M I M 



M I M 



acutely triangular, and much compressed ; their 

 edges bright" red: the leaves alternate, four or 

 five inches long, with a rib and margin like the 

 last : the flowers in axillary racemes, yellowish 

 white, fragrant: the petals four: stamens nu- 

 merous : the young capsules smooth and glau- 

 cous. It is a native of New South Wales. 



Culture. — They are all capable of being in- 

 creased bv seed, and some of the sensitive kinds 

 by layers and cuttings, but the first is by much 

 the best method. 



The seed, procured from the nurseries or seed- 

 shops, should be sown in pots of light rich 

 mould earlv in the spring, covering it in with fine 

 earth a quarter of an inch deep, and plunging 

 the pots in the hot-bed ; if in a common hot- 

 bed under frames and glasses, managing them 

 nearly in the manner of tender annuals, and 

 when in a bark-bed in the stove, little trouble is 

 required. But moderate sprinklings of water 

 should be given; and when the plants are two or 

 three inches high, they should be planted out 

 singly into small pots, preserving the earth to 

 their roots, replugging them in the hot-bed, &x., 

 giving water and occasional shade till they are 

 well rooted, repeating the waterings frequently. 

 The plants thould afterwards be continued either 

 in the hot-bed under glasses, or plunged in the 

 bark-bed of the stove, to facilitate their growth, 

 preserve them in vigour, and increase the sen- 

 sibility of the Sensitive kinds ; admitting fresh 

 air pretty freely. 



The perennial sorts, both shrubbv and her- 

 baceous, must be kept in the stove all winter, 

 and principally the year round. 



And they must be frequently removed into 

 larger pots to prevent the roots from getting 

 through the pots, which they are apt to do, 

 and by that means are often destroyed. 



The Acacia kinds are the most tender, re- 

 quiring the stove almost constantly, except a 

 little in the heat of summer, when they must 

 be placed in a warm situation. 



They should always have a bark hot-bed, and 

 be put in very small pots rilled with sandy mould, 

 the heat of the stove being kept up to above tem- 

 perate : as the leaves of some of them are shed, 

 they have often the appearance of being dried 

 v. hen that is not the ease. 



Where there is not the convenience of a stove, 

 those who are curious to have the plants, may 

 have them in summer, by the aid of a common 

 dung or tan-bark hot-bed under frames and 

 g'asses, though not in winter ; by raising some 

 of the annual, or any of the other kinds, bv seed 

 in spring, in a hot-bed under a frame, &e. 

 keeping up the heat ol the bed until the middle 

 of Julie, and continuing the plants always un- 

 8 



der the frame, raising one end of the lights a 

 little, Occasionally, in warm days to admit fresh 

 air; and as they rise in height, raise the frame at 

 bottom, to allow them full room to grow-. About 

 Midsummer, or soon after, some of the low 

 spreading kinds may likewise be turned out with 

 balls, or" plunged in their pots into a warm sun- 

 ny border, and covered with large hand-glasses, 

 which may be lifted off" occasionally just to view 

 the plants". By these methods the plants may 

 be preserved through the summer in their sensi- 

 tive quality, though not equal in perfection to 

 those in stoves; nor can they be preserved alive 

 in winter out of the stove. 



The shrubby kinds that afford spreading 

 branches may be layed any time in summer, in 

 pots plunged in the bark-bed, where they then 

 take root," and are ready to pot off singly in the 

 autumn season. 



The Sensitive and Humble sorts often branch 

 out profusely, so as to furnish plenty of young 

 shoots for cuttings, which should be planted 

 in pots in the summer season, plung'ng them in 

 the bark-bed, where they often readily take root, 

 and form good plants. 



These modes should, however, only be prac- 

 tised when seed cannot be procured. 



The general culture of all the species is after- 

 wards to keep them always in pots placed in 

 stove, being plunged occasionally in the bark- 

 bed, especially the Spreading Sensitive kinds, 

 frequent waterings being given in summer and 

 winter, but considerably the most in the summer 

 season ; shifting them into larger pots as they 

 increase in growth. And although most of the 

 sorts will live in the open air in the heat of sum- 

 mer, it is the best practice to expose them but 

 sparingly. 



The fourth and fifth sorts are held in high 

 estimation on account of the singular sensibility 

 lodged in their leaves ; which, in consequence 

 of being touched or shaken, either by the hand,, 

 a stick, or the least wind blowing upon them, 

 the wings of the leaves suddenly close, and the 

 foot-stalks fall down. 



The periods of time which the leaves, Sec. 

 require to recover themselves, after falling from 

 anv irritation, are according to the vigour of the 

 plant, the hour of the day, the sereneness <J the 

 atmosphere, and the temperature of the heat of 

 the stove, he. being often from ten or fifteen 

 minutes to an hour or more. 



The plants also every evening naturally 

 contract themselves, and expand again in the 

 morning. They are all ornamental and curious. 



MIMULUS, a genus containing a plant of 

 the herbaceous flowery ornamental kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Didynamia 



