GENERAL DICTIONARY 



OF 



PRACTICAL GARDENING, &c. 



A, 



A B R 



lBELE, a gAicral name applied to the IPVite 

 Poplar Tree. See Popi:lus. 



ABIES, the Fir Tree. See Pixus. 



ABROMA, a genus comprehending a tree of 

 the exotic kind fcnown in the East Indies, and 

 cultivated occasionally in the stove in this 

 country. 



It belongs to the class and order Pohjadelphia 

 Dodecandria, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Colummferce. 



The characters of which are : that the calyx is 

 a five-leaved perianthium, having lanceolate, 

 acute, spreading, permanent leaflets: the corolla 

 consists of five petals, larger than the calyx, 

 with obovate, arched, concave, and erect claws, 

 which are hairy at the ends, and inserted at the 

 base into the nectary ; having oval, obtuse, spread- 

 mg ciliate borders, which are contracted at the 

 base into ver>- short, ciliate, rccun-ed, little claws, 

 on which the principal ones are placed : the nectary 

 !S short, small, and pitchcr-shapedj being divided 

 into five segments, which are obcordate, hairy, 

 and erect, being recur\-ed, arched, and alternate 

 wiih the claws of the petals : the stamina are five 

 filaments, membranaceous, and verv small, grow- 

 ing on the nectarj' between the cniar(rinate"'trifid 

 segments, and topped with three tw^n kidney- 

 shaped antherae on each filament : the pistillum'is 

 a subcyhndrical germ, having five subulate ap- 

 proximating styles crowned by acute stigmas : the 

 periearpium is an ovate, membranaceous, veined 

 capsule, five-winged, five-beaked, and five-ctlled, 

 gaping at the top into five parts between the 

 beaks, having the partitions folded : the seeds 

 are many and subovate, contained within an ob- 



A B R 



lique membranaceous aril, and fixed in a double 

 row to the central edge of the partitions, which 

 is thickened and bearded longitudinally, but with- 

 out any receptacle for the seeds. 



The species are : 1 . A. angusta, Maple-leaved 

 Abroma j 2. A. JFIieleri, Wheeler's Abroma ; 

 the first of which only has been introduced and 

 cultivated here. 



It rises to the state of a tree, having generally a 

 straight trunk, and branches that are adorned with 

 someovate, spear-shaped, acuminated leaves 5 and 

 others vyhich are angular, as those of the first 

 year, with five or seven lobes which are acute, 

 the anterior ones being most produced, all veined, 

 and alternate, of a green colour on both the 

 upper and under sides, but paler on the latter. 

 Ever)- part of the plant is covered by stifl[, shinino-, 

 decumbent bristles, of a whitish cast, scarcefy 

 obser\'able by the naked eye, but readily sepa- 

 rating, and adhering to the fingers without injury. 

 Tlie peduncles are mostly Eifid, bearing two 

 flowers of a dark purple colour, which come out 

 on the ends of these bifid footstalks, nodding 

 elegantly downwards, but with little or no smell j 

 continuing to appear from June to October, and 

 perfecting the fruit about the beginning of the 

 latter month. 



This plant grows naturally in New South Wales 

 and the Philippine Islands, 'and, when cut, yields 

 a kind of gum. It was introduced into this coun- 

 tn.- about the year 1 779. 



The latter is a plant of the shrub kind, a native 

 of the East Indies, having a brownish-coloured 

 bark, and the extreme branches covered bv a 

 woolly substance, 



B 



