364 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



RAM 



it is thus used before the weeds appear on the 

 surface, one man will do more than six will if 

 delay has been made until the weeds have to 

 be cut down by the hoe. 



Ramee or Ramie. See Bcehmeria. 



Rame'nta. Thin, chaffy scales with which the 

 stems of some plants, especially Ferns, are 

 covered. 



Ramification. Sub-divisions of roots, branches, 

 leaves, or panicles. 



Ramiflorous. Flowering on the branches. 



Ramo'ndia. Named after L. Raymond, a French 

 botanist. Nat. Ord. Gesneracem. 



R. Pyrenaica, the best known species, is a 

 very pretty little perennial, growing only 

 three to four inches high, with the flower- 

 stalks springing from a dense mass of rough, 

 dark green leaves. The general habit of 

 growth of the plant very much resembles 

 that of a Primrose. It is quite hardy, and 

 admirably adapted for rock-work ; but it will 

 grow in the border, where it is not too warm 

 and dry. It begins to flower in May, and 

 continues in bloom nearly the whole summer. 

 It is a native of the Pyrenees, whence it was 

 introduced about 1600. Parkinson describes 

 it as the " Blew Beares Eares with Borage 

 leaves." The flowers, however, are not blue, 

 but pale lilac ; propagated by root division, or 

 from seed. 



Ramose. Divided into many branches. 



Rampion {Campanula Rapunculiis). A hardy 

 biennial, the fleshy roots of which are used 

 in salads, either boiled or in a raw state. The 

 leaves are also blanched and used in winter 

 salads. It is very little cultivated. 



Rain's Head. A popular name for Cypripedium 

 arietbumi. 



Ramstead. One of the common names of Lin- 

 aria vulgaris. 



Ramulose. Bearing many small twigs, or small 

 branches. 



Ra'ndia. Named after J. Rand, a London bot- 

 anist. Nat. Ord. Rubiacece. 



A small genus of green-house evergreen 

 shrubs, natives of the East Indies, and allied 

 to Gardenia. They are rarely grown as flow- 

 ering or ornamental plants. 'The powdered 

 root of some of the species is sold as Indian 

 Cockle, and is used to intoxicate or stupefy 

 fish, which permits their easy capture. 



Ranuncula'ceae. A large natural order of her- 

 baceous herbs, rarely shrubs or climbers, 

 with radical or alternate leaves, very fre- 

 quently much cut or divided. "The species 

 are numerous in Europe and northern Asia, 

 and less so in North America. There are also 

 a few found in the temperate regions of the 

 southern hemisphere. Throughout the order 

 there is a tendency to an acrid, caustic and 

 more or less poisonous principle, volatile in 

 the foliage but virulent in the roots. The 

 narcotic and poisonous qualities of the Aco- 

 nites are well known. There are about forty 

 genera, and upwards of twelve hundred spe- 

 cies. The well-known garden plants, Aconi- 

 tum. Clematis, Anemone, Paeonia, and Ranun- 

 culus are good examples. 



Ranu'nculus. Buttercup, Golden Cup, King's 

 Cup, and Crowfoot. From rana, a frog ; many 

 of the species inhabit marshy places fre- 

 quented by frogs. Nat. Ord. Ranunculaeece. 



RAP 



The species may be divided into two kinds : 

 border flowers and florists' flowers. The lat- 

 ter consist of some hundreds of the varieties 

 obtained from the species Ranunculus Asiati- 

 cus, a native of the Levant, with tuberous 

 roots, which is rather too tender to endure 

 the winter in the open air without some kind 

 of protection. The wild plant grows natural- 

 ly in Persia, in meadows which are moist dur- 

 ing winter and in the growing season, butdry 

 during a great part of summer. The usual 

 season for planting the Ranunculus is fi-om 

 September to November. The roots may be 

 placed about four inches apart each way, cov- 

 ered with two inches of soil, and protected by 

 straw, mats, or other material, during severe 

 frosts. The plants will come into flower in 

 June, and when the leaves wither the roots 

 may be taken up, dried in the shade, and pre- 

 served in a dry place till they are wanted for 

 replanting. As the plant seeds freely, even 

 when semi-double, new sorts without end 

 may be raised from seed, which may be sown 

 in pots or flat pans as soon as it is gathered, 

 and placed in a cold frame. The common 

 mode, however, of propagating the Ranuncu- 

 lus is by se|jarating the offsets from the larger 

 roots. Several of the species are weeds with 

 us, and common in moist pastures, having 

 been introduced from Europe at an early day. 

 They have become extensively naturalized, so 

 much so as to be a nuisance to farmers in 

 some places, and are popularly known as 

 Buttercups. R. acris Jlore-pleno, the Yellow 

 Bachelor's Buttons, is a profuse flowerer, the 

 blossoms being in Ijutton-like rosettes, and 

 Buttercup yellow in color. The double vari- 

 ety of R. Aconitif alius, is known in Britain as 

 " Fair Maids of France " and " Fair Maids of 

 Kent," and, with the foregoing species, is an 

 excellent and ornamental border plant, flour- 

 ishing best in a deep, moist loam. R. am- 

 plexicaulis, is a most beautiful herbaceous 

 plant, growing about a foot high, with glau- 

 cous-gray foliage, and pure white blossoms an 

 inch or more across, with bright yellow cen- 

 tres. It also grows best in a deep, moist 

 loam, and is the better for the protection of 

 a cold frame during winter. 



Rape. Brassica nnpus. A hardy Vjiennial some- 

 times grown in gardens as a salad plant. 



Rapha'nus. Radish. From ra, quicklj-, and 

 j)hainomai, to appear; alluding to the quick 

 germination of the seeds. Nat. Ord. Cruci- 

 ferce. 



A very useful and widely grown genus of 

 plants, including the well-known Radish of 

 the garden. R. caudatjis, the Rat-tail Radish, 

 said to be a native of Java, is commonly culti- 

 vated in the West Indies for its edible pods. 

 For culture, etc., see Radish. 



Ra'phia. From the native name of the Mada- 

 gascar species. Nat. Ord. Palmacece. 



The species forming the genus of Palms are 

 confined to three very limited but widely 

 separated localities; one, R. tmdigera, being 

 found onlv on the banks of the Low<-r Amazon 

 and Para Rivers in Brazil ; another, R. vinifera, 

 on the west coast of Africa; while the third, 

 R. Rtiffia, is only known as a cultivated plant 

 in Madagascar and the neighboring islands. 

 All three inhabit low, swampy lands in the 

 vicinity of the sea or river banks, within the 

 influence of the tides. They have stout, un- 



