M I C 



M I L 



leafed perianthium, sizteen-parted : segments 

 lanceolate, unequal, the alternate one.-, reversed : 

 the con. 11a one-pctallcd, wheel-shaped, eight- 



E axled, larger than the calyx : segments linear- 

 mceolate, spreading verv much, rcvolute at 

 the tip: nectary eight-valvcd, suniinilcrous : 

 the stamina have eight awl-shaped, permanent 

 filaments : anthers linear, very long, pressed 

 close to the style : the pistilluni is an interior, 

 turbinate germ: style columnar, permanent: 

 stigma eight-parted : segments aw [-shaped, re- 

 volute: the pericarpium is a turbinate capsule, 

 truncated, eight-celled, valveless: cells rhomb- 

 cd : the seeds very numerous, small, oblong, 

 inserted into the receptacles. 



The species is M. aimpanu oides, Rough- 

 leaved Michauxia. 



It is a handsome biennial plant : the stem 

 simple, panicled when in flower, upright, her- 

 baceous, rough-haired, green, two feet high, 

 the thickness of the little finger, milky, as are 

 also the branches, peduncles and calyxes : the 

 branches alternate, axillarv, flowering alll over, 

 spreading, reclining at the end: the root- 

 leaves are petioled, cordate : the next pe- 

 tioled and runcinate : the stem-leaves half- 

 embracing, lanceolate, acute, widening into 

 ears at Uie base, irregularly gashed, serrate, 

 nerved, wrinkled, rough- haired, rigid, waved, 

 ascending at the sides, purple at the edge, four 

 inches long, an inch and a half wide: the flow- 

 ers are in a panicle, peduncled, bracted, bang- 

 ing down, white, four inches in diameter: some 

 slightly tinged with purple on the outside. It 

 was found in the Levant. 



Culture. — It may be raised from seed procur- 

 ed from its native situation and sown in the 

 early spring season, in pots plunged in a hot- 

 bed, or on a moderate hot-bed. When the 

 Elants have attained a little growth thev should 

 e removed into separate pots and be re-plunged 

 in the hot-bed. It must afterwards be mana- 

 ged as tender green-house plants. 



It affords variety in collections of this sort. 



MICIIELIA, a genus containing a plant of 

 the tree or shrub kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Pohjamlria 

 Pohjcrynia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Coaaunatce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a three- 

 leaved perianthium: leaflets petal-form, oblong, 

 concave, deciduous: the corolla has fifteen pe- 

 tals, lanceolate ; the outer ones larger : the 

 stamina have very many awl-shaped filaments, 

 very short : anthers erect, acute : the pistilluni 

 has numerous germs, imbricate in a long spike: 

 styles none : stigmas reflex, blunt : the peri- 

 carpium berries (berried capsules) as many, 



I 



globular, one-celled, half-bivalved, dispersed 

 in a raceme ■ the seeds tour, (from two to 

 eight,) convex on one side, angular on the 

 other. 



The species is 71/. C/iampaca, Champaca or 

 Indian Michclia. 



In its native situation it is a loftv tree, with a 

 trunk as large as a man can compass, covered 

 with a thick ash-coloured bark, but in this 

 climate it is only the size of a shrub : the leaves 

 are a span or more in length, and four or live 

 inches in width, contracted into an oblong nar- 

 row point, of a hard texture, flat and smooth, 

 dusky green above, brighter green beneath, on 

 petioles an inch in length : The flowers on the 

 extreme twigs, axillary, on thick, upright pe- 

 duncles an inch and a half in length, and hav- 

 ing a very fragrant smell : the petals narrow, in 

 three rows ; in the outer row eight, three times 

 as broad as those in the middle row, which arc 

 also eight; towards the top they are more round 

 and sometimes pointed or cusped, but less so 

 than in the middle row : in the inner row they 

 are small, short, very much cusped towards the 

 top, pale yellow : fruit oblong spheroidal, with 

 athickish rind, first green, then pale whitish 

 yellow, having a very sharp ta<te, and not vcrv 

 pleasant smell. It is a native of the East 

 Indies. 



Culture. — This plant may be increased by 

 seeds, layers, and cuttings, managed in the 

 same manner as the above sort. 



It affords variety in collections of stove 

 plants. 



.MILFOIL. See Achillea. 



MICE, a sort of vermin highly destructive to 

 several sorts of garden crops, such as peas and 

 beans in the early spring, and lettuces, melons 

 and cucumbers in frames in the winter season. 

 When discovered they should be immediately 

 destroyed. See Vehm in. 



MILDEW, a vegetable disease verv hurtful to 

 some kinds of plants. It is suppose ' o proci ed 

 from different causes: some consider it as a kind 

 of thick clammy moisture, which falls on, or 

 rather transpires from, the leaves and blossoms 

 of plants, which, by stopping up the pores, 

 prevents perspiration, and binders their growth. 

 The author of The Philosophy of Gardening 

 suspects it to be a plant of the fungous kind, 

 which grows without light or change of air, 

 and with its roots penetrates the vessels of the 

 vegetables to which it adheres, which arc probably 

 previously diseased, and thus deprives them of 

 their due nourishment. But what is common- 

 ly denominated mildew is an insect which is 

 frequently found in vast numbers feeding upon 

 the effused moisture, lu a treatise upon this 



