terranean coast region between Genoa and Marseilles, the
wood being used in the manufacture of the so-called Briar pipes, Briar
being a corruption of the French word Bruyere. All the Heaths flower
with great freedom but none more so than _E. arborea_ and its near
ally, _E. lusitanica_. The flowers are almost globular and nearly white;
they are quite small individually, but produced so abundantly that the
plants are smothered with them from March to May. My experience of this
species is that it is hardier and thrives altogether better in the
London district than _E. lusitanica_, a species for which it is often
grown. It ripens seed every year almost, and can thus be readily
increased in a natural way. The young wood is densely covered with short
dark hairs and the leaves are closely packed in whorls of three.

_E. lusitanica_ (syn. _codonodes_).--Many will not recognise the name
_lusitanica_ as applied to the well-known _E. codonodes_, but
_lusitanica_ is really an older designation. This Heath, as its name
implies, comes from Portugal; it is also a native of Spain, and is often
confounded with _E. arborea_. Briefly, they differ in the following
respects: The flowers of _E. lusitanica_ are longer and more bell-shaped
than the globular ones of _E. arborea_; the foliage of _E. lusitanica_
is a rather pale green, and has a rather more plumose look, the
individual leaf being longer and more slender; the young wood, although
downy, is not so hairy as in _E. arborea_. The remarkable abundance of
flowers, a feature of _E. arborea_, is quite as apparent in this
species, their colouring is a faintly pink-tinged white. From Messrs. R.
Veitch and Sons, of Exeter, who are taking a special interest in these
tree Heaths Kew has lately received a form intermediate between _E.
arborea_ and _E. lusitanica_--probably it is a hybrid. _E. lusitanica_
does not apparently grow so large as _E. arborea_, but it is recorded to
have reached 12 feet in height in Sussex. Farther west, in Dorsetshire,
it grows luxuriantly, and is certainly one of the loveliest of
evergreens that can be grown even in that favoured county. Seeds afford
the best means of propagation.

_E. australis._--One of the most beautiful and rare of all the Heaths,
but unfortunately it is not so hardy as the majority. In the southern
and western counties, however, it will thrive admirably, withstanding 20
degrees of frost without serious injury, provided the winter is not
unusua