AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



251 



MIM 



cies, the leaves of all of which shrink to the 

 touch, viz. : 3£. sensitiva and pudica, natives 

 of Brazil, growing two to three feet high, with 

 pale ball-like pink flowers ; and M. casta, a 

 native of the East Indies, growing about two 

 feet high, with pale yellow flowers. J\I. pudica 

 is the true Sensitive Plant, and the one that 

 is usually grown, being more sensitive than 

 M. seTisitiva. It is cultivated as an annual, 

 and should be raised on a hot-bed or in the 

 green-house in spring, with the tender an- 

 nuals ; and either kept in pots throughout the 

 summer, or turned out into the open border 

 about the end of May. Many species formerly 

 included under the genus Mimosa are now re- 

 moved to Acacia; the principal distinction 

 between the genera being that Mimosa has a 

 jointed seed-pod, which Acacia has not. Sev- 

 eral other genera have also been formed out 

 of Mimosa. Some of the kinds are hot-house 

 plants ; others thrive in a green-house ; and 

 M. marginata (the M. prostrata of the nurs- 

 eries) is sufficiently hardy to stand the winter 

 at the South. They are propagated br cut- 

 tings ; the annuals by seeds. A singular fact 

 in connection with the Mimosa pudica is said 

 to be, that if chloroform be applied to the 

 plant, its sensitiveness is suspended until the 

 effects of the anaesthetic have passed off. 



Mi'mulus. Monkey Flower. From mimo, an 

 ape or actor ; in reference to the ringent or 

 gaping mouth of the flower. Nat. Ord. Scro- 

 phulariacece. 



This genus, among the most ornamental of 

 our hardy and half-hardy herbaceous plants, 

 is found dispersed over America, Asia, Aus- 

 tralia, and Africa, but most numerous in 

 western America. Two species have broken 

 out into numberless varieties : these are M. 

 cardinalis, and M. luteus, and the latter, espec- 

 ially seems capable of bringing a great deal of 

 variety to the aid of the flower-gai'dener. All 

 of these, and J/ moschatus, or Musk Plant, as it 

 is called, are valuable aids in that department, 

 and are very generally grown for the purpose, 

 being very prolific of flowers. M. cuprens, 

 introduced from Chili in 1861, is also the 

 origin of a great number of very beautiful 

 hybrids known as M. maculosus. They are all 

 easily propagated by seeds, cuttings, or by 

 division of the roots. 



Mi'musops. From mimo, an ape, and opsis, a 

 face; the flowers may be fancied to resemble 

 the face of a monkey. Nat. Ord. SapotacecB. 



A genus of ornamental trees with a milky 

 juice, "the better known species of which are 

 found in the East Indies, tropical Australia, 

 the Cape of Good Hope, and Brazil. They are 

 very ornamental, showy trees, with entire, 

 smooth leaves, and small white, often sweet- 

 smelling flowers. Several species yield hard, 

 durable and very heavy timber, such as M. 

 Elengi and M. Indica, in Ceylon, where the 

 wood is used for ordinary house-building pur- 

 poses, and M. hexandra, in the peninsula of 

 India. A species called the Bully-tree, or 

 Bullet-tree, in British Guiana, grows over 100 

 feet high, with a trunk six feet in diameter, 

 affording a very close-grained timber of an 

 exceedingly durable nature, being but little 

 influenced by the weather. Its small fruits, 

 about the size of coffee-berries, are delicious 

 when ripe. The fruits of other species, also, 

 are eaten in their native countries, such as 



MIT 



those of M. Elengi, the seeds of which likewise 

 afford an abundance of oil, while its highly- 

 fragrant flowers yield their perfume to water 

 by distillation." — A. Smith, in "Treasury of 

 Botany." 

 Mi'na. A genus of Convolvulacem, containing 

 one species, M. lobata, a beautiful climbing 

 herbaceous plant, with rosy-crimson flowers, 

 changing as they expand first to orange and 

 then to pale yellow. Now placed by Bentham 

 and Hooker under Ipomea, as I. versicolor. 



Minia'tus. Of a vermilion color ; pure red with 

 a little yellow. 



Mint. See Mentha. 



Mint-bush, or Mint tree of Australia. See 

 Prostranthera. 



Mira'bilis. Marvel of Peru. From mirabilis, 

 wonderful, as everything was at first con- 

 sidered that was sent from South America 

 to Great Britain. Nat. Ord. NyctaginaceoB. 



The varieties of M. Jalapa, or Mai'vel of 

 Peru, are valuable ornaments of the borders 

 of the flower garden. The seed should be 

 sown in May where they are to grow, or they 

 may be sown for early blooming in a hot-bed 

 and transplanted in May along with Dahlias 

 and such plants. Their after treatment 

 closely resembles that of the former; they 

 should be staked and tied in the same way, 

 and on the approach of winter their large 

 tuberous roots should be taken up and stored 

 away in dry sand until the following spring, 

 when in April they may be forwarded on a 

 moderate hot-bed, and again in May be 

 planted into the border of the flower garden, 

 or they may be planted at once in the border as 

 soon as danger from frost is past. The whole of 

 the genus are of one character, and may be 

 treated alike. Plants from the old roots will 

 come into flower much earlier than if grown 

 from seed. The colors of the Mars^el of 

 Peru are various, one being pure white and 

 veiy fragrant, while others are beautifully as 

 well as curiously striped. Gerarde first 

 notices this genus in 1596. 



Mirbe'lia. Named after C. F. B. Mirbel, a 

 physiological botanist of Paris. Nat. Ord. 

 LeguminoscB. 



This genus consists of eight or nine species 

 of Australian shrubs, with handsome yellow, 

 purple, or bluish flowers. A few of the species 

 are occasionally met in the more rare collec- 

 tions of green-house plants. They are ever- 

 greens, producing their flowers in July, 

 and are propagated by cuttings ; introduced 

 in 1825. 



Missouri Currant. See Ribes aureum. 



Mist Flower. See Conoclinium. 



Mist Tree. See Rhus cotinus. 



Mistletoe. See Viscum album. 



Mitche'lla. Partridge Berry. Named in honor 

 of Dr. John Mitchell, an early correspondent 

 of Linnteus,, and an excellent botanist, who 

 resided in Virginia. Nat. Ord. RubiaceoB. 



A small genus comprising two species of 

 glabrous creeping herbs, one dispersed 

 through Noi'th America from Mexico to 

 Canada, and the other a native of Japan. M. 

 repens, our native species, is a low, creeping 

 evergreen, widely distributed throughout the 

 United States and Canada in dry woods. 



