AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



151 



FAI 



male flowers are borne in pendulous, globular 

 heads, the female flowers are small, and of a 

 greenish color. It is so abundant as often to 

 constitute extensive forests, the finest of 

 which grow on fertile, level, or gently sloping 

 lands, with a humid surface. The European 

 Beech, F. sylvatica, is almost identical with 

 our native species. The Weeping Beech, F. 

 sylvatica pendida, is one of the most curious 

 and beautiful of lawn trees. The original 

 tree stands in the park of Baron de Mau, at 

 Beersel, Belgium. "The trunk is three and 

 half to four feet in diameter, and grows in a 

 twisted form to a height of twelve feet to 

 fifteen feet, with an appearance of being 

 pressed down by an immense weight. The 

 branches cover an area nearly a 100 feet in 

 diameter. Its history is curious. Some sixty 

 years ago the baron's gardener was planting 

 an avenue of Beech trees, and the baron, ob- 

 serving a very crooked specimen, directed to 

 ha\e it thrown out, but the gardener planted 

 it in a corner of the grounds little visited, 

 where it grew to be one of the most beautiful 

 and singular freaks of sylvan nature." — Scott. 

 The Purple -Leaved Beech, F. purpurea, now 

 so popular for lawn decoration, is a sport from 

 the common Beech, found in a German forest. 

 The Copper-colored Beech, F. cuprea, is a sub- 

 variety of the Purple Beech. The Fern and 

 Cut-leaved Beeches are very ornamental 

 varieties, the leaves resembling the fronds of 

 a Fern. There are varieties with variegated 

 foliage. They are all varieties of F. sylvatica. 



Fair Maids of France. Ranunculus aconitifolius 

 Jlore-pleno, Saxifraga granulata, and Achillea 

 Ptarmica. 



Fairy Fingers. Digitalis purpurea. 



Fairy Flax. Linum catharticum. 



Fairy Lily. See Zephyranthes. 



Fairy Rings. Green circles or parts of circles 

 seen in pastures, and produced by the peculiar 

 mode of gro^vth of several species of Agarics 

 and other Fungi. 



Falcate, Falciform. Plane and curved in any 

 degree, with parallel edges, like the blade of 

 a sickle ; as the pod of Medicago falcata. 



False Acacia. The common Yellow Locust, 

 Robinia Pseudacacia. 



False Asphodel. A popular name of the genus 

 Tofieldia, small flowering Liliaceous plants. 



False Dragon-head. Physostegia virginica. 



False Fox-Glove. Gerardia flava. 



False Hellebore. See Veratrum. 



False Honeysuckle. A popular name of our 



native Azaleas. 

 False Indigo. See Amorpha. 

 False Mistletoe. American Mistletoe. Pho- 



radendro7iflavescens. 

 False Red Top. A popular name of Poaserotina, 



because of its resemblance to Agrostis vulgaris, 



the true Red Top Grass. 

 False Solomon's Seal. See Smilacina. 

 False Spikenard. See Sjnilacina racemosa. 

 Family. A synonym for " Order." 

 Fan Palm See Corypha. 

 Farada'ya. Named in honor of Michael Faraday, 



the celebrated chemist. Nat. Ord. Verbenacece. 



FEN 



A small genus of tall climbing glabrous 

 plants, with showy white flowers, borne in 

 corymbose panicles, natives of Australia, 

 Java, and the Pacific Islands. Several species 

 have been introduced, but have not yet 

 flowered in cultivation. 



Farfu'gium grande. See Ligularia. 



Farinaceous. Having the texture of flour, as 

 the albumen of Wheat. 



Farinose. Covered with a white, mealy sub- 

 stance, as the leaves of the Auricula, Primula 

 farinosa. 



Farkle-berry. A local name for one of the 

 Cranberries, Vaccinium arboreum. 



Fasciated. When a stem becomes much flat> 

 tened, instead of retaining its usual cylin- 

 drical flgure, as in the Cockscomb, the Lilium 

 monstrosum, etc. 



Fastigiate. Tapering to a narrow point, pyra- 

 midal ; as where many like parts are parallel, 

 and point upwards, as the branches of Populus 

 fastigiata. 



Fat Hen. A popular name lorChenopodium albuvi_ 



Fa'tsia. Derived from the Japanese name of 

 one of the species. Nat. Ord. AraliaceoB. 



A genus consisting of a few evergreen 

 shrubs, natives of Japan, China, and north- 

 west America. It is well represented by the 

 Aralia Japonica or A. Sieboldii of gai'dens, 

 which is now Fatsia Japonica, Rnd Aralia pap y- 

 rifera, the Chinese Rice-paper plant, now F. 

 papyrifera, both of which are very ornamental 

 and useful decorative plants. Two variegated 

 varieties of F. Japonica, one with white and 

 the other with rich yellow markings, are 

 highlj- prized for green-house and house deco- 

 ration. 



Feathered Columbine. 



Hum. 



Thalictrum aquilegifo- 



Feather Foil, or "Water Violet. Hottonia in- 

 Jlata. 



Feather Geraniiun. Jerusalem Oak. Popular 

 names for Chenopodium Botrys. 



Feather Grass. See Stipa pennaia. 



Feather-veined. Where the veins of a leaf 

 spring from the mid-rib at an acute angle. 



Fedia olitoria. A synonym for VaUriantlla 

 olitoria (Corn Salad). 



Fe'ea. In honor of M. Fee, Professor of Botany 

 at Strasburg. Nat. Ord. Polyjwdiacece. 



A small genus of interesting little Ferns 

 found in Guiana and the West Indies. They 

 require to be grown in a very warm, moist 

 atmosphere. 



Fennel. See Fneniculum. 

 Giant. See Ferula. 



Fenugreek. See Trigonella. 



Fe'nzlia, Named in honor of Dr. Fenzl, author 

 of a monograph on Alsinaceos. Nat. Ord. 

 Poleinoniacew. 



A genus of beautiful dwarf California hardy 

 annuals. They bear a profusion of delicate, 

 rosy-tinted flowers, with yellow throat, sur- 

 rounded with dark-colored dots. F. dianthi- 

 Jlora is a very dwarf and closely tufted species, 

 keeping in flower the whole summer, making 

 it desirable for small beds or edgings. It is 

 also Tery pretty for window gardens. This 

 genus is now by many botanists included 

 under Gilia. 



