THE 



DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Bn £nc\>clopixMa of 1f)orticultuic. 



The following are the Abbreviations used :— 7!. flowers; fr. fruit; I. leaves; h. height; decf. degrees; 



rhiz. rhizomes ; cmi. caudex ; sti. stipes. 



The Asterisks (*) indicate plants that are especially good or distinct. 



A. In compound words from the Greek the initial a 

 has usually a privative meaning: ; as aphylluSj without 

 leaves; acuulis, without a stem. &o. 



AARON'S BEARD. Sn- Hypericum calycinum 



and Saxifraga sarmentosa. 



AARON'S ROD. See Verbascum Thapsus. 

 ABELE TREE. AVhite Poplar. See Populus 

 alba. 



ABEIiIA (named after Dr. Clarke Abel, Physician to 

 Lord Amherst's Embas^sy to China, in 1817, and author of 

 a "Narrative of a Journey to China" (ISIS); died 1826). 

 Ord. Caprifoliacece. Very ornamental shrubs. Corolla 

 tubular, funnel-shaped, five-lobed. Leaves petiolate, den- 

 tately crenated. Well suited for the cold greenhouse, 

 either as treUis or i)ot plants ; free-flowering when well 

 grown, and of easy culture. May be treated in sheltered 

 and warm climates as hardy ; and can be grown out of 

 doors during summer in less favoured spots. They thrive 

 in a compost of peat and loam in eqiial parts, to which a 

 small quantity of silver sand may be added. Increased 

 by cuttings in summer, and by layers in spring, under 

 a frame. Only two species, floribundci and rupedris^ 

 are much grown in England. 



A. floribunda (mauy-floweved).* jl. rosy-purple, about 2in. long, 

 in axilhiry chistcis, March. I. opposite, oblong, h. 3ft. Mexico, 

 1842. 'I'he best :iud freest flowering evergreen species. 



A rupestris (iix-k).* jl. sweet-scented, small, pink, in pairs at 

 the ends of tbi- bniuches ; sepals of leafy textuie, ^ith a reddish 

 tin^e. Si-ptLiiib«.T. /. small, oblong, h. bit. China, 1844. A 

 deciduous, braiuhiiig, hairy shrub. 



A, serrata (serrate-leaved). /. i>rctty pale red, sweet-scented, 

 very large, in one-flowered terminal peduncles ; sepals leafy. 

 March, h. 3ft. China, 1844. A tine evergreen species. 



A. triflora (three-flowered).* Jl. pale yellow, tinged with pink, 

 small, anangod in threes at the ends of the branches ; sepals 

 long aiul linear, clotlied with long haire. September. I. small, 

 lanceolate. A. 5ft. Hindostan, 1847. A small evergreen branch- 

 uig shrub. 



ABERRANT. Deviating from the natural or direct 



Ahevva.nt — continued. 

 way ; applied, in natural history, to species or genera ttat 

 deviate from the usual characters of their allies. 



ABIES (fr, m aheo^ to rise; alluding to the aspiring 

 habit of growth of the tree ; or, according to some, from 

 apioSy a Pear-tree, in allusion to tlie form of the fruit). 

 Spruce Fir. The synonymy of this genus is much 

 confused, plants belonging to several genera being fre- 

 quently referred to Abies in nurserymen's catalogues 

 and gardening periodicals. Ord. Cuniferoe. A genus of 

 about twenty-five species, widely distributed over the 

 mountainous regions of the Northern hemisphere. Cones 

 cylindrical, or but slightly tapering, erect; catkins gener- 

 ally solitary; the carpels not thickened at the tip; and 

 the leaves solitary, partially scattered in insertion, and 

 more or less two-ranked in direction. Scales deciduous, 

 falling off as soon aa the seed is ripe, leaving the axis on 

 the tree. All the species bear seeds at a comparatively 

 early age ; most are hardy. For culture, see Finus. 

 A. amabilis (lovely).* shoots rather rigid, furmuud witli elon- 

 gated cuyliioii-s, covered with niniicroua small dark hau's. 

 I. scattered, crowded, l\in. to 2in. long; linear obtuse, dark green 

 above, silvery beneath. The cones are described as cylindrical, 

 and about 6in. long. h. 180ft. California, 1831. A luagniticeut 

 conifer, very massive in appearance. 

 A, baborensis.* I. linear, dark gi-een, silvery on the under 

 surface, very numerous, those of the larger branches shortly 

 pointed, and those of the branchlets more obtuse and pointless, 

 ^in. to lin. long, cones erect, cylindrical, usually in clusters of 

 four or live, 5ih. to Sin. long, and about 2hi. in diameter; scales 

 i-euiforni, greyish-brown, inclosing a thiu, dry, and shrivelled 

 bract, h. 40ft. to 60ft. Algiers, 1864. This is a vciy beautiful 

 medium-sized tree. 8vN. A. yiimidic-t. 

 A. balsamea (Balm of CJiluad or Ualsam Fir).* I. silvery 

 beneath, apex emargiuate or entire, somewhat recurved and 

 spreading, ^iu. lon^. cones cylindrical, violet-coloured, pointing 

 upwards, 4in. to 5m. long, au<l iin. broad ; scales ^i"- broad, 

 and the same in length, li. 40ft. to 60ft. United States and 

 Canada, &c., 1696. A medium-sized slender tree. 

 A, bifida (bifid). Identical with A.Jii-jna. 



A. brachyphylla (shurt-leaved).* I. linear, spirally inserted round 

 the branchlets, but pointing laterally in two directions, Jin. to 



B 



