red spider, is one of tlie most trouble- 

 some of all insects to gardeners, par- 

 ticularly in the bark stove, as it breeds 

 in the bark. When first hatched, 

 I this little creature is scarcely per- 

 : ceptible, as its colour is of a yellovrish 

 . green, and it spins its web on the 

 ! under side of the leaves. As it gets 

 ; older, it becomes of a bro-miish red. 

 j It has eight legs, and belongs to the 

 I spider family ; but it is provided with 

 i a kind of proboscis or rostrum, with 

 ! which it sucks the juices of the leaves 

 it lives upon, and soon withers them ; 

 I thus spoiling both fruit and flowers, 

 ' as neither can be properly nourished 

 I by the sap without the assistance of 

 j the leaves. It is very difficult to 

 I destroy this insect, as tobacco-smoke, 

 I and the other remedies generally used 

 ■ against it, appear to have very little 

 ; effect. Sprinkling with cold water 

 ' will sometimes destroy it ; but as the 

 j insect is generally produced by keep- 

 ' ing the plants too hot, and not allow- 

 j ing them sufficient air, the best 

 I remedy appears to be to set all the 

 hothouse plants in the open ground 

 ; dui'ing the months of July and Au- 

 gust, plunging the pots in a bed of 

 I dung, decayed leaves, or tan, and 

 [ well ventilating and cleaning the 



houses vvhile they are empty. 

 ; Achille'a. — Compositce. — The 

 plants belonging to this genus are 

 . known under their EuglLsh name of 

 ; IMilfoil. ;Most of them have no great 

 ' beauty, but they are of very vigorous 

 ' gro-^v-th, and v,ill thrive in any soil or 

 ! situation, bearing either smoke or cold 

 without any visible change. They 

 are also suitable plants for balconies 

 or boxes, as they are not easily in- 

 jured either by too much watering, 

 or by being kept too dry. The most 

 ornamental of the vigorous-growing 

 kinds are Achillea tomentbsa, the 

 woolly IVIilfoil, with yellow flowers, 

 and A . tanacetifblia, with red flowers. 

 ] Of the more delicate species, A. Cla- 



ACHIMENES. 



vtnnce, the silvery-leaved Milfoil, 

 with large white flowers, is a very 

 pretty little plant for rockwork. 

 A. aurea, which scarcely grows half 

 a foot high, and has rich yellow 

 flowers, which it produces in great 

 profusion, is very suitable for edgings 

 to beds and borders. All the species 

 grow freely in any soil that is tolerably 

 dry ; and they are all readily increased 

 by division of the root. 



Achilie'nes. — ScropJaddrina;. 

 — The plants belonging to this genus 

 are, generally speaking, highly orna- 

 mental perennials, with very showy 

 flowers ; natives of South or Central 

 America, and require artificial heat 

 in Europe. They have tuberous 

 roots covered with scales, and funnel- 

 shaped flowers ; that is, their flowers 

 have a very narrow tube, and a 

 broad spreading limb. A. argyro- 

 stir/ma, however, has small insignifi- 

 cant flowers, though it has ornamental 

 leaves of a dark green, spotted with 

 white. The first species known in Bri- j 

 tish gardens was first called Cyrllla j 

 pidchella, and afterwards Trevirdna ''■ 

 cocclnea. It is a native of Jamaica, 

 and was introduced in 1778. In 

 1841, tubers of some other species of 

 the same genus were sent to England 

 from Guatemala, v.-hen it was dis- 

 covered that the Jamaica species had 

 or^inally been called A chimenes by 

 Dr. Patrick Browne, who first de- 

 scribed it ; and hence that name was 

 given to the genus. The derivation 

 of the name is unknown, but it is 

 supposed to signify a plant that does 

 not like wintry weather. The first 

 three of the following species were 

 introduced by Jlr. Hartweg, from 

 Guatemala, in 1841 and 1842 -.—A. 

 rosea, with flowers resembling those 

 of A. cocclnea, but longer and of a 

 deep rose colour ; A . longijldra, a 

 very handsome species, the flowers 

 of which have an exceedingly large 

 rich dark-blue limb, and a verv 



