MELOCACTUS. 



198 



MENTANTHES. 



berries, the pulp of which is poison- ' 

 ous ; but the hard stoae in the 

 centre is used to make rosaries. 

 There is another species, ilf . scmper- 

 vivens, which is a native of the West 

 Indies, where it is called the Indian 

 Lilac, or Pride of India. Both 

 kinds are generally kept in the 

 stove in England, where they will j 

 ripen their seeds ; but the first kind i 

 does very well against a conserva- I 

 tive wall, and it has flowered in 

 the open aii- at Bayswater and other 

 places. It will grow best in loam 

 and peat, and it is propagated by 

 cuttings. 



Melia'nthus. — Rutaccce. — • The 

 Honey -flower. — A half- shrubby 

 greenhouse plant, with bluish-green 

 or rather gray, leaves, sometimes 

 called Sicilian Ragv.-ort. If planted 

 in the open air, and slightly pro- 

 tected from frost, it will grow ten i 

 feet high, and produce its large j 

 spikes of brownish red flowers '< 

 abundantly. It is a native of the ] 

 Cape of Good Hope. It should be | 

 grown in a light rich soil if it be ; 

 wanted to attain a large size ; or in j 

 sand, mixed with a little loam and 

 lime-rubbish, if it be wanted to | 

 flower while yet of a small size. It ; 

 looks very well trained against a j 

 south wall. I 



Meli'ssa. — LahiatcB. — The Balm, j 

 — None of these species are par- , 

 ticularly ornamental, but they are ! 

 worth growing for the fragrance of j 

 their leaves. They are all hardy j 

 perennials, which Avill grow in any 

 soil or situation, and which are pro- 

 pagated by dividing the root. 



Meloca'ctus. — Cacfdcece. — The 

 Melon Thistle. — All these plants 

 have a sort of croM-n of cottony sub- 

 stance, which sometimes grows to 

 an enormous size. The flowers are 

 generally red, and are produced 

 around this crown. They are na- 

 tives of the hottest parts of the 



tropics, and should be kept in a dry 

 stove in England. They should be 

 grown in a little sandy loam, mixed 

 ■wT.th two-thirds of lime rubbish ; 

 and the pots in which they grow 

 must be well drained with cinders, 

 as they are very liable to damp off 

 or rot, if any stagnant water be 

 suffiered to remain about the roots. 

 They are very much improved by 

 plunging the pots in which they 

 grow iuto tan, and thus affording 

 the plants bottom heat. 



Melon Thistle. — SeeMELOCAV 



TUS. 



Mentspe'rmum. — Menispermd- 

 cece. — Handsome climbing shrubs, 

 natives of Europe, and North Ame- 

 rica, with curiously shaped leaves, 

 racemes of yello-ndsh or greenish 

 white flowers, and red or black 

 berries, which have somewhat of an 

 intoxicating quality. M. canadense, 

 which is the commonest species, is a 

 hardy free-growing climber, admi- 

 rably adapted for covering a wall or 

 arbour in a very short time, and in 

 a very ornamental manner. It is 

 well deserving of general cultivation, 

 and yet it is comparatively little 

 known, perhaps on account of the 

 modest colour of its elegant little 

 drooping racemes of flowers, which 

 are generally hidden from common 

 observers by the leaves. Its English 

 name of Moonseed is derived from 

 the shape of the seed, which resem- 

 bles a crescent or half-moon. It 

 will grow in any soil or situation ; 

 and it looks very well on a lawn 

 trained up a single pole, and with 

 the extremity of its branches left to 

 spread themselves at pleasure. It 

 also looks very well trained to form 

 a pUlar, or to frame with an um- 

 brella top, &c. 



Menta'nthes. — GentianecE. — 

 The Buck-bean. — The European 

 kinds have white flowers, but some 

 of the exotic species, now called 



