AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



271 



NAU 



leaf, but considerable quantities are exported 

 to China and Europe for tanning the finer 

 kinds of leather. It is also used by dyers and 

 curriers. Two or three species are in cultiva- 

 tion, but they are of no horticultural value. 



Naumbe'rgia thyrsiflora. A synonym of Lysi- 

 machia thyrsiflora. 



Navarre'ttia. Derivation of name unknown. 

 Nat. Ord. Polemoniacem. 



Mostly coarse hardy annuals, with blue 

 flowers, from California. They are allied to 

 Ipomosis, and should have the same treat- 

 ment. The genus is now included under Gilia 

 by some botanists. 



Navelwort See Cotyledon 



Navicular. Boat-shaped, the same as Cymbi- 

 form. 



Neapolitan Violet. (V. a. pallida plena). A 

 variety of Viola odorata. 



Nebulose. Clouded. 



Neck. The upper tapering end of bulbs is 

 called the neck, as in Crinum, Amaryllis, etc. 



Necklace Tree. See Ormosia. 



Neck-Weed. A popular name for Cannabis 

 saliva or Hemp. 



Necta'ndra. From Nektar, and ander, andros, 

 a male (stamen) ; in reference to the three 

 nectariferous barren stamens. Nat. Ord. 

 LauracecB. 



A genus of about seventy species of trees or 

 shrubs natives of tropical America, from Brazil 

 and Peru, as far as Mexico and the West Indies. 

 The species most Avorthy of notice is N. 

 RodicBi, the Bibisi tree, or Green-heart of 

 British Guiana, the timber of which is largely 

 imported for ship-building. 



Nectar. The honey, etc., secreted by glands, 

 or by any part of the corolla. 



Nectariferous. Honey-bearing, or having a 

 nectary. 



Ne'ctariiie. Persica vulgaris var. Icevis. The 

 Nectarine is almost identical with the Peach ; 

 both OAve their origin to one and the same 

 parent, Persica vtdgarm, and in growth, habit, 

 and general appearance they are almost iden- 

 tical. Most botanists consider them the same 

 species ; the only dilTerence between the two 

 being in the skin, the Nectarine having a 

 smooth and the peach a downy one. 

 The fruit, however, is rather smaller, 

 and is one of the most wax-like and exquisite 

 of all productions for the dessert. They are, 

 perhaps, scarcely so rich in flavor as the 

 finest peach, but have more piquancy, partak- 

 ing more of the peach-leaf flavor. Their 

 identity has often been confirmed by fruit of 

 both sorts being produced not only on the 

 same tree, but on the same stem ; and in- 

 stances are recorded of the same occurring in 

 one fruit, one side of which was downy like 

 the Peach, the other smooth like the Nectar- 

 ine. Nectai'ines, however, usually produce 

 Nectarines again, on sowing the seeds, but 

 they occasionally produce peaches ; the Bos- 

 ton Nectarine was a seedling from a Peach 

 stone. The French have always considered 

 them the same, and designate them as smooth 

 and downy peaches. The Nectarine is a little 

 more shy of bearing in this country than the 

 Peach, but this arises almost always from the 

 destruction of the crop of fruit by theCurculio, 



NEI 



the destroyer of all smooth-skinned fruits in 

 sandy soils. It is quite hardy wherever the 

 Peach will thrive, though it will not generally 

 bear large and fine fruit unless the branches 

 are shortened in annually, about one half of 

 their length. With this easy system of prun- 

 ing, good crops are readily obtained wherever 

 theCurculio is not very prevalent (see Curculio). 

 The culture of the Nectarine is in all respects 

 similar to the Peach (which see). The fol- 

 lowing is a good selection of choice varieties 

 for a small garden : Violet Hative one of the 

 very best, of delicious flavor, hardy and pro- 

 ductive; Elruge, Hai'dwicke, Boston, Roman, 

 and New White. 



Nectarosco'rdum. Honey Garlic. From 

 nectar, honey, and skorodon, garlic, referring 

 to honey-pores in the flower of this onion-like 

 plant. Nat. Ord. Amaryllidacece. 



This genus of bulbs is allied to the Allium, 

 and was formerly called Allium siculuin. It 

 is a very curious, hardy bulb, throwing up a 

 flower scape three to four feet high, quite 

 slender, with a cluster of long, pendulous, 

 green or purplish flowers. It grows freely in 

 a light soil, and flowers in June. Introduced 

 from Sicily in 1832. It is increased by off- 

 sets. 



Nectary. An organ which secretes honey ; an 

 old name for petals and other parts of the 

 flower when of unusual shape, especially when 

 honey-bearing. So the hollow spur-shaped 

 petals of Columbine were called nectaries; 

 also the curious, long-clawed petals of Monks- 

 hood. 



Needle-and-Thread, Adam's. A popular name 

 for Yucca filamentosa. 



Needle-shaped. Long, slender, and rigid, like 

 the leaves of a Pine. 



Negro Corn. A West Indian name for Dhoura. 



Negro's Head. Phytelephas macrocarpa. 



Negu'ndo. Box Elder, Ash-leaved Maple. 

 Derivation of name unknown. Nat. Ord. 

 Aceraceas: 



A genus of hardy, native, deciduous trees, 

 allied to the Maple. N. aceroides (syn. fraxin- 

 ifolium) is common in Pennsylvania, and South 

 and West. Its variety, N. a. foliis argenteis 

 variegatis, is one of the handsomest variegated 

 trees under cultivation in England, but in the 

 dry, hot climate of the United States, though 

 a native, it is rarely seen in perfection, the 

 leaves burning up under our hot. scorching 

 sun. The leaves are beautifully marked 

 white and green, and it is a plant of rapid and 

 vigorous growth. There are several varie- 

 ties, but none so good as the above. N. Cali- 

 fornicum is found in valleys of the lower 

 Sacramento River and the interior valleys of 

 the coast ranges of the San Bernardino 

 Mountains. The wood is occasionally used 

 in manufacturing furniture, etc. 



Nei'llia. Named after Patrick Neill of Edinburgh, 

 Scotland, secretary of the Caledonian Horti- 

 cultural Society in the early part of this cen- 

 tury. Nat. Ord. Rosacece. 



A genus of hardy branching shrubs, natives 

 of northern India, Java, and North America. 

 Two species are in cultivation, both from the 

 Himalayas, bearing terminal racemes of white 

 flowers in June, and forming excellent plants 

 for shrubberies, etc. 



