472 



HENDEllSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



y. 



VAC 



Vacca'ria. Cow Herb, Named from vacca, a 

 cow. Nat. Orel. Carijophylhtccce. 

 A coarse-growing, hardy, herbaceous per- 

 eiiuial, formerly called Saponuria Vaccaria. 

 It was introdut:ed into the garden, but has 

 escaped and become common in waste places. 

 Vacciuia'ceae. A natural order consisting of 

 much-branched shrubs or small trees, often 

 evergreen, with alternate, undivideil leaves 

 without stipules, the flowers growing solitary 

 or in racemes, often richly-colored, and the 

 fruit, usually a berry, frequently edible. The 

 species are numerous in the temperate and 

 colder parts of the woi-ld, especially in 

 swamps or sub-alpino countries, and on moun- 

 tain chains within the tropics. They are dis- 

 tributed into about twenty-five genera and 

 over three hundred species, the greater num- 

 ber being included in Vaccinium and Thibuu- 

 dia. 



Vacci'nium. High-bush Cranberry, Blueberry, 

 Bilberi-y. An ancient Latin name, whether of 

 a berry or a flower is not satisfactorily 

 known. Nat. Ord. Vacciniacece. 



An extensive genus of interesting shrubs, 

 many of which are indigenous to the United 

 States, and others to Europe and the East 

 and West Indies. V. macrocarpa of some 

 authors is the Large or American Cranberry, 

 common in bogs North and West. V. stami- 

 neum is the Scjuaw Huckleberry, coiamon in 

 dry woods from Maine to Michigan. V. uligi- 

 nosum is the Bog Billjerry, a low-growing spe- 

 cies, common in high elevations in New Eng- 

 land and New York. V. corymbosum is the 

 common or Swamp Blueberry,every where com- 

 mon except southward. V. Vit is- IdcBa —the 

 vino of Mount Ida — is the Cow-berry found 

 sparingly in this country but common in 

 Britain. The beautiful, white-berried, green- 

 house shrub, V. leucobotrys, though nirely 

 seen in collections in this country, is well 

 worthy of cultivation. It was introduced un- 

 der the name of Eplgynium leucobotrys from 

 Bengal in 1859. Tljere are many other spe- 

 cies and varieties, the slight difference in 

 them noticeable only by the botanist. For 

 the common Cranberry and its culture, see 

 Oxy coccus. 



Vaginate. Sheathed ; surrounded by a sheath. 



Valdi'via. So called from the town of Valdivia in 

 Chili. A genus of Saxifragacece, consisting of a 

 single species. It is a singular and ornamen- 

 tal, small, half-hardy, evergreen shrub, with 

 short, erect, pyramidal panicles of pretty 

 rose-colored flowers, the tube-like portion of 

 which is angular, and the tips of the petals 

 I'ecurved ; the flowers are three-quarters of 

 an inch long. Introduced in 1863. 



Valerian. See Valeriana. 



Valeria'na. Said by some to be named after 

 Valerius, who first used it in medicine ; others 

 assert that it is derived from valere, to be in 

 health, on account of the medicinal qualities 

 of V. officinali.<i. Nat. Ord. Valerianacecp. 

 Hardy perennials, most of them showy bor- 



VAL 



der plants of easy culture. Some of them 

 have long been in cultivation. Those best 

 known are natives of Switzerland. The golden- 

 leaved variety of V. Phu is a highly effect- 

 ive i>lant, particularly in spring, when its 

 foliage is newly developed. It is of tufted, 

 neat habit, grows freely in any soil and is per- 

 fecl'y haril}-. There are several native spe- 

 cies, from which the tincture of Valerian is 

 obtained. All the species are propagated by 

 division. 



Valeriaua'ceae. A natural ord(>r consisting of 

 annual or perennial herbs, usually strong- 

 scented or aromatic (especially their I'oots), 

 with rather small, but often elegant, flowers 

 in terminal cymes or panicles. They are 

 found in temperate- climates, chiefly in the 

 mountains of the northern hemisphere or of 

 South America. The medicinal qualities of 

 ths order have been known from ancient 

 times, and tiie plants now take rank at the 

 head of the vegetable anti-spasmodics. About 

 a dozen genera are included in the order, and 

 nearly three hundred species. Centranthus, 

 Valeriana and V'alerianella are the most famil- 

 iar examples. 



Valeriaue'lla. Lamb's Lettuce, Fetticus, Corn 

 Salad. A diminutive of Valerian. Nat. Ord. 

 VahrianacecB. 



A genus comprising about fifty species of 

 small, hard}-, annual herbs, with repeatedly- 

 forked stems, natives of Europe, North Africa, 

 Western Asia and North America. V. olitoria, 

 a native of Great Britain, generally known as 

 Fetticus, is the only species of economic in- 

 terest. It is used as a salad and is sown and 

 cultivated exactly as Spinach. It is also 

 grown to a large extent by the Gerrium gar- 

 deners around New York in cold frames, as 

 an early spring salad. S^-n. Fedia olitoria. 



Valerian Greek. A common name for Pole- 

 monium ccjeruleum, which see. 



Valerian. Eed or Spur. Centranthus ruber. 



VaUisne'ria. Eel Grass, Tape Grass. Named 

 in honor of ^. Vallisneri, an Italian botanist. 

 Nat. Ord. HydrocharidacecB. 



A genus of aquatic plants, common in slow- 

 running waters, remarkable on account of the 

 extremely curious manner in which the pro- 

 cess of fertilization is effected. The male and 

 female flowers are on different plants, and the 

 latter rise on long spiral stalks, which grad- 

 ually uncoil above the surface of the water, 

 while the latter are produced at the bottom. 

 Before, however, the anthers burst to dis- 

 charge the pollen, the male flowers detach 

 themselves from their stalks, and rise up to 

 the surface, on whicli they float like little 

 white bubbles. After the pollen has been 

 distributed over the stigmas, the male flow- 

 ers wither, and the spiral stalks of the 

 females coil up again so as to draw the seed- 

 vessel under the water, that it may ripen at the 

 bottom and burst when just in the proper 

 place to deposit its seeds. Nothing can be 

 moi-e beautiful than the whole arrangement; 



