476 



ARBOIIETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



high ; at S<-Caux, 10 years plantctl, and 'iO ft, high ; in the Toulon Hotanic Garden, 20 years ]>lante(l, 

 and 1'.' It. high ; at Nerrii-res, near Nantes, iJO years planted, and 15 ft. high. In Austria, in the 

 I'niversity Botanic Harden at Vienna, '25 years planted, and M It. high. 



Commercial Statislics. Plants, in London, cost from \s. to 2.v. Gd. each ; at 

 BoUw} llcr, 1 franc each ; at New York, V. 



App. I. Half-hardy ligneous Species of Sapinddcccc. 



DoDON<p^rt, a genus of plants named in honour of Ramhrol Dodoens, author of Historia Planta- 

 ruvi, who died in l')85, consists of nearly :>() species of green. house plants, which arc chiefly natives 

 of new Holland, though some of them are from the F^st and West Indies and South America. 

 They are all shrulis, with exstipulatp, simple, or pinnate leaves, and small greenish yellow Howers. 

 They are not showy, hut they are interesting to the botanist, as illustrating this order, and also on 

 account of the ramified venation of their leaves. 



• li. visciisa L.is a native of theCaribhee Islands, where it is a shrub growing to the height of fi ft. 

 It has been in the country since !(!!«), and is occasionally to be (met with in green-houses. It is 

 highly probable that it would stand our winters against a wall, with sufficient protection. 



• i>. allcrnula Cunning, is a native of New Holland, and has been in cultivation fince 1824. 



Ik D.ja»iaici'usis Dec, D. angustifblia Swx., V). viscr>sa Cav., is a native of the colder parts of 

 Jamaica, where it grows to the height of 6 ft. ; and, being very sour and bitterish in all its part<, it 

 is known there by the name of switch sorrel. It has been in our green.houses since IHIO. 



• li. snlici/iilia Dec, D. angustifblia J.atii., is in cultivation in l-'rench gardens umler the name 

 of liois lie reinctte, and has been in our green.houses since 1820. The leaves are very narrow, 

 and they arc sweet-scented. It is supposed to be a native of New Holland. 



Ik D.' \aiirina Sieb., D. trlguelra Bot. Rep. t. '2:>\., I), cuncala Smith, and D. asplcniifblia Rudge, 

 are all natives of New Holland, occasionally to be met with in green.houses. They are generally 

 cultivated in loam and peat, or in any light soil ; and, when they are tried against a conservative wall, 

 care should be taken that they are not ovcri)owcred at the root, or at the top, by other plants. 



CHAP. XXV. 



OF THE HALF-HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER 

 A/ELIA'CEiE. 



5 1. Mi//Vi Aze<iarach L., the bead tree, or Indian lilac, 

 (fig- 



.. g- 138.) is an old inhabitant of British green-houses, 

 and well known to all those who have travelled in Italy. 

 'J"he word ■Velia is derived from niclia, the fireek name 

 for the manna ash (from 7)ii'li, honey) ; from a fancied 

 resemblance lietween the leaves and those of the ash : and 

 Azcdariich from an Arabic word signifying a poisonous 

 plant ; the berries of the melia being formerly sui)posed 

 to lie poisonous. Its foliage and its spikes of flowers are 

 large, the plant being remarkably showy when fully de- 

 veloped ; and it is by no means tender. It grows in its 

 native country, Syria, to the height of 40 ft. ; and there 

 are trees of nearly that height in the neighbourhood of 

 Naples, It is planted as an ornamental tree in Spain, 

 Portugal, Italy, and the south of France. There are 

 trees of it in the public walks at Montpelier, at Toulon, 

 and in various cities in Italy. In the southern states of 

 North America, more particularly in Carolina, it is planted 

 near houses, and known there by the name of the pride 

 of India ; a name also given to the Lagerstru-'nun (ndica. 

 In Greece, and along the shores of the Cirecian Archipelago 

 and the Mediterranean, the jA/ilia Azcdarnch is always 

 planted in the area of monasteries for the sakcof the nuts, 

 contained in its fruits, which are made into rosaries by the 

 monks; and hence its name of the bead tree. The fruit, which is of the size of a cherry, but more 

 cylindrical, and of a jiale yellow colour when ripe, was said by the Arabian physician Avicenna to be 

 |x>isonous ; and the pulp was mixed with grease, for the purpose of killing rats and dog.s. According 

 to Royle, however, the fruit can only be considered poisonous when used in large doses. It is used in 

 Java as a vermifuge. The nuts, which are of a brown colour, arc bored, and, as already stated, strung 

 as t>eads in Cathohc countries. In Britain, the tree frequently Howers in green-houses, and sometimes 

 ripens seeds : it ha.s been tried in the open air, both as a standard and against a wall. It has stood 

 through several winters, in the open air, at Biel, in East Lothian ; and at Bungav, in Suflblk, a plant, 

 which had been 9 years planted against a wall, was, in 18.H, !•* ft. high, the trunk 9 in. in diameter, 

 and had branches extending 18 ft. on each side of the trunk. One, raised from seed in 1828, which 

 has stood ever since against a wall in our garden at Bayswater, protected by a glass case during 

 winter, flowered in 18jj. In the warmest parts of Devonshire and Cornwall,"it might l>o treated as 

 a standard tree. Plants are generally raised from seeds ; and thev niav be procure<l in the I^ndon 

 nur.series at Ss. each ; at Bollwyller, fori franc and 50 cents; and at' New York, for 25 cents a 

 plant, and 1 dollar a quart of seeds. 



If 2. M. scmjiervin-ns Swz., the cvcrprccn Mclia, or Bead Tree, known in the West Indies by 

 the name of the Indian lilac, is said to be a free growing to tJie height of about 25 ft. It has been 

 in our green.houses since ItKXi; and is by some considered as only a variety of M. Aifdardch. 



