W A C 



W A L 



"YXTACHENDORFIA, a genus furnishing 

 yy plants of the exotic flowering perennial 

 kind, for the green-house. 



It belongs to the class and order Triqndria 

 Monogynia, and ranks in the. natural order of 

 En mice. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a two- 

 valved spatbe: the corolla six-petallcd, une- 

 qual : petals oblong, the three upper ones more 

 erect, three lower spreading: nectary of two 

 bristles at the inner sides of the upper petal : the 

 stamina has three filiform filaments, declined, 

 shorter than the corolla: anthers incumbent: 

 the pistillum is a superior germ, roundish, three- 

 cornered: style filiform, declined: stigma sim- 

 ple : the peri carpi um is a subovate capsule, 

 three-sided, obtuse, three-celled, three-valved : 

 seeds solitary, rough-haired. 



The species cultivated are: 1. // '. tliyrs'ijlnra, 

 Simple-stalked Wachendorfia : 2. IV. panteu- 

 lata, Panicled Wachendorfia: 3. IV. hirsula, 

 Hairy Wachendorfia. 



The first has a thick tuberous root, reed-like, 

 of a deep-red colour, sending out many perpen- 

 dicular fibres of the same colour, and spreading 

 into several offsets : the leaves, which rise im- 

 mediately from the root, are large, with five 

 plaited folds ; the biggest are two feet long, and 

 three inches broad, of a deep green-colour : the 

 flower-stalk rises from the centre of the heads 

 between the leaves to the height of three or four 

 feel, with leaves of the same form with those 

 below, but narrower, and ranged alternately, 

 embracing the stalk half round with their base : 

 the flowers when young are enclosed in sheaths, 

 which, after some time, open and make way 

 for the flowers to come out ; then they wither 

 and dry, but remain upon the stalk like those of 

 the yellow Asphodel : they form a loose spike, 

 and there are several upon one common pedun- 

 cle, which open one after the other : the upper 

 flowers stand almost upright, but the lower nod ; 

 they are hairy and of a saffron colour on the 

 outside, but smooth and yellow within. It is a 

 native of the Cape. 



The second species, when in flower, is a foot 

 high : the root perennial, a little creeping, fur- 

 nished with oblong cylindrical and nearly per- 

 pendicular tubercles : the leaves radical, two- 

 ranked, sessile, equitant, vertical, spreading, 

 dilated on the inner side at the base, channelled, 



linear-lanceolate, pointed, entire, nerved, bright 

 green, very like those of the first, but only one- 

 third of the size, dvins; soon after the plant has 

 done flowering, and not appearing again for 

 some months: the stalk erect, cylindrical, bear- 

 ing one or two small leaves, branched, many- 

 flowered : general flower-stalks alternate, spread- 

 ing, racemose, bearing from three to five 

 flowers, cylindrical, downy : partial ones short, 

 downy, all directed upwards, single-flowered. 

 It is a native of the Cape. 



The third seems chiefly to differ from the 

 second in having hairy leaves, a more slender 

 and taller stem, reddish-brown, and not green 

 as in it ; its branches more divaricate, the two 

 upper lateral petals more contiguous, and its 

 flowers when closed form a slenderer and more 

 compact column : the incumbent anthers seem 

 also to be shorter and rounder: the root-leaves 

 oblong, lanceolate, three or four, about three or 

 four inches high: the. stem about three limes 

 Iheir length : the segments traversed longitudi- 

 nally on the outside by a brown hairy fillet; 

 outer upper one wholly brown aud pubescent 

 outwards : the flowers scentless, opening in 

 succession, closing towards evening: they ex- 

 pand in the month of July. It is a native of 

 the Cape. 



Culture. — These plants may be increased by 

 offsets, taken from the. heads of the roots, in 

 the beginning of autumn, planting them in pots 

 filled with soft loamy earth, mixed with a little 

 sea sand, and when the season proves dry, pla- 

 cing them so as to have only the morning sun, 

 until the offsets have taken new roots, when 

 they must be placed in a sheltered situation, of 

 as to have the full sun. On the approach so 

 frosts, they should be placed in frames, and 

 managed as plants of the tender kind. 



The second sort is very impatient of cold, 

 and seldom flowers in this climate. 



They produce variety among other potted 

 plants of the green-house kind. 



WALK, a dry firm track in the garden 

 or pleasure ground, which is formed of dif- 

 ferent sorts of materials ; as gravel, sand, &c. ; 

 but where these cannot be procured, it is 

 sometimes laid with powdered coal, sea-coal 

 ashes, and powdered brick : these are, however, 

 rarely used, when either gravel or sand can be 

 procured. Where sea-coal ashes can be had, 



