small quantity of snow still unmelted ; and 
near it, Accena latebrosa, and a pretty undescribed species of Alyssum, 
were found growing. * An opinion that many of the plants of the 
B-oggeveld are sufficiently hardy to bear the winters of England, is 
not altogether speculative; as some which have been raised in our 
gardens from seeds taken from my herbarium, have survived the last 
five winters, without the least care or protection. It is probable 
that many plants which grow on the snowy tops of great mountains, 
will endure the cold of the English climate. But the reverse of 
this is not to be taken as a rule without exceptions, since repeated 
experiment has ascertained that several species of Lyciimi, the seeds 
of which were picked from the specimens I gathered in the Karro and 
in low lands, will endure the severest winters of England, without 
injury. 
It would be an object, in vegetable physiology, worth some at- 
tention, the detecting of that principle in the organization of plants, or 
the discovering of that peculiar structure, or those chemical properties 
of their juices, from which some genera are naturally hardy, as, for in- 
stance, Mentha f, and others tender, as may be observed in Solanum^ 
w^ithout any regard to the climate of which they are natives. 
A neat pretty shrub of the order Tliymeleoi :{:, growing here to 
the height of two feet, and which was never since met with any 
where else, was remarkable from having flowers of an azure color. 
The rhinoceros-bush, which was not seen any where in the Karro, 
* Alyssum glomeratum, B. Catal. Geogr. 1304. Under which name, the description 
of it has already been given to the pubhc by Professor De Candolle, in his Si/stema 
Naturale : a work which, when completed, will stand as a monument of superior talents 
combined with great industry. 
•j- Mentha Capensis, which has been introduced into England only five years, is as 
perfectly hardy as the common Mint. 
\ Gnidia? cyanea. Cat. Geog. 1316. 1. 
