AN ENCYCLOPADIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 137 
Vangueria—continued. 
V. edulis (edible-fruited). A. green ; cymes springing from below 
the leaves. June. fr. resembling an apple, but not crowned, 
succulent, edible, containing five stones. l. ovate, membranous, 
glabrous. A. 12ft. Madagascar, 1809. A small, unarmed tree. 
V. velutina (velvety). J. pale yellowish-green, axillary in the 
lower leaves, in short, dense cymes. May. l. large, opposite, 
nerved, shortly petiolate, cordate-ovate, rather acute, entire, 
much waved, mostly downy beneath. Ah. "art. Madagascar, 1829. 
A softly- tomentose shrub. (B. M. 3014.) 
VANGUIERA. A synonym of Vangueria (which 
see). 
VANHOUTTEA. A synonym of Houttea (which 
see). 
VANILLA (from the Spanish we, a little 
sheath; in allusion to the shape of the fruit), Syn. 
Myrobroma. ORD. Orchidew. A genus embracing about 
a score species of stove, tall-climbing, branched Orchids, 
scattered over tropical regions. Flowers large, but 
usually dull-coloured and uninteresting, in axillary, often 
short racemes or spikes; sepals and petals sub-equal, 
free, spreading; claw of the lip adnate with the elon- 
gated, wingless column, the limb broad, concave, its base 
rolled around the column; bracts ovate. Capsule often 
elongated, fleshy, not (or at length scarcely) dehiscent. 
Leaves coriaceous or fleshy, nerved, sessile or shortly 
petiolate. Vanilla is remarkable in being the only genus 
of the order which possesses any economic value. The 
fruit of several species is largely employed, under its 
botanical name, for flavouring chocolate, liqueurs, ices, 
&e. V. planifolia produces the best Vanilla. Only four 
speeies call for description in this work. They should be 
potted or planted out in & narrow bed, in peat and 
sphagnum, and trained up & wall or on a thick piece of 
wood. A strong heat is favourable to their well-being. 
Propagation may be effected by cuttings; the climbing 
stems produce roots, and may be cut into lengths for 
the purpose. 
- : ong; 
be pa dui "d aS Least Ms lip eee n Galt. 
free, yas ar , apiculate, undulated ; column bearded. 1. ovate- 
oblong, su ile, acute, striated, reddish on the margins. 
Demerara. 
V. lutescens (yellowish). J. Gin. across, showy, two or more 
— from the axils of the leaves, somewhat resembling in 
eneral EE those of Cattleya citrina ; sepals and petals 
greenish ma lip very bright yellow. La Guayra, 1859. 
V. Phalenopsis (Phalenopsis-like) fl. 3in. across, 
seven in an umbel; sepals faint blush- white, keeled behind. 
acute, the two lateral ones divided to the base on the lower 
side; petals the same colour, but less acute, channelled; lip 
e —€— outside, tawny-orange within, over lin. long, 
roadly funnel-shaped. Stems long, rogtin 473 - Mada- 
gascar, 1869. An interesting species. 
V. planifolia (flatleaved) fi. wholl "eh, or och within, 
or with a white lip, 2in. across; ib and petals lanceolate- 
oblong; lip callous below the serrulated, repand summit, and 
crested at the middle with minute, recurved scales. fr. 6in. 
long, sub-cylindrical. J, fleshy, 5in. to Tin. long, oblong or ovate- 
oblong, acute, contracted at base, Stem qM West 
Indies, 1800. (A. B. R. 538; B. M. PI. 272; L. B. C. 733) 
VANILLA PLANT. See Trilisa odoratissima. 
VAPOUR. Moisture which, in heated plant-struc- 
tures especially, arises from the soil, walls, paths, Zo. 
when watered d from evaporating - troughs filled 
with water 2 ed on the hot-water pipes. Vapour 
i i 8 is continually ascending from damp, 
s; hence the feeling of moisture in the 
terior of plant-houses, Ze, and sometimes 
x outside x after rain. 
| VAPOURER MOTH. See Orgyia antiqua. 
VARGASIA. A synonym of Thouinia (which Sek 
VARIEGATED. Irregularly coloured. 
VARIETY. A sort or modification subordinate to a 
species. . "eg can only be propagated with cer- 
Variety—continued. 
tainty by grafts, cuttings, bulbs, ee or any other 
method which produces a new plant by the development 
of one or more buds taken from the old one. If the ` 
Variety generally comes true from seed, it is Les called 
a Race. 
VARIOLATE. Marked as if by the egen or 
pittings of small-pox. 
VARNISH-TREE. A common name for Ailantus 
glandulosus, Melanorrhea usitatissima, Rhus vernicifera, 
Ze, 
VARRONIA. A synonym of Cordia (which see). 
VASCOA. Included under Rafnia. 
VASCONCELLEA. Included under Carica. 
VASCULAR. Furnished with, or relating to, vessels 
or ducts. 
VASCULAR | SYSTEM. Under this name are in- 
eluded all those parts of plants in which true Vessels 
(which see) occur. As the latter dre found only in 
flowering plants, and in Vascular Cryptogams (Ferns, 
Horsetails, Club-mosses, and their allies), there is no 
Vascular System i in the remaining groups of Cryptogams, 
i.e., in the True Mosses, Liverworts, Ales, Lichens, and 
Fungi. It is often represented, or rather foreshadowed, 
among the Mosses and some of the species in the other 
groups, by bundles or strings of long, tapering cells, which, 
to some extent, do the same work. The Vascular System 
is present in the roots, stems, branches, and leaves of 
the Vascular Plants. It remains when continued steep- 
ing in water, or exposure to the weather, has caused the 
decay of all the softer cells in these plants, so that it 
forms the skeleton or framework on which the plants are 
built up. It is best seen in those parts in which the 
bundles or strings of which it consists are always separated 
by cellular tissue from one another, ¢.g., in leaves, and 
in the stems of Monocotyledons and Ferns, and in 
young stems of herbaceous Dicotyledons. In the stems 
and roots of woody Dicotyledons it becomes more 
difücult to recognise the true nature of the Vascular 
System, owing to the formation of annual rings of wood 
and of bast by the cambium layer just below the bark. 
The chief uses of the Vascular System are twofold, 
viz.: (1) It gives strength and mechanical support to 
all parts of the plant, serving as the framework for the 
cellular tissues, in which the work of preparing the food 
goes on; (2) the wood, in the Vascular System, is the 
channel of communication for conveying the crude sap 
upwards from the soil to the leaves, and the soft bast 
in each bundle is believed to be the chief channel by ` 
which the protoplasmic food-substances are conveyed 
from the leaves, in which they are prepared, to the 
growing WS where they are used up in forming new 
structures, or to the parts (tubers, seeds, Zei where 
they are stored up for future use. See Sap. 
VASCULUM. A botanist’s collecting-box. The term 
is also applied to a pitcher-shaped leaf.  . 
VASES. There are various kinds of Vases in use, both 
for growing plants in, and also for arranging cut flowers. 
Vases for terrace walls and other positions in formal 
flower-gardening, and also for conservatory embellish- 
ment, are made in various sizes, and in great variety 
of design.  "Terra-cotta is largely employed in their 
manufacture, as it withstands all weathers, and is well 
adapted for the purpose. Vases are also made of stone 
and cast iron, amongst other substances. For the arrange- 
ment of cut flowers for table and room decorations, pe 
Vases are best — flowers do not look so well in 
. else—but sometimes silver, old china, or other fur dr E 
are used for the purpose of e ay mee them, in vint. 
