90 



The Dictionary of Gardening, 



Ants — continued. 



Fly rans or Eaucera, nearly filled with thin honey or 

 Bweet oil, attract Ants, and they are drowned in them. 

 Ants are very hard to clear effectually out of a place, 

 and therefore it is very desirable, in all attempts to be 

 rid of them, to persist in the above remedies. When not 

 living close to the roots or stems of plants, the best and 

 surest remedy of all is to flood them out or scald them 

 in with boiling water. The specifics are endless, but the 

 best are mentioned above. 



ANTWERP HOLLYHOCK. St e Althaea ficifolia. 



AOTUS (from a, without, and oils, an ear ; in allusion to 

 the absence of appendages in the calyx, which distinguishes 

 it from its allied genus, Pulteiiwa). Oed. Legnminosm. 

 Elegant little greenhouse evergreen shrubs, with yellow 

 flowers, and simple, linear-subulate leaves, revolute at the 

 margins, alternate or nearly opposite, or three in a whorl. 

 They should be grown in a compost of equal parts loam, 

 sand, and peat, with a little charcoal, and the pots should 

 be weU drained. Cuttings of half-ripened wood, made in 

 April, root freely in sand, under a bell glass. 



A. graclllima (most slender).* /. yellow and crim.son, small, on 

 ion", dense, graceful spikes, which are often over a foot long ; 

 pe<(ic2ls short. May. Ii. 3ft. New Holland, 1844. A very pretty 

 slender growing shrub. 



A. vlllosa (soft-haired). Jl. asill.ary, disposed in racemose spikes 

 along the branches ; calyx silky. April. I. smoothish on the 

 upper surface, h. 1ft. to 2tt. New Holland, 1790. 



APEIBA (the native name in Guiana.) Okd. 

 Tiliaceai. Very handsome stove evergreen trees or shrubs, 

 clothed with starry down. Flowers large, golden yellow, 

 pedunculate, bracteate. Capsule spherical, depressed, 

 rough from rigid bristles. Leaves broad, alternate, entire 

 or serrate. They thrive in a mixture of loam and peat. 

 The best way to induce them to flower in this country is 

 by cutting a ring round the bark of a large branch ; by this 

 means the growth is stopped. Well ripened cuttings should 

 be planted in sand in heat, under a bell glass, which should 

 be tilted occasionally, so as to give a little air to the cut- 

 tings, otherwise they are apt to damp off. 

 A. aspera (rough).* fl. golden yellow ; peduncles opposite the 

 leaves, branched, many flowered. May. I. ovate-oblong, some- 

 wliat cordate, quite entire, smooth, h. 30ft. to 40ft. Guiana, 

 1792. 

 A Petoumo (Petoumo). /. yellow, similarly disposed to A. aspera. 

 .\U!;ust. Ir. densely clothed with bristles. I. ovate-oblong, some- 

 what cordate at the base, entire, hoary beneath, h. 40ft. Uuiana, 

 1S17. 

 A. Tibourbou (Tibourbou).* fi. dark yellow. August, /r. 

 densely clotlied with bristles. I. coi'date, ovate-oblong, serrated, 

 hairy beneath. Ii. 10ft. Guiana, 1756. 



AFETALOUS. Without petals. 



AFEX. The summit or point of anything. 



AFHELANDBA (from apheles, simple, and aner, a 

 male ; tho anthers being one-celled). Okd. Acanthacem. 

 Very handsome stove evergreen shrubs, mostly of an erect 

 habit of growth, and having handsome shining leaves, 

 which in some instances are variegated. Flowers pro- 

 duced in terminal four-sided spikes — the preponderating 

 colours being brilliant shades of orange or scarlet — 

 conspicuously situated above the foliage ; they are ex- 

 ceedingly attractive ; corolla ringent, two-lipped, upper 

 lip three-Iobed ; central lobe large. They bloom gene- 

 rally during the autumn months, and if the plants are 

 removed to a warm dry atmosphere so soon as the flowers 

 begin to open, they will continue much longer in perfection 

 than if left in the moisture-laden atmosphere of the stove. 

 From the time the flower spikes are at first seen till they 

 bloom, the plants will derive much benefit from frequent 

 applications of clear manure water. When the plants have 

 finished flowering, they should be allowed to rest, by re- 

 ducing the supidy of water, but never allow them to shrivel. 

 During this time they may be kept in a house or pit, where 

 the atmosphere is rather dry, with a night temperature of 

 50deg. to 55deg. Here they may remain till March, when 



Aplielandra — co ntinued. 

 they should be pruned. This operation is commenced by 

 thinning out the weakest shoots altogether, and cutting the 

 others back to one or two of the strongest joints or buds 

 above the old wood in order to keep the plants dwarf and 

 bushy. When pruned, the plants should bo placed in the 

 stove, giving moderate supplies of water at the roots, and 

 occasionally sprinkling the stems overhead till growth com- 

 mences. When the young shoots have attained an inch or so 

 in length, the plants should be turned out of the pots, remov- 

 ing the crocks and as much of the old soil as can be got away 

 easily, at the same time shortening-iu any of the straggling 

 roots. They should then be placed into smaller-sized pots, 

 keeping them rather close, and watering them carefully for 

 a time till growth has commenced. When fairly started, 

 they may bo transferred into larger-sized pots, in which 

 they are to flower. During the summer, these plants 

 require a moist atmosphere, with a temperature of 65deg. 

 by night, allowing it to rise 15deg. or 20deg. by day, and 

 whilst active growth is taking place they should be fre- 

 quently supplied with moisture at the roots, keeping them 

 well exposed on all sides to the light. After growth has 

 commenced, it is not advisable to stop the shoots, for 

 the stouter and stronger they grow irp the finer will be 

 the flower spikes when they appear. The compost should 

 consist of equal parts fibry loam, leaf soil, and peat, with a 

 n-ood proportion of sand added. In preparing it, it should be 

 rather lumpy, and, before using, should be warmed to about 

 the temperature of the house in which the plants are 

 grown. Clean pots and perfect drainage are most essen- 

 tial. Cuttings are best prepared from half ripened wood, 

 or taken off when young with a heel. The base of each 

 cutting should invariably be cut clean across. These 

 may be inserted an inch apart, in pots of sandy soil, and 

 plunged in a brisk bottom heat. To obtain young shoots 

 for cuttings, if the old plants break freely after pinning, 

 and very large specimens are not required, when the shoots 

 are 2in. long they should be thinned out, leaving the 

 requisite number of the strongest to form the plant. If 

 the surplus pieces are removed with a slight heel of the 

 older wood, they make good cuttings, and should be treated 

 the same as the others. These cuttings strike root quickest, 

 and when rooted, if potted into 5in. or 6in. pots, and allowed 

 to grow up without stopping or pinching out the tops, they 

 will flower the first season. Although Aphelandras can be 

 groivn into large sized specimens, it will be found to be 

 more generally satisfactory to have specimens of neat and 

 moderate dimensions. The mealy bug and scale insects 

 are very troublesome, and must be kept down, otherwise 

 they will prove most prejudicial to the plants. 



A. acutifolla (acute-leaved), fl. large, deep vermilion red ; the 

 upper lip of corolla concave, and projected forward, the lower 

 one consists of three oblong-obtuse spreading lobes. October. 

 I. broad, oblong-ovate, acuminate. Columbia, 1868. 



A. aurantiaoa (orange-coloured).* fl. deep orange scarlet ; upper 

 lip of corolla erect, bidentate, concave ; lower one spreading 

 horizontally, three lobed. December. I, broad, ovate, opposite, 

 dark green, somewhat wavy at the edge. h. 3ft. Mexico, 

 1844. 



A. a. Roezlil (Roezl's).* Differs chiefly from the type m the curiously 

 twisted leaves, which are dark green, shaded with a silvery hue 

 between the primary veins ; in the brighter scarlet of the flowers ; 

 and a few other, but purely technical, points. It is one of the 

 best. Mexico, 1867. Sv.n'. A. Roezlii. 



A. crlstata (crested).* fl. brilliant orange scarlet, 2in. or 3in. 

 long, in large terminal branching spikes. August to November. 

 (. large, broadly ovate, and tapering to a point, h. 3ft. West 

 Indies, 1733. Ahandsome and continuous bloomer. Sv.N. Jmtkia 

 pulchei-rima. 



A. fascinator (fascinating).* fl. bright vermUion, in very large 

 spikes. Autuum. I. ovate acuminate, olive green, beautifully 

 banded with silvery white, whilst the under side is of a uniform 

 purplish violet, li. lift. New Grenada, 1874. 



A. Leopold! (Leopold's).* fl. citron-yellow. I. opposite, ovate- 

 oblong, acuminate ; gTound colour on the upper surface dark 

 green^ the midrib and primary veins pure white ; under surface 

 uniformly pale green. Brazil, 1834. 



A. medioaurata (golden-centred), fl. unknown. I. ovate-lanccn. 

 late, sinuate, bright green, with yellow central brand. Brazil, 

 1871. Syn. Oraptophyllwm mcdio-auratum. 



