WRIGHTIA. 



342 



renders it pervious to the air and 

 rain ; but in a pot, every passage of 

 the worm tears asunder the roots of 

 the plant, which are pressed close 

 together from the smallness of the 

 space in which they are confined, 

 and thus it does a serious injxu-y. 

 The common earthworm moves by 

 bristles, with which the rings of his 

 body are furnished, and which 

 enable it to move either backwards 

 or forwards at pleasure; and it 

 emits a slimy substance which fa- 

 cilitates its passage through the 

 earth ; this slimy matter adheres to 

 leaves and other substances, which 

 the worm drags after it along the 

 surface of the ground, but which, 

 as it cannot take them through its 

 passages, they being only large 

 enough to admit its own body, it 

 leaves at the mouth of the hole, 

 where it disappears. "When a worm 

 is cut in two, it is generally be- 

 lieved that both parts will become 

 perfect worms ; but, in fact, only 

 the part which contains the head 

 possesses the power of throwing out 

 a new tail ; and the part containing 

 the tail cannot form a new head. 

 \Yorms are produced from eggs ; and 

 they are always most abundant in 

 rich humid soil. \Vhen the casts 

 are seen on the surface of the earth 

 in a pot, no time should be lost in 

 turning out the earth on the hand, 

 and picking out the worms. The 

 roots torn asunder should then be 

 thrown away, and the plant re- 

 potted in fresh earth. 



Wormwood. — See Artemi'sia. 



Woundwort. — AnthylUsVulne- 

 raria. — A British plant, only found 

 in chalky soils. 



Wrack Grass. — See Zoste^ra. 



Wri^qhtia. — A'pocfinece. — Hot- 

 house trees, natives of the East 

 Indies, which were formerly con- 

 sidered to belong to the genus 

 Nex-ium. One of the species, W. 



coccinea, has splendid flowers ; it 

 should be grown in sand and peat. 

 The other kinds have white flowers. 



yANTHOKHPZA. — Ranuncu- 

 -^ lacece. — Yellow-root. --An Ame- 

 rican shrub, with very neat dark- 

 purple flowers, which are produced 

 early in spring, and handsome leaves. 

 It will grow in any common garden 

 soil, and it is increased by suckers 

 from the roots. 



Xantho'xtlum. — Rutacece, or 

 T'ey-e&m^AacecE. -The Toothache-tree. 

 — Trees and shrubs, most of which 

 require a stove in England, and 

 should be grown in a sandy loam. 

 X fraxlneurn, the Prickly Ash, is 

 an American shrub, the bark of 

 which is aromatic, and is considered 

 very efiicacious in rheumatism. It 

 is hardy in British gardens, and 

 will grow in common soil. X. niti- 

 cluni, which has strong thorns on 

 the mid-ribs of its leaves, is used as 

 a hedge plant in China. 



Xera'xthemum. — Compositce. — 

 Purple Everlasting Flower. — Very 

 beautiful annual flowers, which may 

 either be so^^^l in the open ground 

 in April, or raised on a hot-bed, and 

 planted out in May ; the only ad- 

 vantage by the latter plan being 

 that the plants flower earlier. They 

 are very beautiful, and well-deserving 

 of a place in every flower-garden, 



Xerophy^llum. — Melanthdcece. 

 Singular plants with long, narrow 

 leaves, and spikes of pretty white 

 flowers. The sj^ecies are natives of 

 North America, and quite hardy in 

 British gardens, where they should 

 be grown in peat and loam. X. 

 gramineum is a peculiarly desirable 

 species, from its loose and elegant 

 spikes of small star-like white 

 flowers. 



Xe'rotes. — Jwicece. — Rush-like 

 plants, natives of New Holland, 



