M I M 



M I R 



Aneiospermia, and ranks in the natural order 

 •of Personatee. 



The characters are : that the calyx is aone-kafed 

 perianthium, oblong, prismatic, live-cornered, 

 five-folded, live-toothed, equal, permanent: the 

 corolla is one-pctallcd, ringent : tube the length 

 of the calyx : border two-lipped: upper lip up- 

 right, bilid, rounded, bent back at the sides: 

 lower hp wider, trifid, with the segments round- 

 ed; the middle one smaller: palateeonvex, bifid, 

 protruded from the base of the lip : the stamina 

 ha\e four filaments, filiform, within the throat; 

 two shorter: anthers bifid - kidney-form : the 

 pistillum is a conical germ : style filiform, the 

 length of the stamens : stigma ovate, bifid, com- 

 pressed: the pericarpiuin is an oval, two-celled 

 capsule, opening transversely at top : partition 

 membranaceous, contrary to the valves: the 

 seeds very many, and small : the receptacle ob- 

 long, fastened on each side to the partition. 



The species cultivated are : 1. M. riiigens, 

 Oblong-leaved Monkey-flower j 2. M. alalus, 

 Wing-stalked Mimulus; 3. M. aurtuUufcus, 

 Orange Monkey-flower. 



The first has a perennial root : the stalk is 

 annual, square, a foot and half high, with two 

 oblong smooth leaves at each joint, broadest at 

 their base, where they join round the stalk, but 

 ending in acute points : the lower part of the 

 stalk sends out two or three short branches, and 

 the upper part is adorned with two flowers at 

 each point, from the bosom of the leaves on each 

 side ; they are of a violet colour, and have no 

 scent. It is a native of Virginia and Canada, 

 flowering in July and August. 



The second species has the appearance of the 

 first sort : the stem is winged with four mem- 

 branes running down from the base of the peti- 

 oles, simple, smooth, with a branchlct or two at 

 top: the leaves are two inches long, veined, un- 

 equally serrate: the peduncles axillary, solitary, 

 »site, four-eornered, thickened at top. It 

 is a native of North America, flowering in July 

 a;id Augi l. 



The- third has the stalk about three feet high, 

 much branched, shrubby,, round, the young 

 wood green, with a tinge of purple towards the 

 lower part of each joint, slightly viscid, as it 

 becomes older changing to a light-brown colour, 

 and discovering manifest fissure- : the branches 

 ahernately opposite, flower-bearing quite to the 

 base : the leaves are opposite, sessile, slightly 

 connate, the bluntness at the end particularly 

 apparent when contrasted with a leaf of the lir-'t 

 sort, toothed or slightly serrate, smooth, veiny 

 the flowers inodorous, large, nearly twice it. 

 size of those of the first sort, uniformly p 

 orange, growing in pairs from the axils of the 



leaves, on peduncles that are about half the ! 



of the calyx. It flowers during most of the 



summer. 



Culture. — This plant is very hardy in re^pict 

 to cold, but should have a loamy soft soil, 

 rather moist than dry, and not too much exposed 

 to the sun. 



The first sort may be increased by parting the 

 roots not too small, and planting them in au- 

 tumn, or the early spring, but the former is the 

 better season. It may also be raised by seeds, 

 which should be sown in autumn, soon after 

 they become perfectly ripe, on a border exposed 

 to the morning sun. 



The third sort may likewise be increased in 

 the same manner. 



The fourth kind is best propagated by plant- 

 ing cuttings of the young shoots or branches in 

 the early spring in pots of fresh mould, plun- 

 ging them in a mild hot-bed, being afterwards 

 managed as the other sorts. 



The first is capable of bearing cold when 

 planted in a loamy, soft, rather moist soil, not 

 too much exposed to the sun. 



This and the second sort may be introduced 

 in the borders and clumps, and the third among 

 other potted plants of the less tender kinds. 



MINT. See Mentha. 



-MIHABILIS, a genus furnishing plants of 

 the flowery perennial kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Pentandiia 

 ]\Ionogi/7i/a, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Nyctagines. 



The characters are: that the calvx has the outer 

 perianthium one-leafed, erect-ventricQSe, infe- 

 rior, five-parted : segments ovate-lanceolate, 

 sharp, unequal, permanent : interglobular nlacid 

 under the petal, with a contracted entire mouth, 

 and permanent : the corolla is onc-petilled, fun- 

 nel-form: the tube slender, long, thicker at top, 

 placed on the inner calyx : border from upright 

 spreading, entire, bluntly five-cleft, plaited: nec- 

 tary spherical, fleshy, surrounding the germ, 

 with a five-toothed mouth: teeth very small, 

 triangular, converging : the stamina have live fila- 

 ments inserted into theorifice of the nectary, and 

 alternate with its teeth, within the inner calyx 

 free, more slender, fastened at bottom to the 

 tube of the corolla, filiform, the length of the 

 corolla, inclining, unequal : anthers twin, round- 

 ish, rising : the pistiUuRi is a turbinate germ, 

 within the nectary : style filiform, the length and 



I ition of the &tan" ;1< : stigma globular, ti.-t- 

 t< !.. rising: there is no pericarpiuin : the inner 

 calyx iiicrn>t- the seed and falls with it : the seed 

 single, ovate-five-cornered. 



The species cultivated are: I. M. jalfba, 

 Common Marvel of Peru ; g. M. dichetoma. 



lis 



