22 



The Dictionary of Gardening, 



Actinomeris —continued. 

 A. squarrosa (rough-headed).* fi. -heads yeWow, in loose terminal 

 panicles. July and August. I. decurrent, broadly lanceolate, 

 coarsely toothed. Stem square, winged, ft. 3ft. North America, 

 1640. Syn. Verbe.nna Coreojiyis. 



ACTINOPHYI.I.UiyE. See Sciadophyllum. 



ACTINOSTACHYS. Includod under Schizeea 

 (which see). 



ACTINOTUS (from aciinofos, fnrnished with rays ; re- 

 ferring to the involucre). Ord. UmbfUiferw. An Austra- 

 lian genus of greenhouse herbaceous perennials. Flowers 

 shortly pedicellate, numerously disposed in simple umbels; 

 petals none. Leaves alternate, petiolate. They thrive best 

 in loam and peat, and are increased by root division and 

 seeds. The latter should be sown on a hotbed, in spring, and 

 in May the seedlings may be transplanted out in the open 

 border in a warm situation, where they will flower and 

 seed freely. 

 A, lielianthu3 (sunflower).* Jl. white, in many-flowered capitate 



umbels; involucre many leaved, radiating, longer than the 



flowers. June. I. alternate, bipinuatifid ; lobules bluntish. 



A. 2ft. 1821. Syn. Eriocalia major. 

 A. leucocephalus (white-headed). ^. white. June. A. 2Et. 1857. 



Fig. 25. Ada aurantiaca. 



ACULEATUS. Armed with prickles. 



ACUIii:OI«ATirS. Armed with small prickles. 



ACUIiI!US. A prickle ; a conical elevation of the skin 

 of a plant, becoming hard and sharp-pointed. 



ACUIlIZiN. An acute terminal angle. 



ACUMINATIi. Extended into an acute terminal 

 angle; tliis word is confined to considorabli- extension. 



ACUNNA OBIiONGA. See Bejaria sestuans. 



ACUTE. Sharp -pointed. 



ACYNTHA. A synonym of Sanseviera (which see). 

 ADA (a complimentary name). Ord. Orchidea*. An 



evergreen orchid, very closely allied to Brassia, from 

 which it differs chiefly in having the lip parallel with, 

 and solidly united to, the base of the column. Some 

 authorities now refer the plant to the genus Mesospi- 

 nidiu,m. It requires to be potted in peat and sphagnum, 

 in equal parts. The dminage must be perfect, and, during 

 summer, the water supply profuse. Although in wintnr 

 far less will suffice, the plant should not be allowed to 

 become dry. Propagated by divisions as soon as the 

 plant commences growth. 



A. aurantiaca (orange).* Jl. orange-scarlet, in long terminal 

 nodding racemes, each bearing fioin t-ix to ten blossoms; petals 

 elongated, streaked with black in.side. Winter and spring. /. twn 

 or three to each plant, linear, d.irk green, about 6in. in length. 

 Habit erect, with somewhat cylindrical jiseudo-bulbs, which 

 taper upwards, .See Fig 25. 



ADABIIA (named after John Adam, some time Governor- 

 General of India, and a promoter of natural history). Ord. 

 Sa.iifragefB. A small genus of Hydrangea-like greenhouse 

 evergreen shrubs, having many flowered terminal corymbs of 

 flowers, and opposite, petiolate, oblong-lanceolate, serrated 

 leaves. They thrive well in a mixture of loam, peat, and 

 sand ; and cuttings will root readily in a similar compost, 

 under a hand glass. 



A. cyanea (blue-berried), fl. whitish, or pink. June. h. 6ft. 



Nepaul, in rocky places, 18S9. 

 A. sylvatica (wood). Ji. blue ; cymes nearly undivided, on short 

 peduncles, disjiosed in a close panicle. June. fi. 6ft, Java, 1846. 

 A. versicolor (many-coloured). Jf-. blue. August. China, 18*4. 



ADAM'S AFFIiE. See Citrus Iiimetta and Musa 

 paradisiaca. 



ADAMSIA. See Getuu, Puschkinia, Sieversia. 



ADAM'S NEEDLE. Sec Yucca. 



ADANSONIA (named after Michael Adanson, an 

 eminent French botanist). Baobab Tree. Ord. Stercu- 

 liaeew. This is reputed to be one of the largest trees 

 in the world, as far as the girth of the trunk is concerned ; 

 but it is seldom seen in cultivation in this country. 



A. digitata (finger-leaved), ji. white, about 6in. across, with 

 purplish anthers, on long, axillary, solitary pedicels, l. palmate, 

 with three leaflets in the young plants, and five to seven in 

 adult ones. ft. 40ft. Africa. 



ADDER'S FERN. See Folypodium vulg-are. 



ADDER-SFIT. See Fteris aquilina. 



ADDER'S TONGUE. See Ophioglossum. 



ADEIiOBOTRYS (from adelos, obscure, and hofrys, 

 a cluster). Ord. Melastomacew. Stove climbing shrubs 

 with terete branches. Flowers white, crowded in cymose 

 heads at the tops of the branches. Leaves clothed with 

 rufous hairs on both surfaces when young, but in the 

 adult state glabrous, except the nerves, petiolate, ovate, 

 cordate, acuminated, ciliately serrated, five-nerved. For 

 general culture, see Fleroma. 



A. Lindeni (l-inden's).* _rt. white, changing to purple. Brazil, 1866. 

 A. scandens (climbing).* This, the original species, possibly not 

 now in cultivation, is a native of French Guiana. 



ADENANDRA (from aden, a gland, and aner^ a 

 male ; the anthers terminate in a globose gland). Ord. 

 Rufarece. Very beautiful little greenhouse shrubs from 

 the Cape of Good Hope. Flowers large, usually solitary 

 at the tops of the branches ; stamens ten, the five opposite 

 the petals sterile, five fertile ones similar in form, but 

 shorter. Leaves usually alternate, flat, glandularly dotted. 

 They thrive in a mixture of sand and peat, with a little 

 turfy loam. The young tops, before they begin to throw 

 out their buds, made into cuttings, and planted in a pot 

 of sand, with a bell glass placed over them, will root 

 witliout bottom heat. 



A. acuminata (acuminate). Synonymous with .4. amcena. 

 A. amoena (pleasing).* jf. large, whitish above, and reddish 



beneath, solitary, sessile, terminal. June. I. scattered, oblong 



or oval, bluntish. smooth, dotted beneath, ti. 1ft. to 2ft. 1798. 



SVN. A. acuminata. 



