AN ENCYCLOPADIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 185 
Viscum—continued. 
with the plant would be exchanged for a feeling of stern 
disapproval, and the Mistletoe would be banished from 
our homes. . . . Mistletoe may be made to grow on the 
Apple and other trees, by cutting a notch in the bark on 
the under-surface of a branch, and carefully inserting the 
seed therein. Two precautions are especially needed— 
one is to place the seed in such a position that the embryo 
shall be directed towards the trunk of the tree, and the 
other is to avoid crushing the seed. The Apple is the 
tree on which the Mistletoe grows most abundantly. The 
orchards in Herefordshire are greatly infested with this 
parasite, which, however, has a value of its own, for it 
appears that upwards of one hundred tons 
of Mistletoe are annually forwarded to 
London and other large towns from that 
county alone, for Christmas decorations. 
Some sorts of Apples are preferred to others 
for its growth, and, singularly enough, 
it is rarely, if ever, found on the Pear- 
tree. Next in frequency to the Apple, 
the Mistletoe prefers the Poplars, though 
it is not found on the Lombardy Poplar. 
Hawthorns, Limes, Maples, and the Moun- 
tain Ash, are all favourite habitats for 
the plant. It has been found on the 
Cedar of Lebanon and on the Larch, but 
rarely upon the Oak. Dr. Bull, in a 
paper in the ‘Journal of Botany’ (ii. 73), 
only mentions seven authentic instances 
of the growth of Mistletoe on the Oak 
in this country " (Dr. Masters). The ripe 
fruits may be crushed on young branches 
of Apple or Thorn trees, and the viscid 
pulp soon hardens and affords protection 
to the seed, as well as sufficient resistance 
to allow it, when germinating, to pierce 
the bark. To prevent birds from disturb- 
ing the seeds after being placed in posi- 
tion, it is necessary to cover with thin 
canvas, or some such material. 
V. album (white) Common Mistletoe. fl. 
green, ternate, inconspicuous. March to May. 
Sr. white, e ad in diameter, ovoid or 
obose. id. i. opposite or in whorls ot 
hree, lin. to 3in. long, obovate k 
obtuse, five to seven-nerved. Branches 
terete, dichotomous, knotted. A. lft. to 
4ft. ein, (Britain) &c. Shrub yellowish- 
SS, glabrous. (F. D. x. 1657; Sy. En. B. 
VISIANIA. A synonym of Ligus- 
trum (which see). 
VISMIA (named in h r of M. de 
Visme, a merchant Lisbon) Syn. 
Acrossanthes. ORD. Hypericinem. A 
genus embracing upwards of twenty 
species of stove trees or shrubs, mostly 
tropical American, four being found in 
Western tropical Africa, Flowers yellow 
or whitish; sepals five; petals five, often 
villous above; stamens in five groups; 
cymes terminal, sometimes few-flowered, 
Vismia—continued. 
V. guianensis (Guiana). American Gamboge or Gutta-Gum 
Tree. fl. corymbose; calyx villous. August. l. ovate-lanceolate, 
acuminate, dilated at base, glabrous above, rufescent beneath ; 
petioles short. Stems quadrangular. A. 8ft. Guiana, 1824. 
v. gutnoshsts (Guinea) fl, calyx ovate-lanceolate; corolla 
glabrous; panicle spreading. May. l. ovate-lanceolate, acute, 
softly dotted beneath ; petioles slender. Stems terete; branches 
divaricate. h. 6ft. Guinea, 1823, 
VISNEA (called after a Lisbon merchant named Visne, 
who was interested in botany). ORD. Ternstrimiaceæ, 
A monotypic genus. The species is a greenhouse, ever- 
green tree, with the habit and inflorescence of Eurya 
(which see for culture). 
sometimes paniculately many-flowered. Fic. 200, FLOWERING BRANCHLET OF VISNEA MOCANERA. 
Berry indehiscent. Leaves entire, often 
ample and tomentose or canescent be- > 
neath, gland-dotted, rarely highly glabrous. The under- 
mentioned species, which are all that call for mention 
in this work, thrive in a compost of loam and peat, and 
may be increased by cuttings, inserted in sand, under a 
bell glass, in heat. All are shrubs. 
V. glabra (smooth). f., calyx ovate-oblong, obtuse, glabrous; | 
panicle loose, July. 1. elliptic-lanceolate, glabrous, on short, 
t Wigs petioles. Branchlets compressed. h. 6ft. Peru, 
Vol. IV. 
v, Mocanera (so named b Linnæus on account, of r the frait 
eing supposed by some authors ave ocan, 
was SE into a kind of syrup, and largely employed by the 
aboriginal inhabitants of the Islands) A. 
sub-sessile; sepals much imbricated; petals connate at base; 
stamens numerous. March. fr. baccate, indehiscent. J. 
VITELLARIA. A synonym of Lucuma (which 
2 p 
