32^ 



TOLKAMERIA. 



be observed that plants in a sitting- { 

 room, where a constant fire is kept, j 

 are generally in an equal degree of , 

 beat to a hot- house at Q5° ; only > 

 the air of the living-room is much i 

 drier than that of the stove, and, } 

 to counteract this, additional water- ■ 

 ing is required. The common ; 

 Violets only requii-e planting on a ■ 

 sloping bank in a shady place, in a i 

 peaty soil, where they will have | 

 moisture, but where their roots | 

 will not be exposed to the effects of ■ 

 stagnant water. 



Viper's Bdgloss. — SeeE'CHiuM. 



Viper's Grass. — See Scorzo- 

 ne'ra. 



Virgi'lia. — Legumindsce. — A 

 very handsome low tree, a native of 

 North America, with drooping ra- 

 cemes of white flowers, resembling j 

 in form those of the Laburnum. It ■ 

 grows freely in any sandy soil. ; 



Virginian Creeper.— See Ax- ' 



PELO'PSIS. 



Virginian Poke.— See Phyto- 

 la'cca. 



Virgin's Bower. — Clematis Yi- i 

 ticilla. 



Vi'scuM. — Loranthacece. — The 

 Mistletoe. This curious j^arasite 

 can hardly be called ornamental, ' 

 though it may be sometimes intro- i 

 duced with eflect to give an air of 

 antiquity to newly-planted pleasure- 

 i grounds. It grows best on old can- 

 i kered apple-trees, but it may be 

 made to take root on even a young 

 tree, by pressing a berry in a crack 

 i in the bark, and then tying oiled ' 

 i paper over it. As, however, the 

 \ male and female flowers of the Mis- 

 I tletoe are on separate plants, the 

 { ben-ies are not always fenUe. It is 

 I a vulgar error to suppose that the 

 j JSklistletoe grovrs generally on the 

 ] oak, as it is extremely rare on that 

 i tree in England ; it is found most , 

 j commonly on the apple, and next j 

 I on the hawthorn ; it is also formd | 



on the lime, the sycamore, the 

 willow, the poplar, and the ash ; 

 occasionally on the cherry, and some- 

 times, though rarely, on pines and 

 firs. "When the seeds begin to grow, 

 they send out first one or two roots, 

 which ascend for a short time, and 

 then tiirn back to the bark, on which, 

 they fix themselves, like the sucker 

 of an insect. The other end after- 

 wards detaches itself from the tree, 

 and becomes leaves and shoots. The 

 roots of the mistletoe descend be- 

 tween the bark and the young wood, 

 and no intimate union takes place 

 between the old wood of the para- 

 site and its supporter. This is 

 plainly shown in a piece of an old 

 thorn, given to me by H. L. Long, 

 Esq., of Hampton Lodge, to which 

 a mistletoe of very large dimen- 

 sions vras attached. The wood of 

 the mistletoe is of a very fine pale 

 yellowish tinge, and it is as hard 

 and of as fine a grain as box, which, 

 it greatly resembles, while that of 

 the thorn is dark bro"«'n. 



Vi'tex. — VerhenacecE. — The 

 Chaste Tree. — The principal species 

 are V. Agnus Cast us, which is a 

 dwarf shrub, with whitish flowers, 

 which will grow in any common 

 soil, and will generally stand out in 

 British gardens, though it is some- 

 times killed by a severe winter ; and 

 F. incisa, which has pretty palmate 

 leaves, and purple flowers, but it is 

 so long before it puts out its leaves 

 in spring, and looks so much as 

 though it were dead before its 

 leaves expand, that it is often 

 thrown aside as worthless when it 

 is in perfect vigour ; it is generally 

 kept in a greenhouse, and grows in 

 peat and loam. Besides these, there 

 are several hothouse species, natives 

 of the East Indies, which are not 

 worth cultivating. 



Vi^Tis. — A mpelidece. — See Vine. 



VoLKAiiE'RiA. — Yerhendceoe. — 



