I L L 



I L L 



the beds, in pots filled with earth or sand, or in 

 a hole in the earth, in a <Jrv situation; the first 

 is probablv the best method. 



The plants mostly rise in the second spring, 

 when they should he kept well weeded and wa- 

 tered. 



Alter they have had two years' growth in 

 these beds, they sho-.dd be removed, and planted 

 out in nursery rows at the distance of two feet, 

 ana one apart in the rows. They should remain 

 in these till or' proper size to be planted where 

 they are to remain, keeping them perfectly clean, 

 and the ground occasionally stirred about them. 



The proper seasons lor removing them are 

 either the early autumn or spring; the former 

 in dry grounds, and the latter in those that are 

 of a retentive nature. 



In the second sort the seeds, after beina: pre- 

 pared as above, should be sown in pots, and 

 plunged the second spring in a gentle hot-bed, 

 in order to bring up the plants. They should 

 then be kept in the pots, and have protection in 

 the winter season till they have become of hardv 

 growth, when they may be turned out, and 

 planted in warm situations. They afterwards 

 require protection in very severe winters. 



The third sort may be managed in the same 

 way as the second, the young plants being trra- 

 dually inured to the open air, having only the 

 morning sun at first. They should be kept in 

 the pots four or five years, as thev crow slowlv, 

 being well protected in the winter. They all 

 succeed best in a drv soil. 



All the varieties of the different sorts are to 

 be continued either by budding or grafting upon 

 stocks of the first sort. The first should be 

 performed in the latter part of the summer, and 

 the latter in the earlv spring, upon stocks of 

 two years' growth. See Bidding and Graft- 

 ing. 



All the sorts and varieties are hichly orna- 

 mental in the clumps, borders, and other parts 

 of pleasure-grounds, affording much variety 

 when judiciously intermixed. The first sort 

 frequently rises to a large tree, having a tine 

 white hard wood, useful for various purposes. 

 1 he haik also affords the substance called iirci- 

 Ume, which is prepared by boiling it till the 

 green part is capable of being separated from 

 the white, then laving it in a cool cellar for a 

 few days, afterwards pounding it till it becomes a 

 tough paste, washing it repeatedly, rill it becomes 

 quite^-har, then placing it in an earthen •■ 

 to ferment or become line, when it will befit 

 for i 



ILLECEBRUM, a genus containing plants 

 of the herbaceous, flowery, bienuial, and shrub- 

 bv perennial kinds. 



Vol.IL 



Ii belongs to the class- and order Penlauidria 

 :yn':a, and ranks in tlic natural order of 

 Holaraceee. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a five- 

 leaved cartilaginous perianthium, live-cornered, 

 with coloured leaflets, which are sharp, with 

 distant points, permanent : there is no corolla : 

 the stamina have (wc capillary filament-., within 

 the calyx : anthers simple : the pistillum is an 

 ovate germ, sharp, ending in a short bifid style : 

 stigma simple, obtuse: the pericarpium is a 

 roundish acuminate capsule, both ways tive- 

 valved, one-celled, covered by the calyx : the 

 seed single, roundish, sharp on both sides, very 

 large. 



The species cultivated are: 1. /. Innafum, 

 Woolly Illeccbrum ; 8. /. suffruticowm, Shrub- 

 by lllecebrum, or Knot-grass ; 3. /. Parony- 

 chia, Mountain Illeccbrum, or Knot-grass. 



The first has a rigid round stem, somewhat 

 hairy, branched only at the base : the leaves arc 

 lanceolate, ovate, subsessile, opposite, petioled, 

 quite entire, sharpish, naked, pubescent un- 

 derneath: (spikes close, oblong, and axillary :) 

 the peduncles lateral, very short, in three or 

 four sessile spikes, unequal to the leaflet: sta- 

 mens connected at the base by means of a fit - 

 toothed crown : the seed kidney-form. It is a 

 native of the Last Indies, biennial, and flower- 

 ing most part of the year. 



It varies in size. This is the smaller one. 

 The Great Woolly lllecebrum has solitary, not 

 aggregate spikes. And, according to Retzius, 

 there is a remarkable variety with round leaves, 

 in Malabar. 



The second species has woody stems about a 

 foot high, with small leaves like those of 

 Knot-grass : the flowers come out singly on the 

 side of the stems, and make no great appear- 

 ance. It is a native of the south of Europe, 

 flowering from May to August. 



The third has trailing stalks near two feet 

 long, with leaves like those of the second kind ; 

 the heads of flowers come out from the joints of 

 the stalk, having neat silvery bractes surround- 

 ing them, which make a pretty appearance : the 

 flowers appear in June, and there is generally a 

 succession of them for at least two months. It 

 is perennial, and a native of the south of Europel 



Culture. — The first sort may be increased by 

 sowing the seeds in pots of light mould, in the 

 spring, in the same manner as the amaranthus, 

 plunging them in a mild hot-bed. And if they 

 be afterwards plunged in the tan-bed in the 

 stove, these branches will often put out roots 

 by which they may be raised. 



Cutting:- of the branches managed in 

 same way will sometimes <j;row. 

 G 



