AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



11 



ADN 



This beautiful climber is a hardy biennial, 

 growing in moist woods in New York and the 

 Alleghany Mountains of Virginia. It is com- 

 monly called Fumitory, Alleghany Vine, and 

 various other local names. It grows readily 

 from seed, which should be sown in May, near 

 a trellis or arbor. The plants will flower 

 freely, without further care, the following 

 season. 



Adnata. Grown to anything by the whole sur- 

 face ; when an ovary is united to the side of 

 the calyx, it is adnate. 



Ado'nis. Name of classical derivation. Nat. 

 Ord. RanunculacecB. 



Herbaceous plants with showy flowers, na- 

 tives of Europe, and of easy culture in any 

 soil. The most ornamental species are A. ver- 

 nalis, the spring-flowering Adonis, a perennial 

 with briglit yellow flowers, which is quite 

 hardy, and is easily increased by division of 

 the root; and A. autumnalis, the common an- 

 nual Flos Adonis, or I'heasant's Eye, with dark 

 crimson flowers. The annual kinds should be 

 sown in autumn, as they will stand the winter 

 in the open air ; or in February or March, as 

 they are a long time in coming up. 



Adventitious. A term used to denote some 

 part or organ that is developed in an unusual 

 position ; as the leaf-buds tJiat appear on va- 

 rious parts of the surface of tlie stem, instead 

 of being confined, as is generally the case, to 

 the axils of the leaves. Applied also to roots, 

 etc. ; for example, the Ivy throws out adventi- 

 tious roots from along the stems, by which it 

 clings to walls or trees for support. 



Adverse. Opposite. 



.Sj'chmea. From aichme, a point ; in reference 

 to the rigid points on the calices, or flower en- 

 velopes. Nut. Ord. Bromeliacece. 

 - A small genus of tropical pi ints, often epi- 

 phytal, growing on the trunks of trees in the 

 dense forests. They have strap, or sword- 

 shaped, leaves, and produce panicles of bril- 

 liant scarlet flowers. Propagated by division 

 of the suckers or offsets. First introduced in 

 1844. 



iEjgi'ceras. From aix, a goat, and keros, a horn ; 

 alluding to the shape of the fruit. Nat. Ord. 

 Myrsinacece. 



Small trees with obovate entire leaves and 

 white fragrant ilo wers. ^. fragrans is a stout 

 green-house evergreen milky shrub, flowering 

 in April. Introduced from New Holland in 

 1824. 



2i'gilops. Goat's eye. Supposed to be useful 

 for a disease of one corner of the eye ; lience 

 the name. Nat. Ord. GraminacecB. 



A genus of grasses allied to Trlticum, or 

 "Wheat grass. It occurs wild in the South of 

 Europe and parts of Asia. It has been held 

 that the seeds of this plant may be changed 

 into wheat by cultivation ; and that the ancient 

 worship of Ceres, which considered the ftelds 

 of Enna and of Trinacoria as the cradles i>f 

 agriculture, had its origin in this transforma- 

 tion of the native grass. Professor Latopie, 

 of Bordeaux, affirms that, having cultivntt'il 

 the seed of the JEgilops, the plant lias changed 

 its generic charactex', and has made approaches 

 to that of wheat. Other speciiic botanists 

 have made the same assertion, eiving the re- 

 sults of their vaiious experiments. It is, how- 



ever, but just to say that but little credit has 

 been given to these statements. We prefer to 

 believe wheat to have been a special creation, 

 rather than to have evolved from an inferior 

 species. 



2B'^\e. Bengal Quince. From JEgle one of the 

 Hesperides. Nat. Ord. Rutacece. 



JE. Marmelos, the only species, is a native 

 of the East Indies, wheie it is highly esteemed 

 for the fragrance of its orange-like flowers, 

 and for its delicious fruit, which also, possesses 

 an aperient quality which is particularly ser- 

 viceable in habitual costiveness. Not only the 

 fruit, but other portions of the plant are used 

 for medicinal purposes ; and a yellow dye is 

 prepared from the rind of the fruit. 



-aSgopo'dium. Gout weed. Bishop-weed. An 

 umbelliferous plant with smooth thrice ternate 

 leaves and white flowers, propagating itself by 

 creeping root-stocks, which, like our native 

 bind weed are singularly vivacious, so that 

 when once it gets established, it is very diffi- 

 cult to eradicate. A great pest in British and 

 Continental gardens. A very pretty varie- 

 gated variety is in cultivation, as a border 

 plant. 



Aeration. The exposure of the soil to the free 

 action of the air, as essential to the growth of 

 plants. 



Aerial. Plants or parts of plants which grow 

 entirely above the surface of the earth or 

 water. 



Ae'rides. From aer, the air ; in reference to the 

 power they have of living on air. Nat. Ord. 

 Orchidacem. 



A splendid genus of East Indian epiphytal 

 Orchids, remarkable for their beautiful white, 

 pink, or rose-colored, fragrant flowers, and for 

 their rich evergreen foliage. The general ap- 

 pearance of these plants, their wonderful tenac- 

 ity of life, the remarkable property tiiey pos- 

 sess of imbibing the whole of their nutriment 

 from the atmosphere, without the intervention 

 of any kind of earth, and the elegance and rich 

 perfume of their flowers, combine to make 

 them objects of universal admiration. They 

 require to be grown In a high temperature and 

 a very moist atmosphere. The more popular 

 species are of quite recent introduction. 



.aischyna'nthus. From nischuno, to be ashamed, 

 and an</ios, a flower. Nat. Ord. Gesneracece. 



A beautiful genus of tropical epiphytal plants. 

 The species are chiefly found in tropical Asia 

 and the East Indies, and may properly be 

 classed with the most gorgeous green-house 

 plants. They have mostly pendant stems, op- 

 posite fleshy leaves, and scarlet or orange-scar- 

 let flowers. One of the finer species, ^"E. spec- 

 iosus is a native of Java. It is of sub-erect 

 habit, with fascicles of about twenty erect, 

 long -tubed flowers, of rich orange-yellow below 

 and passing into scai'let at the ti)p, with yel- 

 low and black markings. ^. grandlflorus, has 

 orange-scarlet flowers with a band of bright 

 scarlet round the entrance of the tube. u3^. 

 longijlorus, with bright crimson and u^. 

 Lobhianus, with scarlet flowers, both intro- 

 duced from Java, are of the same general 

 habit. All the species are admirably adapted 

 for hanging baskets, and require to be gr()wn 

 in considerable heat and moisture. First in- 

 troduced in 1845. 



