TREES AND SHRUBS
The list of indigenous and naturalized trees and shrubs growing in
Madeira is such a long and varied one that it is not surprising that
Captain Cook, in his account of his first voyage, should have said:
“Nature has been so liberal in her gifts to Madeira. The soil is so
rich, and there is such a variety of climate, that there is scarcely
any article, either of the necessaries or luxuries of life, which could
not be cultivated there.”
The place of honour among the island trees must be given to those
belonging to the laurel tribe, of which there are a great number,
and splendid specimens still remain in the country, survivors of the
wholesale destruction of the primeval forests. To this tribe belongs
the til, one of the most beautiful of evergreen trees, its shiny green
leaves contrasting admirably with the light grey bark of its stems. The
old trees grow to a very large size, and in the Boa Ventura Valley and
along the road to Sao Vincente there remain some grand old specimens,
the immense girth of whose trunks speaks for itself of their great age.
The true name of this so-called laurel appears to have been a matter
of some uncertainty, as Miss Taylor, in “Madeira: Its Scenery, and How
to See It,” classes it as _Oreodaphne fœtens_, describing it as “the
grandest of native trees”; while Mr. Bowdick, in 1823, says: “The til
has been confounded with _Laurus fœtens_, from the strong, disagreeable
odour of the wood when first cut. It is very valuable for its timber,
being extremely hard and tough. It would appear that the Portuguese
call both _Laurus fœtens_ and _Laurus cupuleris_ til, as they say
there are two kinds of til, and both are equally fetid.” In the damper
regions beautiful lichens grow luxuriantly on the stems of the trees,
and ferns have found a home in the cracks of the bark. The value of its
timber has no doubt been responsible for the destruction of the trees.
When polished, the wood is of a very dark colour, almost as black as
ebony.
The vinhatico, whose wood is the mahogany of Madeira and closely
resembles it, is another of the native trees, and again I find it
classed as _Laurus indica_ by Mr. Bowdick, who describes it as one
of the island’s most valuable products, while Miss Taylor describes
it as _Persea indica_. The wood, when cut, is of a deep red colour
before being polished. It is a fine forest tree, and has, as a rule,
light green foliage, though it occasionally turns crimson. It has
given its name to one of the most beautiful bits of scenery in the
island, as the Levada dos Vinhaticos, running above the village of
Santa Anna, passes through some of the grandest scenery in Madeira.
Professor Piazzi Smyth has gone so far as to assert, in “Madeira
Spectroscopic,” that some of the largest ships of the Spanish Armada
were either built of, or internally decorated with, the wood of the
tils and vinhaticos of Madeira. This would appear to be a flight of
imagination, or a revelation of the learned man’s inner consciousness,
as it is difficult, if not impossible, to find any grounds for such
an assertion, there being no document extant stating what timber was
employed for the building of that celebrated fleet.
The laurel familiar to us under the name of Portugal laurel, _Cerasus
lusitanica_, assumes the proportions of forest trees, and when I saw
it in spring, covered with its long racemes of creamy-white flowers,
it quickly dispelled the aversion with which I had always regarded
the stumpy, blackened specimens pining under the smoky atmosphere of
suburban shrubberies.
_Laurus Canariensis_ is a fragrant form of laurel, and the
country-people extract oil from its yellow berries.
_Picconia excelsa_, the _Pao branco_ of the Portuguese, is generally
to be found in the same districts as the til-trees, and attains to a
height of forty or fifty feet. Its hard, heavy white wood, being in
great demand for the keels of boats, is very valuable. Like many other
native trees, it is for this very reason rapidly becoming scarce, as
its destroyers, having no thought for the future, omit to cultivate it
from seed, which grows readily.
The _Clethra arborea_, or lily of the valley tree, as it is called
by the English, on account of the resemblance of its spikes of
creamy-white flowers to those of a lily of the valley, fills the
whole air with its delicious though somewhat heavy fragrance when the
tree is in flower in summer. Yet another fragrant tree peculiar to
Madeira is the _Pittosporum coriaceum_, which has been christened the
incense-tree, as early in April the air, especially near sundown, is
filled with the almost overpowering scent of its clusters of small
greenish-white flowers. The bark is very smooth and even, and of
a light ash colour. The tree is now somewhat rare in its natural
state, but is frequently seen in gardens, where it has no doubt been
transplanted from its original home among the rocks, as Mr. Lowe, in
his “Flora of Madeira,” remarks how he only noticed it growing on high
rocks or in inaccessible places.
One of the first trees which is sure to strike the eye of the
new-comer is the dragon-tree, or _Dracæna draco_, on account of its
peculiar growth. From having been a common tree on the island it has
now become a rare one in its native state; in fact, the only ones I
have ever seen under those conditions are a few sole survivors on
the rocks beyond the Brazen Head, where formerly they grew in great
numbers. Now by their quaint growth they give a distinctive feature
to many a garden, and it is consoling to know that they are easily
raised from seed. Mr. Bowdick, in writing of the tree, says: “The
dragon-tree was considered by Humboldt as exclusively indigenous to
India, but I am inclined to think it is also natural to Porto Santo,
and perhaps to Madeira--not from the few specimens which now remain on
these islands, but from the account of Cadamosto, who visited Porto
Santo in 1445, and writes that the dragon-trees of Porto Santo were so
large that fishing-boats capable of containing six or seven men were
made out of the trunks, and that the inhabitants fattened their pigs on
the fruit; but he adds that so many boats, shields, and corn-measures
had been made out of them, that even in his time there was scarcely a
dragon-tree to be seen in the island.”
The stem exudes a gum, and the following account of the means of
collecting it is taken from a Portuguese account of “The Discovery of
Madeira,” written in 1750: “All over the island grows a tree from which
the dragon’s blood is procured. This is performed by making incisions
in the bark, from whence the gum issues very plentifully into pots
hung upon the branches to receive it. The people use it as a sovereign
remedy for bruises, to which they are very much exposed by traversing
their rocky country; and this, with one panacea more, completes their
whole _materia medica_--that is, balsam of Peru, imported from the
Brazils in small gourds by their annual ships. These two, they imagine,
have power to cure almost all disorders, especially those that are
external.”
Among other native trees, the beautiful _Taxus baccata_ and the
_Juniperus oxycedrus_, with its great spreading silvery-green branches,
cannot be omitted. The former has become almost extinct, and the
juniper is also becoming rare, from the reckless way in which the trees
have been cut to be used for torches. The fragrant red wood is split
into lengths, and several bound together, for this purpose. In gardens
their dense growth makes them admirably suited to form an arbour, in
the absence of the ubiquitous _mirante_, as they provide shelter from
the wind and perfect shade.
Another evergreen tree, which, though not a native tree, is very
commonly to be seen in and about the town of Funchal, is the _Ficus
comosa_, which, as its name implies, is a beautiful tree, though, from
its having such far-spreading hungry roots, it is more suited to the
roadside than to gardens. A peculiarity of the tree is the slenderness
of its stem in comparison to the immense length and weight of its very
spreading branches; its bark is a very light grey colour, and is in
admirable contrast to the very smooth and shining leaves, which are
dark green above and pale beneath, produced in masses on the slender
rather hanging branchlets. Two very fine specimens of these trees stand
alone on the Rodondo, near the Quinta das Cruzes, from where a very
fine view of the town is to be seen from under their immense spreading
branches.
[Illustration: JACKARANDA-TREE.]
The camphor-trees are at their best in spring, when they are covered
with their delicate young green shoots, generally of a very light
green, but occasionally having brilliant red shoots. The trees attain
to a large size, though not assuming the gigantic proportions which
they reach in their native land, Japan. That most uninteresting of all
trees--the plane-tree--has been planted along the beds of the rivers in
the town; and the oaks are in almost perpetual foliage, as the young
leaves appear before the old ones have really fallen.
_Grevillea robusta_ is common in gardens, where, having shed its leaves
in winter, the trees are showy in the early summer months, being
covered with yellow flowers; but the palm for flowering trees must be
given to the _Jacaranda mimosafolia_, a native of Brazil. Having also
shed its long fern-like foliage in the late winter months, early in May
the tree bursts into a cloud of blue blossoms, almost as blue as the
sky above. The tree is a fairly common one in and about Funchal, and
the “blue trees,” as they are generally called, are the admired of all
beholders during the few weeks they are in bloom. Nature has done well
in ordaining that the foliage should fall before the tree blossoms, as
the full beauty of the flower is thus seen unshrouded by leaves.
The list of flowering trees is a long one, but I cannot help mentioning
a few others which are ornaments to the gardens when in bloom. The dark
red of the _Schotia speciosa_ blossoms also adorn a leafless tree. The
tree, which was called after a Dutchman, one Richard van der Schot, in
its native country--subtropical Africa--is commonly known as the Kaffir
bean-tree, no doubt because its blossoms are more suggestive of bunches
of red seeds or beans than flowers.
There are a few specimens of the gorgeous _Poinciana regia_, which
flowers in summer; its peculiar flat, spreading branches are easily
recognized. No one who has ever seen these magnificent trees in all
their gaudy splendour in tropical regions can ever forget their beauty.
They deserve their name, the royal peacock flower, though they are more
commonly known as flamboyant-trees, from the likeness of their leafless
branches, clad with brilliant orange-red nasturtium-like blossoms,
to flaming torches. In Madeira the tree does not attain to its full
beauty, as possibly the difference between the climate of its native
home--Madagascar--and that of Madeira is too great. Here the less
showy variety, known as _Poinciana pulcherrima_, thrives better.
At the same season the uncouth growth of the bare and leafless
frangipani or plumeria trees bursts into blossom--white,
cream-coloured, or pale pink--and fills the air with its heavy
fragrance, recalling the oppressive, almost stifling, atmosphere of
Buddhist temples in Ceylon, where frangipani blossoms are almost
regarded as sacred to Buddha, and are always called “temple flowers.”
Of the coral-trees there are several varieties: _Erythrina
corallodendron_, a native of the West Indies, has large spikes of deep
red blossoms on leafless light grey stems; and _Erythrina cristagalli_,
a native of Brazil, also bears scarlet blossoms. Besides the flowering
trees, there are so many shrubs which contribute such a wealth of
colour to the gardens, especially in the winter months, that it is hard
to decide which are most worthy of notice. The gaudy orange-coloured
_Streptosolen Jamesonii_, which was only introduced into Madeira a
comparatively short time ago, has now become one of the commonest, but
none the less beautiful, of winter-flowering shrubs. Like many other
plants which I had only known pining in the unfavourable atmosphere
of an English greenhouse, it is almost impossible to recognize the
streptosolen of the greenhouse, with its dull orange and yellow
blossoms, as the same plant when grown in the sunshine of Madeira. The
soil is no doubt partly responsible for the difference in colour--a
fact I have noticed with many other plants, but certainly in the
case of streptosolen the change is most remarkable--and the intense
brilliancy of its large heads of blossom attract the attention of all
new-comers to the island. The shrub is sometimes known as _Browallia
Jamesonii_; and a blue variety which has lately been introduced from
the Cape seemed to closely resemble the family of browallias. Should it
prove to have as vigorous a constitution as the orange variety, it will
be another great acquisition to the island, as its blossoms are of a
deep clear blue.
_Astrapæa pendiflora_, or tassel-tree, as it is often called, from
the resemblance of its great balls of pink blossoms hanging on a long
slender stalk, has handsome foliage, and assumes the proportions of
a large shrub or small tree in a short time, as it appears to be of
very rapid growth. I find it difficult to share the almost universal
admiration that it awakens when in flower, as its beauty is much marred
by the tenacious habit of its dead blossoms, which cling to life to
the bitter end, and spoil all the freshness of the newly developed
blossoms. The balls of blossom, in shape reminding one of huge guelder
roses, start by being a greenish-white, which gradually turns to a deep
dull pink, and in death to a most unsightly brown. _Astrapæa viscaria_
attains to the size of a large tree, and in April bears a burden of
pink blossoms, also in round balls; it is a native of Madagascar, which
seems to be the home of so many of the most beautiful flowering trees.
Among purple flowering shrubs, for the beauty of its individual flowers
and purity of colour, _Lasiandra_ or _Pleroma macrantha_, with its
large deep violet-purple blossoms, deserves a place in every garden.
The plant cannot be reckoned amongst the most showy of the flowering
shrubs, as it does not bear many blossoms fully expanded at the same
time, though, as the flowers are very freely produced at the ends of
the branchlets, its flowering season is a prolonged one. The plant
appears to be a native of Brazil, which is another home of many of the
most beautiful of flowering shrubs.
_Wigandia macrophylla_ attains to the size of a small tree; its large,
loose heads of lilac-purple flowers, somewhat resembling paulonia
blossoms, and its handsome foliage, combine to make it a most
ornamental plant and a valuable acquisition all through the winter and
early spring. To Brazil we owe another favourite shrub, _Franciscea
latifolia_, as it is commonly called, though it appears to belong to
the _Brunsfelsias_, a family of shrubs called after one Otto Brunsfels,
who was first a Carthusian monk and afterwards a physician. The clear
lilac blossoms have a distinct whitish eye, and as they fade, turn to
a greyish-white, so the shrub appears to bear white and lilac blossoms
at the same time. The blossoms are deliciously fragrant, though many
people consider their scent to be too strong and overpowering. A
well-grown specimen attains to eight or ten feet, and has pleasing
shiny green foliage.
The light crimson-flowered _Hibiscus rosa sinensis_, which ornaments
most gardens in tropical or subtropical regions, has also found a
home in Madeira, and the long white trumpet-flowering _Brugmansia
suaveolens_, more commonly called daturas, natives of Mexico, have
found so congenial a home that the shrub may almost be considered to
have become naturalized. Growing at the bottom of many a ravine rich
in vegetation, the shrub will appear to be in a perfectly wild state,
bearing a fresh crop of leaves and blossoms with every new moon, and
filling the air at nightfall with their heavy scent.
The blossoms of the daturas are known as _bellas noites_ by the
Portuguese, though the night-scented flowers of _Cestrum vespertinum_
seem to share the name with them; occasionally, it is true, the
latter are deemed masculine, and are therefore called _boas noites_.
The following interesting description of _Brugmansia_ or _Datura
suaveolens_ is taken from Mr. Lowe’s “Flora of Madeira,” written
in 1857: “The flowers are slightly fragrant by day, but much more
powerfully and diffusedly so after sunset and through the night,
when, by moonlight, they display an almost radiant or phosphorescent
snowy-whiteness, and expand more fully, falling into elegant thick
horizontal rows or flounces on the trees or bushes. Nothing can exceed
their grace and loveliness when in full luxuriance and perfection,
which it may be said to attain at intervals of four to five weeks
continuously, from June to November or December. The tree is esteemed
noxious, and therefore in Madeira of late years has been banished from
gardens and near proximity to houses. This idea perhaps originated from
an accident which occurred some forty years ago, when two or three
children, having eaten a few of the seeds, escaped by timely medical
assistance, with no further harm than the effects of an overdose of
_Atropa belladonna_. Still, there is something perceptively oppressive
in the evening, in too long or close inhalement of the powerful
aromatic fragrance of the flower.”
The peculiar flowers of _Strelitzia regina_, introduced to Europe from
South Africa during the reign of George III., and named, in honour
of Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, never fail to attract
admiration. The plant is also called bird of paradise flower and
bird’s-tongue flower--both suitable names, as the gaudiness of its blue
and orange flowers must have been responsible for the former, while
the resemblance of the flower to a bird’s head with a bright blue beak
shows its likeness to the latter. The plant has long, narrow, oblong
leaves, of a dull greyish-green, of a peculiarly tough texture, and a
good clump some four or five feet high is very ornamental. _Strelitzia
augusta_, as its name implies, is of more majestic growth. It has large
foliage, not unlike a banana, and clumps attain to twelve or fifteen
feet in height. The blossom is more curious than beautiful, being of so
dark a purple as to be almost black; but, for the sake of its foliage,
it is always worth a place, and may well be called a noble plant.
[Illustration: A CHAPEL DOORWAY]