PAULOWNIA. 



227 



PEAT BOG. 



greenliouse, and some very splendid 

 ones that cannot be grown witliout 

 a stove. Of the latter, the most 

 beautiful is P. Loudoni, the flowers 

 of which are of a most brilliant 

 crimson. Nearly all the kinds 

 ripen seed freely ; and the fruit, 

 which is a kind of berry, is eatable 

 but insipid. All the kinds hybri- 

 dise freely, and thus many new 

 kinds may be raised. Some of these 

 hybrids are very beautiful, par- 

 ticularly those raised from P. race- 

 mdsa ; and some of those raised 

 between the stove kinds and P. 

 ccBrulea are nearly hardy. P. Neu- 

 ,.iani is a very hardy and fi*ee- 

 liowering species. They are all 

 easily pi-opagated by cuttings, which 

 should be made 'of the young shoots, 

 and struck in sand, in heat, under 

 a bell-glass. 

 Passion Flower. — See Passi- 



FLO^RA. 



Paterso'nia. — Iridece. — A 

 fibrous-rooted genus of very beau- 

 tiful plants, natives of New Holland. 

 j They should be grown in sandy loam 

 ! and peat, and increased by dividing 

 the roots, or by seeds. They re- 

 quire a little protection during 

 winter ; and, on this account, they 

 are generally grown in pots, and 

 ■ kept in a frame or greenhouse. 

 j Paulo'wnia. — Scrophtddrince. — 

 I A suffruticose tree which gi-ows with 

 great rapidity to the height of 30 ft. 

 or 40 ft. , and produces large racemes 

 I of beautiful shaded lilac flowers. 

 The leaves are very large and hand- 

 some, and the whole bears consider- 

 able resemblance to a Catalpa. It 

 is a native of Japan, and it has not 

 yet flowered in England, though it 

 has in the Jardin des Plantes in 

 Paris. It only requires to be plan- 

 ted in a diy open situation, exposed 

 to the sun ; and it is propagated by 

 seeds, which it has ripened abun- 

 dantly in France, and which should 



be raised on a hotbed. The name 

 of the plant being a Russian word, 

 it should be pronounced Paulofuia. 

 It flowers well at Florence. 



PaH'IA. — Hippocastancicece, or 

 jEsculdcece. — The American Horse- 

 chestnut or Buck-eye. — These plants 

 difier from the Common Horse-chest- 

 nut in their fruit, which is in a 

 smooth husk, while that of the 

 Horse-chestnut is in a rough husk. 

 They derive their American name of 

 Buck-eye from the large brown spot 

 on the side of the seed, the bota- 

 nical name of which is the hilum. 

 Several of the Pavias are shrubs, 

 and one of them, P. rubra, is 

 almost prostrate. They are all 

 very handsome, particularly the 

 dark-red and yellow-flowered kinds, 

 and P. macrostdchya, which has 

 long feathery white flowers. They 

 will grow best in loamy soil ; and 

 they are all propagated either by 

 seeds or layers, or by grafting or 

 budding them on the common Horse- 

 chestnut. 



Peach Myrtle. — See Hypoca- 

 ly'mma. 



Peat Bog consists entirely of 

 vegetable matter decayed by being 

 saturated with moisture, but which 

 requires to be decomposed or mixed 

 with some earthy matter to render 

 it fit for vegetation. As it is the 

 tannin which abounds in the Kquid 

 part of peat bog which prevents the 

 decomposition of the vegetable fibre 

 it contains, it is only necessary to 

 drain it of its superabundant mois- 

 ture to convert it into peat earth ; 

 in which state it is used in garden- 

 ing for the growth of large American 

 plants, such as Rhododendrons, &c., 

 in the open ground. Heath-mould 

 is peat mixed naturally or artifi- 

 cially with a large proportion of fine 

 white sand ; and in this state it is 

 used in greenhouses for growing 

 Heath, and other Cape and Austra- 



