A G A 



A G A 



rolla is onc-petalled, funnel-sliaped, and regular; 

 the tube cornered, as if composed of six claws ; 

 the border six-parted, with the parts ol)long and 

 fpreadinir : the stamina are six filaments in- 

 serted into tiic tliroat, shorter than the corolla, 

 deciinate : the a.itherffi are kidney-shaped and in- 

 cumbent : the pistillum is a superior germ, ob- 

 lono-, three-cornered ; the style tilii'orm, or the 

 length of the stamina, and deciinate ; the stigma 

 simple or trifid : the periearpium is an oblong 

 capsule, three-sided, three-celled, threc-valved : 

 valves navicular, with contrary dissepiment : the 

 seeds numerous, oblong, compressed, and en- 

 larged with a membrane. 



There is only one species, the yl. umheUatus, 

 African Blue, or Asphodel Lily. 



It has the root composed of many thick fleshy 

 fibres, diverging from the same head, striking 

 deep into the ground, and putting out many 

 smaller fibres, which are of a white colour and 

 fleshy. From the same head arises a cluster of 

 leaves surrounding each other at the base, so as 

 to form a kind of herbaceous stalk about three 

 inches in height, from which the leaves spread 

 only two ways, appearing flat in the other two. 

 The leaves are thick, succulent, about a foot 

 long, and near an inch broad, compressed, and 

 of a dark green colour. Between these eonies 

 out the flower-stalk, which is from two to three 

 feet in height, round, and as large as a man's 

 little finger, naked to the top, where it supports 

 a larsfe head or umbel of blue flowers, inclosed 

 in a "sheath, which splits into two parts, and is 

 bent backward. Each flower stands on a pedicel 

 about an inch long. The petals are blunt, and 

 waved on their edges ; the umbel being large, 

 the flowers numerous, and of a bright blue co- 

 lour, making a tine appearance. 



They appear about the end of August, or the 

 beginning of September, and frequently continue 

 in full beauty till the spring. 



It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



Culture. — ^This plant may be easily propagated 

 by means of ofii^ets taken from the parent plant. 

 The opcraticm of parting them is to be performed 

 at the season when the process of vegetation is 

 in the most languid state, which in this plant is 

 generally about the latter end of June. In per- 

 forming the work the old plants are to be turned 

 out of their pots, and the mold cautiously 

 cleared away from them, that the fibres of the 

 ofl^sets may be better ascertained. The offsets 

 are then to be separated in such a manner as that 

 their heads may not be injured. When they 

 adhere very closely a knife may be employed for 

 the purpose, being careful not to wound the 

 bulb of either the old or new plant. After this 

 has been accomplished the bulbs are to be planted 



out separately, in pots of good garden mold, 

 and placed in shady situations that admit the 

 morning sun. A little water should be given 

 once or twice a week when the season is dry, 

 care hein;!; taken not to endanger the rotting of 

 the roots bvappiving it in too large a proportion. 

 In four or five weeks, when the new planted 

 bulbs have put out fresh roots, they should be 

 removed into other situations that are more fully 

 exposed to the influence of the sun, a little 

 more water being cautiously applied in order to 

 strengthen their flowering. The flov.er-stcms 

 mostly appear in the beginning of September, 

 and towards the end of it tb.e flowers begin to 

 open. At this period, if the season be not quite 

 favourable, the plants must be brought under 

 shelter, in order to protect them from the efiects 

 of frost or too much wet. care being taken to 

 admit the air as freely as possible, as without this 

 the flowers become pale, weak, and of a bad co- 

 lour. About the end of October it is necessary 

 to remove them to the greenhouse, and place 

 them in such situations as that they may have 

 the advantage of free air without being shaded 

 by other plants. During the winter season, 

 when the weather is mild, a little water may be 

 given occasionally ; but in case of frost it nmst 

 be wholly omitted, the plants being kept as dry 

 as possible. 



The only management that plants of this sort 

 demand is that of protection from the effects of 

 frost and too much moisture ; it is of course 

 only necessar)' to shelter them in the house in the 

 vi'inter months, without the aid of artificial heat, 

 and place them out in the open air in summer. 



AGARICUS, a genus comprising the yigaric 

 or Common Mushroom, and several other species 

 of a poisonous quality. 



It belongs to the class and order of Cnjptoga- 

 mia Fungi. 



The characters of which are: that the pilous, 

 or cap, has <2;ills underneath ; that the gills differ 

 in substance from the rest of the plant, being 

 composed of two laminE; and that the seeds are 

 in the gills. 



The species are very numerous, but there is 

 only one that is proper for cultivation in the 

 garden. This is the ^. campestris. Common 

 l\cd-gilled Mushroom, or C'hampignon. 



It has the gills loose, in contact but not 

 united with the stem, very thick set, some forked 

 next the stem, some next the edge of the cap, 

 sonic at both ends, and generally in that case 

 excluding the intermediate smaller gills. The 

 colour pink, changing to that of liver. The cap 

 is white, changing to brown when old, and be- 

 coming scurfy, fleshy, regularly convex, but flat 

 wilii age, and liquefying in decay. The flesh 



