488 
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
years ago, as a suggested substitute for the Potato. In speaking 
of Oxalis, Mr. Henslow referred to the history of the distribution 
of another species, 0. cernua, throughout the Mediterranean 
regions. A bulb was sent from the Cape, where it is a roadside 
weed, to Father Jacintho, a teacher of medicine in Malta, in 
1806. Since that date, and from that solitary plant, it has 
spread all over the island as well as Gozo. It reached Egypt 
about 1820, and Gibraltar in 1829 ; and it is now to be found 
from Gibraltar to the Greek islands, and from Egypt to Morocco. 
It never seeds in the N. hemisphere, as, being trimorphic, only 
one of the three forms exists throughout the whole of this area; 
but it is propagated by means of innumerable little bulbs. It 
is called by the Maltese ‘ The English Weed,’ and is the most 
troublesome plant in the island. (Fig. 126.) 
The Caedoon.— Specimens were sent by Miss Breton, Forest 
End, Sandhurst. It is only a variety of the Globe Artichoke, 
Cynara Cardunculus , var. Scolymus, but it is not grown so often 
as the latter. The edible part consists of the succulent midribs 
of the leaves. Mr. Henslow alluded to the description of Pliny, 
who, in speaking of the extravagant luxury of the rich in his day, 
says that even “ thistles ” were cultivated, which the very animals 
refused to eat ! 
THE DAFFODIL IN AUSTRALIA. 
By Mr. G. S. Titheeadge, F.R.H.S. 
On a continent whose vast extent and range of climate make it 
possible for one to hear of the death of two men in the same 
week—the one from heat and thirst in the north-west, and the 
other from cold and exposure during a snowstorm in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Mount Kosciusko—the Daffodil is grown necessarily 
under many varying conditions. I shall therefore in this paper 
deal chiefly with my own experience as a grower near Melbourne, 
Victoria, and with results of observations made in Sydney, New 
South Wales, Brisbane, Queensland, and New Zealand. The 
climate of Melbourne is variable—a hot, dry atmosphere with 
scorching winds in summer, and in winter moderately cold with 
occasional frosts. The annual rainfall is almost equal to that of 
