AN ENCYCLOPADIA 
Urginea—continued. 
scape slender, 6in. long. June. Z. five or six, lanceolate, fleshy- 
herbaceous, glabrous, 6in. to 9in. long, lin. to 1jin. broad. Bulb 
0 lżin. to ljin. thick. 1804. SYN. Albuca physodes (B. M. 
U. Scilla (Scilla. A synonym of U. maritima. 
URINE. An excellent manure, because of the sub- 
stances contained in it. Of these, one of the most im- 
portant is Ammonia, either uncombined, or united with 
various acids to form compounds. From these substances 
plants are able to obtain the Nitrogen required for the pro- 
duction of protoplasm. There are also various mineral 
compounds in solution in Urine, in a form available for 
plants; in fact, the Urine of most animals is of more 
value as a manure than their solid excrement. Analysis 
of various Urines gives the following results: Urine of 
cattle contains 8 per cent. of solid matters; of horses, 
11 per cent.; of sheep, 13 per cent.; of pigs, 25 per 
cent.; and of man, from 3 to 6 per cent. Amongst the 
substances in Urine are Carbonates, Phosphates, Chlorides, 
and Sulphates of Ammonia, and of other alkalies, along 
with a good deal of Urea and of Urie Acid. The two last 
substances readily undergo chemical changes into Ammonia 
and its compounds. The addition to the Urine of Gypsum, 
or of coarse Sulphuric Acid, forms Sulphate of Ammonia, 
and thus prevents the loss of the Ammonia by evapora- 
tion into the atmosphere. Urine should be permitted 
to become stale or to putrefy before being applied to the 
soil. It is a very valuable manure for almost all kinds 
of garden produce and fruit-trees; and, when diluted 
with three or four times its bulk of water, may be employed 
in the fluid state. It may also be mixed up as a compost 
with soil and vegetable refuse. The mass should be 
allowed to ferment for some time, and may then be 
applied like ordinary farm-yard manure. Owing to its 
very strong and unpleasant smell when stale, Urine 
should not be freely used close to houses. Instead of 
being allowed to run to waste, as it so often is, arrange- 
ments should be made for collecting the farm-yard Urine 
into a tank, and for storing it up for use as described 
above. 
URN FLOWER, DROOPING. 
S See Urceolina 
pendula. 
UROCYSTIS (from owra, a tail or stalk, and kystis, 
a vessel or bladder; in allusion to the stalked, vesicular 
spores). This is one of the genera included in the group 
of Fungi known to botanists as the Ustilaginei, and 
in popular language as Smuts, from their loose, dark 
spores giving a dirty appearance to the plants in which 
they grow. The Fungi in this genus are parasites; they 
grow for a while inclosed in the tissues of living plants; 
then, when the spores ripen, they form dark swellings, 
whose growth bursts the outer tissues of the st-plant, 
and discloses the powdery mass of spores. The parts in 
which these are formed are usually much swollen and 
distorted. The spores of Urocystis vary a good deal in. 
size and form, but usually consist of a layer of rather 
small cells, surrounding a larger central cell, which is the 
one actively concerned in the development of new mycelium 
when the spore is kept in a warm, moist atmosphere. The 
spores are fixed on the tips of branches till ripe, when 
they fall from the stalks. The species of Urocystis are 
‘hurtful to cultivated plants, and the following occur in 
Britain: U. Viole grows in petioles and other organs of 
the Sweet Violet (Viola odorata); U. Anemones is very 
common on yarious kinds of Anemone, and on allied 
plants; and U. sorosporioides occurs on leaves and 
flowers of Thalictrum. ? 
For remedies, see Ustilago. Se 
UROPEDIUM. Included under Selenipedium 
(which see). : 
MAE A synonym of Dipeadi (which 
see). i ; 
125 
OF HORTICULTURE. 
UROSKINNERA (named after G. Ure Skinner, a 
 lyrate-pinnatifid; cauline ones amplexicaul. 
merchant and collector of Central American plants). 
ORD. Scrophularinee. A genus consisting of a couple 
of species of softly villous, stove herbs, natives of Central 
America and Mexico. Flowers rosy-violet, rather large, 
declinate, shortly pedicellatey with two bristly bracts at 
base; calyx tubular-campanulate, with four or five short, 
bristly teeth; corolla tube elongated, enlarged above, 
the limb of five scarcely unequal, spreading lobes; 
stamens four, included; style elongated, very shortly 
bifid; spike or raceme terminal, dense, secund. Leaves 
opposite, petiolate, soft, crenate. S. spectabilis, the only 
species introduced, thrives in sandy loam. It may be 
increased by cuttings, inserted in sand, under a bell glass, 
in heat. ; 
U. spectabilis (showy). f. in sessile, terminal, very close 
spikes about 3in. long; calyx small, ea" four-toothed ; 
corolla smooth, ljin. long, funnel-shaped. uly. i. oblong, 
toothed, 2in. to Jin. long. A. lft. to lÀft. Mexico, 1856. Plant 
grey with close hairs. (B. M. 5009; F. d. 8. 1433.) 
UROSPATHA (from oura, a tail, and spatha, a 
spathe; referring to the long-pointed spathe in most of 
the species). ORD. Aroidew (Aracew). A genus com- 
prising about ten species of stove, marsh-loving herbs, 
with thick rhizomes, natives of tropical America. Flowers 
hermaphrodite, the lower ones sterile; spathe erect, 
closed at base, at length opening, long-narrowed above, 
straight, decurved, or twisted, persistent; spadix sessile 
or nearly so, inappendiculate, much shorter than the 
spathe; perianth segments and stamens four to six; 
peduncle elongated. Leaves few, hastate-sagittate, with 
diverging nerves or nearly parallel ribs; petioles 
elongated, sheathing at base. The two introduced species 
thrive in light, loamy soil, and require an abundance 
of water when growing. They may be propagated by 
division of the rootstock. REAN 
U. desciscens (degenerate). fl., spathe brown and claret- 
coloured, convolute below, gaping above, long-acuminate, in- 
curved or arcuate; spadix sessile, cylindroid, obtuse, shorter 
than the spathe tube; peduncle equalling the petioles. l 
broadly lobed, the anterior one triangular, acuminate, the 
posterior rather longer, oblong, acuminate, very inequilateral ; 
FREE, nearly twice the length of the blades. h. 3ft. 
U. sagittifolia (sagittate-leaved). Z. spathe yellowish-green 
or deep green, mottled or blotched with grey or rosy-red, 
lanceolate, long-acuminate; spadix green, cylindrical, a quarter 
to one-fifth the length of the spathe. /. broadly lobed, hastate- 
sagittate, the anterior lobe lanceolate-triangular, acuminate ; 
basal lobes rather longer, oblong-lanceolate; petioles slightly 
scabrous or scabrid, warted. Para, 1866. ‘‘U. elegans, U. grandis, 
JU: picturata, U. spectabilis, and U. splendens, all from Para, are 
+ garden gines for what are probably varieties of this species" 
. E. Brown). 
UROSPERMUM (from ouros, a tail, and spermum, 
a seed; alluding to the beaked achenes) Sheep’s Beard. 
Syn. Arnopogon. ORD. Composite. A small genus (two 
species) of hardy, annual or biennial, slightly-branched 
herbs, natives of the Mediterranean region. Flower- 
heads yellow, long-pedunculate at the tips of the branches; 
involucre campanulate, with seven or eight bracts in one 
series, spiny outside;. receptacle conical, naked; ray 
florets ligulate, truncately five-toothed at apex; achenes 
beaked. Leaves radical or alternate, deeply toothed or 
Only one 
species calls for mention here. It is a biennial, of easy 
culture in common soil. 
U. Dalechampii (Dalechamp’s). /i.-heads on naked peduncles ; 
involucre Gage pa e June. l variously runcinate, ` 
toothed. h. 1ft. South Europe, 1739. Syn. Arnopogon 
Dalechampii (B. M. 1625; S. F. G. 780). p 
URSINIA (named after John Ursinus, of Batterie . 
1608-1666, who wrote an “Arboretum Biblieum"). In- 
eluding Sphenogyne. Orv. Composite. A genus com- 
prising fifty-four species of greenhouse or half-hardy, 
.annual or perennial herbs or shrubs, natives of South 
Afriea, one also extending to Abyssinia.  Flower-heads 
solitary or loosely paniculate, heterogamous; involucre 
