TO THE FLO^YER GARDEN. 191 



are increased by cuttings, which should be a little dried 

 before planting, and inserted in sand, and set on a shelf in 

 I the greenhouse. The best compost for them is loam, inter- 

 ; mixed with sand and broken potsherds to keep it porous. 

 Some of them are very handsome when in perfection, but 

 they do not assort well with other plants. Being of easy 

 management, scarcely requiring watering except in the height 

 of summer, and but seldom needing to be repotted, they are 

 well suited for window cultivation, and especially for hot 

 sunn}^ windows. M. cnjstalHnum, the common Ice plant, is a 

 half-hardy annual species, interesting only on account of its 

 sparkling hyaline leaves. M. puropcciun, or tricolor, is a 

 beautiful greenhouse annual, which should be sown in the 

 hot frame in February, potted off as soon as large enough to 

 handle, three or four in a pot, and grown on in a frame until 

 well established, when it may be removed for blooming to the 

 greenhouse. Many of the species of Mesembryanthemura are 

 interesting objects, on account of their peculiar habit and the 

 form of their foliage. 



METROSIDEkoS. [Myrtaceae.] Greenhouse evergreen 

 shrubs, requiring the same treatment as Melaleuca, to which 

 they are allied. Soil, loam and peat in equal parts, with 

 sand. Increased by cuttings in sand under a bell-glass. 

 The species sometimes succeed against a conservative wall. 

 MEXICAN LILY. See Hippeastrum reginum. 

 MEZEKEON. See Daphne. 

 MIGNONETTE. See Reseda. 

 MILFOIL. See Achillea. 

 • MILK VETCH. See Astragalus. 

 MILKWORT. See Polygala. 



MILLA. [Liliacege.] Half-hardy bulbs. Soil, light 

 dryish loam. Propagated by offsets. 



MIMOSA. [Leguminosse.] This comprises the Sensitive 

 plants, M. sensitiva and ^[.piidica, two stove shrubs, the foliage 

 of which is endowed with a veiy remarkable and interesting 

 sensibility, for the sake of which they are cultivated. The 

 flowers of both are purplish — little globular balls of coloured 

 threads — not at all showy, but the leaves are very elegant. 

 The peculiarity which obtains for them both their name and 

 popularity is the shrinking of the branches and folding up of 



