PCECILOPTERIS CRISPATULA 686 



POIT^A 



P. chrysa'ntha (golden-flowered). i. Golden-yellow. 



June, July. Western Australia. i8<j8. 

 gnaphalioi'des (Gnaphalium-like). 1-1$. Yellow. 



June, July. Australia. 1841. 

 PffiCILOTTERIS CRISPA'TULA. See ACROSTICHUM 



VIRENS CRISPATULUM. 



PCECILO'PTERIS FLAGELLTFERA. See ACROSTI- 

 CHUM KLAGELLIFERUM. 



P(ECILO PTERIS PUNCTULA'TA. See ACROSTICHUM 



PUNCTULATUM. 



PCECILOPTERIS SCA'NDENS. See ACROSTICHUM 



SCANDENS. 



POET'S CASSIA. Osy'ris. 

 POET'S NARCISSUS. Narci'ssus poe'ticus. 

 POGO'GYNE. (From pogon, a beard, and gune, the 

 female organ ; fringe on the style. Nat. ord. Lalriaies 

 [Labiatae]. Linn. i\-Didynamia, i-Gymnospermia. Al- 

 lied to Melissa.) 



Hardy annuals. Seeds at the beginning of April in 

 the open garden. Ordinary soil. 

 P. Dougla'sii( Douglas's), i. Purple, violet. California. 



1871. 

 multiflo'ra (many-flowered), i. Pale lilac. July, 



August. California. 1836. 

 multiflo'ra (many-flowered). See P. DOUGLASII 



MULTIFLORA. 



nudiu'scula (nearly smooth). f-i. Bright blue. 



California. 1887. 



POGO'NIA. (From pogon, a beard ; in allusion to the 

 two to four raised, thickened lines on the lip. Nat. ord. 

 Orchidaceae. Allied to Arethusa.) 



Stove and greenhouse ground orchids, with a tuberous 

 rhizome. Divisions at the commencement of growth. 

 Fibrous peat, a little loam, with some nodules of charcoal 

 and sand. Water liberally when making their growth. 

 P. barklya'ni (Barklyan). 2. Green; lip finely netted. 



Mascarene Isles. 1885. 

 di'scolor (two-coloured). $. Green; lip white. Java. 



1859. 

 F'ordii (Ford's). |. Yellow-ochre; Uprose. April. 



Hong- Kong. 1883. Greenhouse. 

 gammiea'na (Gammiean). $. Pale lilac. N. India. 



1847. 

 o/>Atog/ossot'</(Ophioglossum-like). i. Rosy. June. 



N. Amer. 1816. Greenhouse. 



pe'ndula (drooping). . Pink. July. N. Amer. 1824. 

 plica' to. (plaited), i. Pale green, tinted with pink. 



July. India. 1806. Stove. 

 pulche'lla (pretty). See P. FORDII. 

 puncta'ta (spotted). Java. 

 ro'sea (rosy). 3-4. P 



Panama. 1844. 

 specio'sa (showy). 4. Purple. Brazil. 1894. 



POGO'NOPUS. (From pogon, a beard, and POUS, a 

 foot or stalk ; the foot of the stamens is set in a beard 

 of hairs. Nat. ord. Rubiaceae.) 



Stove shrub. Cuttings in sand, in a close case, with 

 bottom-heat. Fibrous loam, one-third peat and sand. 

 P. caracase'nsis (Caracas). Bright pink. June to 

 September. Venezuela. 1855. 



POGOSTE'MON. (From pogon, a beard, and stemon, 

 a thread or stamen ; the stamens have long beards. 

 Nat. ord. Labiataj.) 



Low-growing stove subshrubs. Cuttings of mature 

 wood in sand, in bottom-heat, and kept close till rooted. 

 P. Palchou'li yields Patchouli, an essential oil. 

 P. Patchou'li (Patchouli). 1-2. White, purple. June. 



India. 1848. " Patchouli." 

 sua'vis (sweet). 



/*c/rantftoi'dcs(Plectranthus-like). 2. White. July. 

 India. 



POINCIA'NA. Flower Fence. (Named after Poinci, 

 once governor of the Antilles. Nat. ord. Leguminous 

 Plants [Leguminosjp]. Linn. lo-Decandria, i-Monogynia. 

 Allied to Caesalpinia.) 



Stove evergreen shrubs. Seeds in a brisk bottom-heat, 

 in spring ; cuttings of stubby young shoots in sand, under 

 a bell-glass, in heat ; rich, sandy, fibrous loam. Winter 

 temp., 50 to 60 ; summer, 60 to qo. 



5 ale green, rosy-lilac. August. 



P. ela'la (tall). 15. Yellow. Trop. Africa. 1778. 

 ,, Gillie'sii (Gillies's). See C/KSALPINIA GILUKSU. 

 ,, insi'gnis (noble). See C^SALPINIA INSIGNIS. 

 ,, pulche 'rrima (very fair). See CESALPINIA PULCHER- 



RIMA. 



,, re'gia (royal). Crimson. Madagascar. 1828. 

 ,, Ta'ra (Tara). See C*:SALPINIA TINCTORIA. 



POINSE'TTIA. (Named after its discoverer, .If. Pnin- 



setle. Nat. ord. Spurgeivorts [Euphorbiacea?]. Linn. 



21-Monoecia, i-Monandria. Now referred to Euphorbia.) 



P. pulche rrima (fairest). See EUPHORBIA PULCIIERRIMA. 



,, ,, a'lbida (white-brartcd). See EUPHORBIA PUL- 



CHERRIMA ALBIDA. 



POINTING-IN is mixing manure with the top inch or 

 two of the soil by means of the point of a spade or fork. 

 This is done when roots, which ought not to be disturbed, 

 are near the surface. 



POIRE'TIA. (Commemorative of /. L. M. Poiret, a 

 French botanist. Nat. ord. Leguminosa?.) 



Stove perennial herbs or undershrubs. Cuttings in 

 sand, in a warm, close case. Fibrous loam, one-third 

 peat and sand. 



P. puncta'ta (spotted). Yellow. Brazil. 

 ,, sca'ndens (climbing), 6. Yellow. March. Mexico. 

 1823. 



POISON-BULB. Brunsvi'gia cora'nica and toxica'ria, 

 and Cri'num asia'licum. 



POISON-NUT. 

 POISON-OAK. 



Stry'chnos Nu'x-vo'mica. 

 Rhu's Toxicode'ndron. 



POISON-SUMACH, or POISON-WOOD. Rhu's vene- 

 na'ta. 



POISONOUS PLANTS. Gardeners should be much 

 more careful than they usually are in handling the plants 

 they cultivate, for many of them have deadly qualities. 

 M. Neumann, chief gardener of the Paris Jardin des 

 Plantes, says that pruning-knives and hands washed in 

 a tank after they have been employed upon some of 

 the exotics will destroy the fish it contains. Hippo' mane 

 Mancine'lla,theManchineel,the Tanghin,Sa'piutn Lau'ro- 

 ce'rasus, and Comocla'dia denta'ta, are equally deleterious 

 to man. Gardeners who have merely rubbed the leaves 

 of the latter between their fingers have had swollen 

 bodies and temporary blindness. Wounds from pruning- 

 knives smeared with the juices of such plants are like 

 those from poisoned arrows. 



POISONS. Soils containing obnoxious ingredients are 

 certain introducers of disease and premature death. An 

 excess of oxide of iron, as when the roots of the apple 

 and pear get into an irony-red gravelly subsoil, always 

 causes canker. In the neighbourhood of copper-smelting 

 furnaces, not only are cattle subjected to swollen joints 

 and other unusual diseases, causing decrepitude and 

 death, but the plants also around are subject to sudden 

 visitations, to irregular growths, and to unwarned de- 

 struction ; and a crop once vigorous will suddenly wither 

 as if swept over by a blast. There is no doubt of this 

 arising from the salts of copper, which impregnate the 

 soil irregularly, as the winds may have borne them 

 sublimed from the furnaces, and the experiments of 

 Sennebier have shown that of all salts those of copper 

 are the most fatal to plants. That they can be poisoned, 

 and by many of those substances, narcotic as well as 

 corrosive, which are fatal to animals, has been shown by 

 the experiments of M. F. Marcet and others. 



The metallic poisons being absorbed are conveyed to 

 the different parts of the plant, and alter or destroy its 

 tissue. The vegetable poisons, such as opium, strychnia, 

 prussic acid, belladonna, alcohol, and oxalic acid, which 

 act fatally upon the nervous system of animals, also 

 cause the death of plants. 



The poisonous substance is absorbed into the plant's 

 system, and proves injurious when merely applied to its 

 branches or stem, almost as much as if placed in contact 

 with the roots. Ulcerations and canker are exasperated 

 if lime be put upon the wounds, and when Dr. Hales 

 made a Golden Rennet Apple absorb a quart of camphor- 

 ated spirits of wine through one of its branches, one-half 

 of the tree was destroyed. 



POIT^'A. (Commemorative of M. Poiteau, a French 

 botanist. Nat. ord. Leguminosae.) 



