PARK AND CEMETERY. 
i34 
GARDEN PLANTS -THEIR GEOGRAPHY, XXL 
MYRTALES. 
THE RHIZOPHORA, MYRTUS AND CENOTHERA ALLI- 
ANCE. 
We have here an extensive and widely dissemi- 
nated alliance in 27 tribes, 301 genera and 5 ,62 5 
species. The trees and shrubs are mostly ever- 
green when growing naturally, and they are largely 
confined to the tropics. The common myrtle is the 
most northerly species, a native of Persia perhaps, 
but naturalized in Southern Europe. Metrosideros 
lucidus (as it used to be called) extends to 50 de- 
EUCALYPTUS COCCIFERA IN THE SOUTH OF ENGLAND. 
From Gardener's Chronicle. 
grees south latitude in the Aukland Islands. M. 
buxifolia, attaching itself by its ivy-like roots and 
climbing the tallest trees, also extends well south in 
New Zealand. Myrtus nummularia (which I can- 
not now trace) used to be considered the most 
southerly small shrub of the alliance, growing like 
heather over the pastures of the Falkland Islands. 
In South Chili they have Myrtus Cheken and Myr- 
tus Ugni, both of which, as well as the common 
varieties of myrtle [not Vinca'), are hardy in the Isle 
of Wight, the southwestern counties of England, in 
Central and Southern California, and South Florida 
no doubt. The Pomegranate in some of its varie- 
ties extends further north in the States than any 
truly myrtaceous shrub I know of, ripening its 
fruit, but becoming deciduous at Columbia, S. C., 
and in Georgia. The Lagertrremias are trees in the 
same latitudes. Seven or eight small trees of the 
alliance spill over, as it were, from the tropics to 
the south of Florida, and the “Keys” along the 
coast. The Mangrove, which is a tropical maritime 
plant, is found along the Gulf coast, sometimes 
growing to a height of forty or fifty feet. A few of 
the fruits are also grown in gardens at the extreme 
south, such as the guavas, the “Hill guava” of In- 
dia, and the “Rose apples.” Among ornamental 
shrubs Callistemon speciosus is said to stand very 
well, “ if sheltered , ,” as far north as the pomegra- 
nate. 
It will thus be seen that none of the evergreen 
trees and shrubs are useful at the north, except for 
massing, or as specimens in summer. 
The alliance includes, however, a great number 
of handsome herbaceous plants very well known to 
the gardens of long ago, and becoming again better 
known every year. These include both annuals, 
perennials, with some biennials, which require to be 
sown every year. 
Rhizophora Mangle is one of the three or four 
species of the genus forming the Mangrove swamps 
along the tropical coasts of the world, and notorious 
for their extreme unhealthiness. Their seeds ger- 
minate in the pod, forming a radicle of some length 
and weight, which, dropping, dibbles itself into the 
soft mud of the tidal swamps; were it not for this 
provision the seeds would sometimes be floated 
away to deep water, where they couldn’t grow, but 
even then the mangrove would spread, for it has 
aerial roots like a “Banyan,” which take hold of the 
mud and form independent plants whenever the 
tops are broken by wind or wave. These roots 
raise the trees pandanus-like above the water, and 
the whole are inextricably crossed and confused, 
forming a perfect net to catch the flotsam and jet- 
sam of the tropical rivers; the whole have been 
thus growing, decaying and extending for untold 
ages, building up immense forests on soil often un- 
fitted to support the human foot. Oysters and 
other shell fish attach themselves to these roots, 
literally “growing on the trees.” 
Comb return is a considerable genus of 140 spe- 
cies, widely distributed throughout the tropical re- 
gions of the world having sufficient moisture for 
luxuriant vegetation, with a few species in South 
Africa. The genus has several sections, with scar- 
let, orange red, yellowish or white flowers. But 
few are known in cultivation. They are mostly fine 
