ALL 



riw; the corolla proper, one-petallcd, 

 funnel-shaped, and erect; the stamina 

 have setaceous filaments ; anthers round- 

 ish ; the pistillum has a germ interior, ob- 

 long, style setaceous, longer than the sta- 

 mens, stigma multifid and linear, no peri- 

 carpium ; seeds soh'tary, the receptacle 

 naked. There are two foreign species, 

 described by Willdenow, viz. the A. vio- 

 lacea, and A. incurnata. The American 

 species described by Pursh are three in 

 number, viz. A. nyctaginea, A. albida, and 

 A. ovata.' The first is found on the banks 

 of the river Tenessee ; the second in 

 lower Carolina; the third found by Meri- 

 \vether Lewis on the plains of the Mis- 

 souri. 



ALLIOTH, a star in the tail of the 

 Greater Bear, much used for finding the 

 latitude at sea. 



ALLITERATION, in rhetoric, is a fi- 

 gure, or decoration in language, chiefly 

 used in poetry, and consisting in the re- 

 petition of the same letter or letters at 

 certain intervals, whence the name is de- 

 rived. 



ALLIUM, garlic, in botany, a genus of 

 the Hexandria Myhogynia class and or- 

 der ; the calyx is a common sheath, and 

 many-flowered; the corolla consists of six 

 oblong petals; the stamina have six fila- 

 ments, general!}' of the length of the co- 

 rolla ; the anthers are oblong and upright ; 

 ibe pistillum has a germ, superior, short, 

 bluntly three-cornered; the pericarpium 

 is a capsule, short, broad, three- celled 

 and three-valved; the seeds are many and 

 round. There are 53 species, according 

 to Willdenow, distributed into several 

 divisions. The common garlic has a large 

 round white bulbous root, of an irregular 

 1'orm, with numerous fibres at the bottom, 

 composed of many smaller bulbs denomi- 

 nated cloves, which are included in a 

 common membranous covering, each of 

 which being planted, grows, and in one 

 season attains the size and structure of 

 the parent bulb ; the leaves are cauline, 

 or form a kind of stalk, which seldom 

 spindles, except when the same roots re- 

 main in the ground two or three years, 

 when they run up and bear a flower and 

 small bulbs at the top. It deserves to be 

 cultivated in the garden for the sake of 

 its root, which is in great estimation for 

 culinary and other domestic purposes, 

 fndeed, the roots, as well as all the other 

 parts of the plant, have a very acrid taste, 

 with an highly offensive smell, which has 

 rendered its cultivation in gardens less 

 desirable. It is a hardy plant, capable of 

 growing in most sorts of soils and situa- 



tions, and readily propagated either by 

 roots or seeds. 



Rocambole has very small compound 

 bulbs, which grow in clusters; the stalk 

 gent- rally spi ndli ng two or three fe et li igh , 

 with many bulbs at its summit, which, as 

 well as the root bulbs, are useful for the 

 same purposes as garlic, though much in- 

 ferior. The latter, or the flowery kinds, 

 have the flower-stems rising immediately 

 from the root, growing erect, and attain- 

 ing different heights, from twelve to thir- 

 ty inches; in some the leaves are radical, 

 in others cauline, or elevated with the 

 stalk ; some are broad tike those of a tu- 

 lip, others long and narrow like a daffo- 

 dil, and some taper and rush-like ; but in 

 all the sorts the stems are terminated by 

 a sort of sheath, from which is protruded 

 an aggregate of many small flowers, form- 

 ing a kind of umbel. The flowers singly 

 are composed each of six petals, which, 

 though separately small, from many be- 

 ing collected into large heads, arc very 

 conspicuous. Of the second division, or 

 the onion kind, the characters, &c. of 

 which are the same as those of g'arlic, 

 the species are these: 1. Cepa, or com- 

 mon onion; the best garden varieties of 

 which are, the Strasburgh or common 

 round onion, the oval or long-keeping 

 common onion, the Spanish large flat 

 onion, the Spanish silken-skinned onion, 

 the Spanish red-skinned onion, and the 

 Portugal great roundish oval onion. 2. 

 Fistulosum, or the ciboule or Welsh on- 

 ion. 3. Schaenoprasum, cives or chives. 

 4. Ascalonicum, eschalot or schallot. 5. 

 Canadense, or Canada-tree onion. AH the 

 first species and varieties have large bul- 

 bous roots, and the plants are biennial, or, 

 being sown in the spring, arrive at per- 

 fection in the root the same year, and 

 next year shoot up into stalk, flower, and 

 ripen seed, when the stalks quickly 

 die, and the individuals are annihilated. 

 But the second and third species never 

 form any bulbs at bottom ; they are, how- 

 ever, hardy and perennial, and may be. 

 continued many years. And the fourth 

 and fifth species are bulbous rooted pe- 

 rennials, multiplying greatly by off-sets, 

 as is evident from their culture. 



Ciboule or Welsh onion. This is a pe- 

 rennial plant, which never forms any bulb 

 at bottom ; therefore deserves to be cul- 

 tivated only to be drawn as young green 

 onions for salads, &c. in spring ; but, on 

 account of its strong taste, it is great!} 

 inferior to those of the common onion 

 From the plants being so extremely har- 

 dy as to survive the severest winter, iv 



