AN ENCYCLOPADIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 375 
Mitriostigma—continued. 
few-flowered, branched cymes; calyx tube ovoid; limb 
five-parted; corolla narrowly campanulate, with a short 
tube, a glabrous or villous throat, and a five-lobed 
rotundate limb. Leaves opposite, petiolate, membrana- 
ceous, elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate. For culture of 
M. awillare, see Gardenia. 
M. axillare (axillary-flowered).* fl. white, very fragrant, single, 
axillary. Spring. L. opposite, somewhat coriaceous, elliptical, 
lanceolate, dark green. h. 5ft. Natal. A compact reading 
species. See Fig. 581. (B. M. 4987, under name of Gardenia 
citriodora.) 
MNEMOSILLA. A synonym of Hypecoum (which 
see). 
MOCKER NUT. See Carya tomentosa. 
MODECCA (the East Indian name of one of the 
species). ORD. Passifloree. A genus comprising about 
twenty-five species of stove evergreen climbing shrubs, 
with the general habit of Bryonia; they are found in 
Asia, Africa, and tropical Australia. Flowers unisexual ; 
peduncles axillary, branched. Leaves entire, palmately 
lobed, or pinnatifid. The species have no horticultural 
value. 
MODIOLA (from modiolus, the nave of a wheel; 
referring to the formation of the seed vessel). ORD. 
Malvacew. A genus containing several species (which 
are, in all probability, only varieties of one) of hardy, 
or nearly hardy, creeping or trailing herbs. Flowers 
on axillary, solitary, rarely twin, one-flowered, slender 
peduncles. Leaves usually five-lobed, doubly serrate. 
M. multifida, a North American plant, of no horticultural 
merit, is in cultivation in botanic gardens. 
M. poranloides (Geranium-like). A synonym of Malvastrum 
UNESU. 
MŒHNIA. A synonym of Gazania (which see). 
MGHRINGIA (named after Paul Henry Gerard 
Mehring, a German physician, author of “Hortus Pro- 
prius,” 1736). ORD. Caryophyllee. A small genus 
(included, by Bentham and Hooker, under Arenaria) of 
pretty, hardy, herbaceous perennials, allied to Arenaria, 
but differing in the seeds, which have a strophiole at the 
hilum. Flowers pentamerous or tetramerous. For cul- 
ture, see Arenaria. 
M. muscosa (mossy).* fl. white, small, axillary, solitary. Sum- 
mer. J. linear, connate. F. Sin. to 4in. Europe, 1775. 
MOHRIA (named after Daniel Mohr, a German 
botanist, who died in 1808). ORD. Filices. A monotypic 
genus. The species is a sweet-scented greenhouse fern, 
with the habit of Cheilanthes. Capsules sessile, placed 
on the back of the leafy frond near the edge. M. caffrorum 
and its variety require a compost of peat and sand, to 
which should be added small lumps of sandstone. They 
thrive in a cool greenhouse, and constitute pretty sub- 
jects for the Wardian case, if plenty of room is allowed. 
For general culture, see Ferns. 
M. caffrorum (Kaffir).* sti. tufted, 3in. to din. long, slightly scaly. 
Jronds 6in. to Gain. eae 2in. to Ain. broad, tripfina fid; pinnz 
close, lanceolate-oblong, cut down to a narrowly-winged rachis 
into oblong pinnules, which are pinnatifid and deeply thed in 
the barren frond, less divided in the fertile one. Cape of Good 
Hope, &c., 1842. ‘Syn. M. thurifragra. 
c. achillezefolia (Achillea-leaved). A finely-cut variety, with 
the fronds almost quadripinnatifid. It is not so robust as the 
ype, and is much rarer in cultivation. 
M. th frankincense). A synonym of M. cafrorum. 
urifragra ( 
MOLE (Talpa Europea). This animal is too uni- 
versally known to call for any detailed description of 
its appearance. Its structure is remarkable, because of 
the numerous adaptations that it presents to fit the 
animal for burrowing, and for rapid movement through 
tunnels it has made a few inches below the surface 
of the soil. The front part of the body is much 
stouter than the rear. The fore legs are very powerful, 
and have the bones curiously modified to support the 
Mole—continued. 
very strong muscles of the limb, which serves the 
part of a digging instrument, and to throw the loosened 
earth backwards. The hand, or fore paw, is made 
broader by an additional bone along the inner side. 
The skin is strong, and the fur is close and velvety, 
and lies smoothly in whatever direction it is stroked. 
The eyes are so small as to be practically useless to 
the animals, which are, however, possessed of acute 
hearing and smell. The teeth prove them to be 
‘carnivorous, and observation proves that Moles feed 
on insects, chiefly as larve, and on earthworms. Occa- 
sionally a little vegetable matter may be swallowed 
along with this food. The home of the Mole is usually 
situated in some well-protected place, e.g., under a 
large stone or the root of a tree; and there are usually 
several passages diverging from it, into any one of 
which the Mole may retreat for shelter when in danger. 
The female makes a nest of dried grass, or other herbage, 
in a specially-constructed chamber, and in it she brings 
forth four or five naked young ones. It is probable that 
Moles do more good than harm when they confine their 
operations to the fields; but in gardens they do much 
damage in flower borders, by cutting the roots of the 
flowers; and their earth-heaps render lawns very un- 
sightly. It is, therefore, necessary to remove them from 
gardens whenever they find their way in, and this is best 
done by the use of traps set in their burrows or runs. 
As the animals are very wary, it is needful to take 
special precautions against the smell of one’s hands re- 
maining about the traps. Where a molecatcher’s ser- 
vices can be obtained, it will probably be found advis- 
able to employ them if it is necessary to rid a garden 
of Moles. i 
MOLE CRICKET (Gryllotalpa vulgaris). This in- 
sect belongs to the family Gryllidæ, of the order Ortho- 
ptera, but is so different in its whole appearance from 
any other of our native insects, that there can be no 
difficulty in recognising it from the accompanying wood- 
Fig. 582. MOLE CRICKET. 
cut (Fig. 582). Its colour is smoky-brown above, and 
pr ch, Ste below, with a velvety gloss on the surface. 
The sexes are much alike, but the females have the abdomen 
large, the sixth ring being broader than the others, while 
in the male the sixth ring is the narrowest. They reach 
a length of between 1}in. and 2in. The popular name 
of “Mole Cricket” is derived from the resemblance in 
form of the front pair of legs to those of a mole, the 
legs in each being broad, flattened, very strong, and so 
placed as to form very efficient instraments for digging 
burrows, and for throwing the earth backwards. The 
form of the body also in both is suited to permit easy 
movement along the burrows. The insect prefers licht, 
sandy, or cultivated soils, and is, therefore, partial to 
gardens and avoids stiff clays. It occurs throughout 
Southern and Central Europe, and is common in many 
laces in the South of Britain, but does not extend to 
the North. It remains so hidden in its burrows that its 
resence in a locality may hardly be suspected, even where 
prieme when looked for. In digging its burrows, it cuts 
the roots that it encounters, causing the plants to wither 
without evident cause. The female makes a nest under- 
ground, and in it lays.from 200 to 400 eggs; when the 
larvæ “emerge, she watches over them till their first 
