Chapter M: GALE.--Sweet Gale or Bog Myrtle. This has inconspicuous flowers, and

is included here on account of the deliciously fragrant foliage, and which makes it a favourite with cultivators generally. It is a native shrub, growing from 3 feet to 4 feet high, with deciduous, linear-lanceolate leaves, and clustered catkins appearing before the leaves. A moor or bog plant, and of great value for planting by the pond or lake side, or along with the so-called American plants, for the aroma given off by the foliage.

The Myricas are all worthy of cultivation, although the flowers are inconspicuous--their neat and in most cases fragrant foliage, and adaptability to poor soil or swampy hollows, being extra recommendations.

MYRTUS.

MYRTUS COMMUNIS.--Common Myrtle. South Europe, 1597. A well-known shrub, which, unless in very favoured spots and by the sea-side, cannot survive our winters. Where it does well, and then only as a wall plant, this and its varieties are charming shrubs with neat foliage and an abundance of showy flowers. The double-flowered varieties are very handsome, but they are more suitable for glass culture than planting in the open.

M. LUMA (_syn Eugenia apiculata_ and _E. Luma_).--Chili. Though sometimes seen growing out of doors, this is not to be recommended for general planting, it being best suited for greenhouse culture.