270 



I at tlie suiface, so that the roots 

 i have been exposed to sufficient heat 

 i to wither them at the point of junc- 

 tion with the collar. This never 

 I occurs when the plant is suffered to 

 remain in a state of nature, as it 

 i always sends out side shoots near | 

 I the ground, so as to shade its root ; j 

 I but in gardens and shrubberies these ! 

 side shoots are frequently trimmed ; 

 i away, from a mistaken idea of neat- I 

 i ness. In its native country, also, 

 j the Ribes sangulneum always grows i 

 . partly in the shade, and near v/ater. 

 j The colour of the flowers varies very , 

 I much according to the soil in which i 

 j the plant is grown ; the darkest and ' 

 j brightest hues being obsei-vable in 

 ; those jjlants which are grown in cal- 

 I careous soils, and the palest and 

 j least brilliant in those grown in 

 i sandy soils. Kihes aUreum, the 

 yellow -flowered cuiTant, and its | 

 allied species and varieties, succeed 

 '. best in gravelly soils, and appear in 

 1 general very hardy. 

 I KiCE. — See Ort'za. 

 I Rice-paper Plam. — Ardliapa- 

 \ jpyrifera. — There are now several 

 j specimens of this very curious plant 

 i at Kew, where one flowered in a 

 j damp stove in December, 1855, bixt 

 i did not produce fruit. In its native 

 j countiy, China, it is represented "as 

 being seven feet high, with a cir- 

 cumference of its terminal branches 

 of twenty feet, and throwing out 

 twelve or fourteen panicles three 

 feet long, drooping like magnificent 

 plumes, in regular form, over the 

 dark palmate leaves." The stem 

 is three, or at most four, inches in 

 diameter, forming very little wood, 

 but filled with the most exquisitely 

 white pith, of which the famous 

 rice paper of China is made. 



Rich a'rdia.— ^ rolcZecE.— Kunth's 

 name for Cdlla cethiopica. For the 

 culture, &c., see A^rum. 



Ri'ciNUS. — EuphorhiacecB. — Pal- 



ma Christi. — The Castor-oil plant, 

 Rlclnus communis, is a half-hardy 

 annual in this country, worth 

 growing for its splendid leaves and 

 veiy curious flowers and seed-pods ; 

 but in the East Indies it becomes a 

 tree. The oil is expressed from the 

 seeds. When grown in England, 

 the seeds should be sown in a slight 

 hotbed in February, and the young 

 plants removed to the open border 

 in May. It should be grown in 

 light rich soil, well manured with 

 decayed leaves, and in a situation 

 open to the suu. 



Rico'tia. — C/'uclferce. — A very 

 pretty little annual nearly allied to 

 Lunar ia, which only requires sow- 

 ing in the open border in April. — 

 See Annuals. 



Ridging. — Throwing up ground 

 in ridges, in order to expose it more 

 thoroughly to the action of the wea- 

 ther. This operation is most useful 

 in clayey soils, as the water freezing 

 separates the particles of the clay, 

 and lightens the soil ; and it is per- 

 formed by opening a trench, and 

 throwing up the ground so as to 

 form a kind of hillock sloping on 

 both sides. 



RoBi'xiA. —Legum'mbsce. —Orna- 

 mental trees and shrubs, with long 

 drooping racemes of flowers. The 

 common kinds of P^obinias are 

 generally called Acacias in gardens ; 

 though why this name has been 

 given to them, unless from their 

 j>innate leaves, which resemble those 

 of the true Acacia, it would be diffi- 

 cult to say. The name of Locust, 

 which is applied to the Rohlnm 

 Pseud- Acacia in America, also ap- 

 pears to have no definite meaning, 

 unless it alludes to the leaves, v/hich 

 bear a very slight resemblance to 

 those of the C'eratoaia siliqua, the 

 Locust tree of Holy ^Yrit. The 

 flowers of all the kinds of Robinia. 

 are very handsome ; but the arbor- 



