AND GENERAL HOKTICULTURE. 



335 



PLU 



ers or vegetables, for the past thirty years, 

 and feel convinced that their use for that pur- 

 pose is far better than the spade or digging 

 forli, besides tlie immense saving in labor. 



Plum. The Tvell-lvnown Pruniis domestica, 

 and its varieties, from whieh the Plums 

 of our gardens have originated, are found 

 throughout Asia and southern Europe. The 

 early history of the cultivated varieties is 

 quite obscure. They were introduced into 

 England from France early in the fifteenth 

 century. Both the French and the English 

 horticulturists have given tliis fruit con- 

 siderable attention. New Yoj'k has the credit, 

 however, of having produced the greatest 

 number of excellent varieties. Downing says : 

 "That the soil and climate of the Middle 

 States are admirably suited to this fruit is 

 sufficiently proved by the almost spontaneous 

 production of such varieties as theWashington, 

 Jefferson, Lawrence's Favorite, etc. ; sorts 

 which equal or surpass in beauty or flavor the 

 most celebrated Plumsof France or England." 

 There are several species indigenous to this 

 country, some of which are of fair flavor, and 

 are now being cultivated by some of our 

 nurserymen. Chickasaw Plum, Primus Chic- 

 asa, is a native of Marjdand and southwest- 

 ward to Texas, where it is known as the Dwarf 

 Texas Plum. The Beach Plum, P. mari- 

 tiina, is a low, straggling tree or shrub, 

 from two to Ave feet high. The fruit is nearly 

 round, red or purple, and covered with bloom. 

 It is common in sandy places on the sea-coast 

 from Maine to Virginia, and seldom ripens well 

 elsewhere. The Wild Bed or Yellow Plum is 

 P. Americana. This species grows from ten 

 to twenty feet high, and is common in hedge- 

 rows from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The 

 fruit is pleasant -tasted, bv;t has a tough skin. 

 It ripens in July and August. The great 

 difficulty in the cultivation of the finer varie- 

 ties of Plum is the CurcuUo, which punctures 

 the fruit in the green state, and laj-s its eggs, 

 which, by the time the fruit is ripe, develops 

 to the larva? state, completely destroying the 

 fruit. The only effectual remedj^ thus far is 

 that so strongly recommended and practiced 

 years ago by Mr. John J. Thomas, and 

 Dr. Trimble, and so successfullj' practiced 

 by Ellwanger and Barry, in their extensive 

 Plum Orchard — to spread sheets under the 

 trees and jar the branches so as to shake off 

 the insect. This, to be effective, must be 

 begun just after the fruit has formed, and 

 continued at least once a week for thirty or 

 forty daj's. See Curculio. 



Plum. American Wild. Prunus Americana. 

 Australian. Cargilla arborea, and C. Aus- 



tralis. 

 Beach. PrunuA marifima. 

 Californian Wild. Priiniis subcordata. 

 Canada. Primus Americana. 

 Carolina. Prunus Caroliniana. 

 Ceylon. Placourlia sajjida. 

 Cherrj'. Prunus Myrobalana. 

 Chicasaw. Prunus Chicasa. 

 Cocoa. Chrijsohalanus Icaco. 

 Damson. Prunus dome.^tlira var. damascena. 

 Date, American. Diospijros Virginiana. 

 Date, Chinese. Diospyrus Kaki. 

 Date, European. Diospyrus Lotus. 

 Double-flowered, Chinese. Prunus Sinensis 

 fl.pl. 



POA 



E. Indian. Flacourtia cataphracta, and F. 



Ramonchi. 

 Gingerbread. Parinarium macrophyllum. 

 Green-gage. Prunus Claudiana. 

 Ground. Astragalus caryocarpus. 

 Hog. Various species of Spondias, etc. 

 Jamaica. Spondias lutea. 

 Japanese. Prunus Sinensis. 

 Mountain. Ximenia Americana. 

 Myrobalan. A variety of Prunus domestica. 

 Mj'robella. Prunus Myrobalana. 

 Natal. Arduina grandiflora. 

 Orleans. A variety' of Prunus domestica. 

 Pigeon. Coccoloba Floridana. 

 Queensland. The genus Owenia. 

 Sand. Prunus maritima. 

 Sapodilla or Sapotilla. Achras Sapota. 

 Sugar. Malpighia saccharina. 

 Tamarind. Dialium Indicum. 

 Weeping. Prunus cerasifera. 

 Wild, British. Prunus communis. 

 Wild, of the Cape of Good Hope. Pappea 



Capensis. 

 Wild-Goose. An improved variety of Prunus 



Chicasa. 



Plumbagina'ceae. A natural order of shrubs 

 or herbaceous plants, found chiefly on the 

 sea-shores or salt marshes in temperate 

 regions. The flowers are blue, violet, pink, 

 yellow or white, and some of the species 

 possess tonic and astringent properties. 

 Eight genera, including Armeria, Statice, and 

 Plumbago, and over tn'o hundred species con- 

 stitute the order. 



Plumba'go. Leadwort. From plumbum, lead. 

 Some species were formerlj- said to cure Lead 

 disease. Nat. Ord. Plumbaginacece. 



A genus consisting of green-house ever- 

 greens and hardy herbaceous plants, natives 

 of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Three of the 

 species are well worth growing in the green- 

 house. P. Capensis, with lavender-blue 

 flowers, P. rosea, with rose-colored flowers, 

 and P. alba, with white flowers. Each will 

 grow well with ordinary treatment. The 

 former is a valuable plant, as it produces its 

 large panicles of lavender flowers nearly the 

 whole winter. P. Larpentce, has deep azure- 

 blue flowers, flowering from August to 

 November, and is perfectly hardy. The name 

 of this species is now given by some as Valo- 

 radia, and by others, Ceratostigma Plumbagin- 

 oides. They were first introduced in 1818, 

 and are easily propagated by cuttings of the 

 roots, or shoots, and by division. 



Plum-bush. Australian. Asrotricha ptero- 

 carpa. 



Plume-Grass. Ch/nerium argenteum. 

 Plume-Nutmeg. Atherosperma moschaia. 

 Plume-Thistle. The genus Cirsium, and Cnicus; 



also Carduus lanceolata. 

 Plume-Thistle, yellow. Cnicus Acama. 

 Plumose. Feather^', resembling feathers. 

 Plumule. The bud of seed ; the youngest bud 



in a plant ; the bud or growing point of the 



embryo. 

 Poa. Meadow Grass. From poa, signifying 



grass or herbage. Nat. Ord. Graminacece. 

 An extensive genus of grasses, containing 



some that are valuable for hay and pasture. 



P. pratensis is the well-known Kentucky Blue 



Grass, introduced from Europe, and novr 



