An Encyclopedia of Horticulture. 



113 



Aristolochia— continue (2. 



A. lenconenra (white-?eined). ,rt. purple brown. September. 



I. cordate, acuminate, h. 12ft. Magiialena, 1858. Stove species. 



A. odoratissima (sweetest-scented).* _fl. purple, sweet-scented ; 

 peduncles one-flowered, longer than the leaf ; lip cordate lanceo- 

 late, longer than the perianth. July, I. ronlate, ovate, ever- 

 green. Stem twining. A, 10ft. Jamaica, 1737. Stove evergreen. 



A. omithocephala O'ird's-head).* /^ purple, very large, and 

 extremely singular. To render any description at all lucid, this 

 species may be said to have the head of a hawk and the beak of a 

 heron, with the wattles of a Spanish fowl, which, however, are 

 grey, netted with brown ; head of the same colour, veined ; and 

 the beak grey. I. between cordate and reniform, obtuse. October. 

 h. 20ft. Brazil, 1838. Stove species. 



A. ringens (gaping).* Jl. extremely grotesque, 7in. to lOin. long, 

 pale gi-een, marbled and reticulated with black purple. The 

 perianth has an obovoid ventricose sac, or cup, 2Mn. long, which 

 IS woolly inside ; tube ascending obliquely from the sac, terete, 

 dividing into two very long lips, the upper of which (lower as the 

 flower hangs) is oblong- lanceolate, recurved, and hairy inside 

 below the micldle, while the lower one is shorter, with recurved 

 margin.s, and expanding into an orbicular or almost reniform limb. 

 Unlike many other species, the flowers are produced on the young 

 shoots. July. I. bright green, glabrous, roundish-reniform. 

 h. 20ft. Brazil, 1820. Stove evergreen. 



A. Ruizlana (Ruiz's). A synonym of A. Dnckartrei. 



A. saccata (ptiuch-flowered). ,/f. purplish-red, forming a large 



})uuch ; tliruat circular, vertical. September. I. 12in. to 15in. 

 ong, and 4in. broad, scattered, ovate-cordate, narrowed at apex, 

 slightly waved and sinuated, entire, more silky beneath than 

 above, h. 20ft. Sylhet, 1829. Stove evergreen. 

 A. sempervirens (evergreen). ,rt. purple ; perianth incurved. 

 May. /. cordate, oblong, acuminate. Stem prostrate, flexuous, 

 somewhat climbing, h. 4ft. Candia, 1727. Greenhouse species. 



Fir,. 149. Flowering Branch op Aristolociiia Sinio. 



A. SlpUo (tube-bearing).* Jl. yellomsh-brown ; corolla ascending ; 



limb in three equal portions, not expanding, flat, brown ; bracts 

 of the peduncle lariie, ovate. May and June. I. cordate, acute. 

 Stem twining. /(. 15ft. to 30ft. North America, 1763. This hardy, 

 climbing, deciduous shrub grows freely in a deep, free, rather 

 dry soil. See Fig. 149. 



A. ThwaitesU (Thwaites'). Jl. yellow. March, h. 3ft. Old 

 Calabar, 1854. Stove species. 



A. tomentosa (tomentose).* Jl. puride ; perianth with its tube 

 twisted back, and much more deeply divided than in A. Sip/m, 

 exi>anding, flat, and yellow, with the muuth of the tube of a deep 

 purple ; peduncle solitary, without a bract. July. /. cordate, 

 downy beneath, h. 20ft. North America, 1799. Hardy. 



A. tricandata (three-tailed).* ^. dark purple-brown, solitary, 

 split into three subulate tails. August. I. oblong acuminate, 

 rugose, 5in. to Sin. long. Mexico, 1866. A curious, but pretty, 

 stove shrub. 



A. trllobata(three-lobed). Jl. purple; perianth cylindrical, broken 

 saccate at base; lip cordate cuspidate. June. I. three-lobed 

 Stem twining, h. 8ft. South America, 1775. Stove evergreen. 



Aristolochia —continued. 



A. ongnlifolla (claw-leaved). Jl. racemose ; perianth brownish- 

 purple, stipitate at base, above which it is swollen out in a globose 

 or oblong form, with two thickened projections near the end ; 

 upper end of tube contracted, somewhat curved, terminating in a 

 two-lipped limb, one lip large, ovate, the other minute. June. 

 L 6in. to 7in. long, cordate, and pedately five-nerved at the Inuse, 

 three-lobed below the middle, with broad sinuses, the two lateral 

 lobes arcuate, and blunt at the apex. Labuan, 1880. Stove species. 



ARISTOIiOCHIACEJE. An order of very curious 

 plants, with sinjjfularly inflated flowers, consisting" of a 

 calyx only, of a dull, ding-y colour. It is popularly known 

 as the Birthwort family, and has an English representative 

 in Aristolochia cleinatitis. 



ABISTOTELIA (said to be named in honour of 

 Aristotle, the Greek philosopher). Ord. TiliaceiB. A 

 hardy evergreen shrub. Calyx eampanulate ; petals five, 

 inserted in the base of the calyx, and alternating' with its 

 lobes. Easily grown, in ordinary garden soil, in the shrub- 

 bery. Propagated by ripened cuttings, which root freely if 

 placed under a hand glass ; or by layers. 



A. Macqui (Macqui's).* Jl. small, greenish, axillary. May. 

 I. nearly opposite, stalked, oblong, acute, smooth, shining, dentate, 

 permanent, h. 6ft. Chili, 1753. A shrub esteemed for its hand- 

 some foliage. The berries are about the size of a pea, very dark 

 purple, at length becoming black. The variegated form is not so 

 hardy as the type, but much more omament^il. 



ABMENIACA (from Armenia, the native country of 

 the Apricot). Apricot. Ord. Rosacece. Tribe Drupacece. 

 Small, hardy, deciduous trees. Flowers appearing before the 

 leaves from scaly buds, solitary, or few together, almo.st 

 sessile. Leaves, when young, convolute. Drupe ovate- 

 globose, fleshy, covered with velvety .skin, containing a nut, 

 or stone, which is acute at one end and blunt at the other, 

 with a furrow on both sides ; the rest smooth, not wrinkled. 

 For culture, &c., see Apricot and Pmnus. 

 A, brigantiaca (Brigancon).* Ji. white or pink, glomerate, almost 

 sessile. March. I. somewhat cordate, acuminated, sharply toothed ; 

 the teeth numerous, and lapping over each other, h. 6ft. to 8ft. 

 South Europe, 1819. 

 A. dasycarpa (thick-fruited).* fl. white, pedicellate ; pedicels 

 filiform. March. I. ovate, acuminate, serrated ; petioles glandular^ ■ 

 h. 10ft. to 15ft. China, 1800. 

 A. siblrica (Siberian). Jl. rose-coloured. April. I. ovate, acu- 

 minate ; petioles glandless. k. 8ft. to 20ft. Dahuria, 1788. 

 A viilgajrls (common).* Common Apricot. Jl. pinkish-white, 

 sessile. February. I. ovate, or cordate, glabrous, glandularly 

 serrated, k. 15ft. Levant, 1548. Of this species numerous 

 varieties, differing in the foliar outline, &c.» are sometimes met 

 with. See Apricot. 



AKMERIA (from Flos Armerice, Latin name for the 

 flowers of a species of Pink). Thrift ; Sea Pink. Ord. 

 Plumbagineo'. A very interesting and pretty group of 

 hardy alpine tufted perennials. Flowers pedicellate, col- 

 lected in dense solitary heads ; involucre scarious, sheath- 

 ing the scape and turned downwards ; petals cohering at 

 the base, persistent ; flower scapes leafless. Leaves linear, 

 radical. As the majority of the spefiea differ in mere 

 technical details, we have given a representative group 

 only. They are easily cultivated in a sandy loam and leaf 

 soil, and are increased by seeds and division, separate 

 pieces being planted as cuttings under hand glasses ; or 

 the rarer kinds should be potted and placed in a frame. 

 The seed should be sown in spring, in pots of sandy soil, 

 and placed in a cold frame. Although best grown as rock 

 Xjlants, most of them do well in pots and borders. A. vulgaris 

 makes one of the best of edging plants. 



A cephalotes (round-headed).* Jl. deep rose or crimson, in a 

 large roundish head on erect stalk. Autumn. I. broadly lanceo- 

 late, glabrous, acute ; petioles channelled, sheathing at the base. 

 h. 12in. to 18in. South Europe, 1800. Tliis is perhaps the finest 

 species, and is best raised from an annual sowing of seed, as it is 

 somewhat difficult to increase by divisions. Syns. A.Joniwsa, A, 

 latifolia, A. mauritanica, and A. pseiido-armeria. 



A dlantholdes (Pink -like).* Jl. light pink, in close heads about 

 6in. high. May and June. I. spreading, flattened, nerved, 

 slightly downy. South Europe, 1810. 



A. formosa (handsome). Synonymous with A. cephalotes. 



A. ^nncea (rush-like).* Jl. rose pink, in small heads about 3in. 

 high. June. I. small, erect, roundish, pointed, deep green. 

 South Europe. A very pretty little alpine species. 



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