MBDINELLA. 



197 



MELIA. 



loam. Most of the kinds are 

 handsome, and some have splendid 

 flowers. 



MatApPLE. — SeePoDOPHY'LLUM. 



Mat'tenus. — CelastrlnecB. — An 

 evergreen shrub, a native of Chili, 

 ■with yellowish flowers, which are 

 produced in great abundance in 

 May. It is nearly hardy, and only 

 requires a slight protection dm-ing 

 severe frosts. 



Meadow Saffron. — The popu- 

 lar English name for Colchicum. 



Mecoxo'psis. — Papavera cece. — 

 The new name for the Welsh Poppy, 

 Papdver cdmhricum L. This plant, 

 which has yellow flowers, is a native 

 of mountainous places in Wales ; 

 and it is easy of culture in any soil 

 which is poor rather than rich. 



Medica'go. — Leguminosce. — 

 Weedy-looking plants, with yellow 

 pea-flowers, which are generally 

 single or in small clusters. The 

 seed-pods of many of the species 

 are very curious, some resembling 

 snails, others hedgehogs, and others 

 beehives. In old seed catalogues 

 these names are all found enumer- 

 ated ; but they are omitted in those 

 of the present date, as the plants to 

 which they belong are found not 

 worth growing. 



Medixe'lla. — Melastomdcece. — 

 This is a very splendid genus of 

 shrubs from the Malay Peninsula, 

 and the Eastern Archipelago. Most 

 of the species inhabit damp forests, 

 and Dr. Blair states that he has 

 seen some of them climbing up trees 

 from sixty to eighty feet high. The 

 most beautiful species is probably 

 31. magnifica, introduced about 

 1850, and sometimes called M. 

 hracteata in the nurseries. The 

 bracts of the flowers of this species 

 are rose-coloured and very orna- 

 mental. In Great Britain, it re- 

 quires a moderate stove or warm 

 greenhouse. 3£. Sieboldiana, syn. 



3f. eximia, has white wax-like 

 flowers, with a yellowish - brown 

 calyx, and deep rose-coloured sta- 

 mens. 



Melaleu'ca. — 3Iyrtdc€CB. — Aus- 

 tralian shrubs, with very singular 

 tassel-like flowers, which the first 

 settlers in New Holland called the 

 Tea Trees, and which are nearly al- 

 lied to Metrosideros. One species, 31. 

 nerifblia, which has yellow flowers 

 with petals, has been removed to the 

 genus Tristania ; M. Cajuputi, from 

 which the Cajeput oil is made, and 

 31. Leucadendron, the Black and 

 White Tree, are natives of the 

 East Indies, and require a stove in 

 England ; but all the Australian 

 species are greenhouse plants. One 

 of the handsomest of these, 31. 

 fidgens, has its flowers in a long 

 spike, which looks like a bottle- 

 brush. All the kinds should be 

 grown in a compost of sand, loam, 

 and peat ; and they are all propa- 

 gated by cuttings. 



Mela'nthium. — 3IelanthdcecB. — 

 Pretty little plants with biJbous 

 roots and blackish flowers, mostly 

 natives of the Cape of Good Hope, 

 and requiring the usual treatment 

 of Cape bulbs. 



Mela'stoma. — 3Ielastomdcece. — 

 Very handsome stove shrubs, with 

 large showy flowers. The leaves are 

 also large and strongly ribbed. The 

 fruit is eatable, and filled with a 

 black pulp ; whence the name of 

 Melastoma, or Black-mouth, is said 

 to be given to it, because it stains 

 the mouths of those who eat it. All 

 the species are natives of Ceylon 

 and other parts of the East Indies ; 

 and they all require to be grown in 

 peat, and kept rather dry during 

 winter. 



Me'lia. — 3Ielid cece. — The Bead 



Tree. — 3i. Azedardch, the common 



Bead Tree, is a half-hardy shrub, or 



: tree, with IQac flowers and yellow 



