110 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



ENG 



English Mercury. Chenepodium Bonus Hen- 

 ricus. 



Enkia'nthus. From enkous, enlarged, and 

 anthos, a flower ; the flowers are swollen in the 

 middle. Nat. Ord. EricacecB. 



Highly beautiful objects, which, from their 

 habit of blooming in the winter and early 

 spring, are much esteemed for ornamenting 

 the green-house and conservatory. They 

 should have a shaded situation out of doors 

 through the summer. Propagated by cut- 

 tings, which require to be of firm, young 

 wood. There are five species, natives princi- 

 pally of Japan, China, and the East. First 

 introduced from China in 1812. 



Ensiform. Quite straight, with the point acute, 

 like the blade of a broadsword or the leaf of 

 an Iris. 



Enta'da. The Malabar name. Nat. Ord. Legu- 

 minoscB. 



A genus of ornamental hot-house climbers, 

 consisting of five species, with white or yel- 

 low flowers, produced either in spikes at the 

 bases of the leaves, or in bunches at the ends 

 of the branches. The most remarkable feature 

 of the genus is the extraordinary length of its 

 pods, which are flat and woody, divided into 

 numerous joints, each containing one large, 

 flat, polished seed. In E. scandens, a native of 

 the tropics of both hemispheres, the pods 

 often measure six or eight feet in length. The 

 seeds are nearly two inches across by half an 

 inch thick, and have a hard, woody, and 

 beautifully-polished shell, of a dark-brown or 

 purplish color. In the tropics the natives 

 convert these seeds into snuff-boxes, scent- 

 bottles, and various other trinkets. In this 

 country they are much worn as charms on 

 watch-guards, and are very common in their 

 natural state on the side-walk stands in 

 Broadway, New York. They are natives of 

 the West and East Indies and the South Sea 

 Islands. The seeds are often picked up on 

 the coast of Florida, and even as far as the 

 coast of Finland, having been conveyed there 

 by the great oceanic currents. They are sold 

 under the name of Sea Beans and Florida 

 Beans. 



Eome'con. A genus of PapaveracecE, containing 

 only one species, described as intermediate 

 between Stylophorum and Sanguinaria, from 

 both of which, however, it differs widely in its 

 scapose habit and racemose flowers. Unlike 

 the Poppies, also, the Eomecon holds its indi- 

 vidual flowers for many days together, and 

 produces them in such abundance from May 

 to September as to merit a first place in all 

 good collections. It is quite a novelty, and 

 with its yellow-green cyclamen-like leaves 

 and showy flowers forms quite a picturesque 

 group in the herbaceous border. It was dis- 

 covered at Kwangsi, China, in 1884, by Dr. 

 Henry, and is readily increased by means of 

 its numerous runners. 



Eope'pon. A genus of ornamental gourds, con- 

 sisting of two species, formerly, and still, 

 generally included in the genus Trichosanthes, 

 which see. 



Epacrida'ceae. A natural order of shrubby 

 plants, with usually simple alternate leaves, 

 and regulai and perfect flowers in spikes or 

 racemes. Natives of the Indian Archipelago 

 and Australia. There are thirty-two known 



EPH 



genera and over 300 species. Epacris, Sty- 

 phelia, and Dracophyllum are examples of the 

 order. 



Epa'cris. From epi, upon, and akros, the top ; 

 The Epacris grows upon the tops of hills and 

 on rising grounds. Nat. Ord. Epacridacem. 



An extensive genus of ornamental shrubs 

 from Australia, the species of which are highly 

 valued, both for their graceful beauty and the 

 early period at which they produce their 

 abundant flowers. For a proper method of 

 treatment, we quote from the Florist's Jour- 

 nal : " The method we are about to recom- 

 mend for the management of these lovely 

 plants will be found to diff'er considerably 

 from the ordinary course of treatment, but as 

 Ave have found it so decidedly preferable, there 

 can be no hesitation in advising its adoption. 

 To begin, we select young, healthy plants, and 

 in February remove them from the small pots 

 in which they have been grown into others 

 three or four sizes larger, according to the 

 apparent strength of the individual, using a 

 very sandy soil ; the rougher and more turfy 

 the soil is the better the plants will thrive. 

 Particular attention should be paid to drain- 

 age. The plants are then cut back to within 

 four or five joints of their last growth and are 

 placed in a gentle heat, where they soon 

 ' break ' vigorously. These new growths are 

 stopped by pinching off their tops two or three 

 times in the course of the summer, taking 

 care, however, to discontinue it after July, so 

 that the last shoots may have time to ripen 

 before the winter, and, by giving proper atten- 

 tion to watering, they will attain a length of a 

 foot or more, and make nice little specimens 

 to bloom in the following spring. After they 

 have then done flowering, they are again 

 repotted, and. Instead of being stopped in 

 their after-growth, are at once cut back to 

 very near the base of the pi-eceding year's 

 shoots, and are then allowed to grow as far 

 as they please, training them into any desir- 

 able form. Thus, instead of a few flowers on 

 several small stems, we have long spikes full 

 of flowers, increasing the general beauty of 

 the plants to an amazing extent. Every year 

 they are cut down in the same manner, and 

 each season more numerous spikes are pro- 

 duced. We must observe, however, that after 

 the first season the plants are not subjected to 

 a high temperature, choosing in preference a 

 shaded, airy place for them to make their new 

 wood through the summer, removing them 

 about August to a sunny position, in order to 

 ripen the recent shoots; in other respects 

 ordinary attention is all that is required." 

 Hardly as good results can be obtained in this 

 country, as they suffer, like the Heath, from our 

 long, dry, hot summers. Propagated by cut- 

 tings of the tips of the shoots when from one 

 to two inches in length, in spring or early 

 summer. E. grandiflora, one of the finest 

 species, was introduced in 1803. 



Ephe'dra. The Greek for the Hippuris, or 

 Horse-tail, which it resembles. Nat. Ord. 

 GnetacecB. 



This genus consists of evergreen trailing 

 shrubs with numerous slender-jointed, green 

 branches, and small, scale-like leaves. These 

 shrubs inhabit the rocky shores of the Medi- 

 terranean and salt plains of Asia. Some of the 

 species are very ornamental, but are not suf- 



