18 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING^ 



Acroclinitun continued. 



tabular florets; involucrum many-leaved, imbricated. 

 leaves numerous, linear, smooth, acuminated. btems 

 numerous, erect. They thrive best in a loamy sod, and 

 constitute very neat summer flowering annuals if sown 

 out of doors in patches in June; they are also useful as 

 winter decorative greenhouse plants if seed is sown in 

 August in pots placed in a cold frame. The flower-heads 

 should be gathered when young, if it is desired to preserve 

 thcta. 



21. ACROCLIMUU ROSEUM, showing Habit and Flower-head. 



A. roscum (rosy)." It. -lieads pretty rose, solitary, terminal, on erect, 



slender, and gracefully disposed branches. 1. linear, acute, h. 1ft. 



to 2ft. S. W. Australia, 1854. See Fig. 21. 

 A. r. album (rosy white).* A very pretty white form of the 



preceding. 

 A. r. grandlflorum (large-flowered).* JL-hcads rose, larger than in 



the type. 



ACROCOMIA (from akros, top, and tome, tuft; refer- 

 ring to the position of the leaves). ORD. Falmoe. A 

 genus of South American palms, containing about eleven 

 species, which are not easily distinguished, but having the 

 following general characteristics : Trunk from 20ft. to 50ft. 

 high, and clad with long prickles. The flowers, which appear 

 in the axils of the lower leaves, are greenish or yellow, 

 and their drupes are much the same colour. Leaves 

 pinnate, with seventy to eighty leaflets on each side of the 

 pinnae. They require a warm greenhouse and rich sandy 

 loam. Increased by suckers. Two species only are ia 

 general cultivation. 



A. aculeata (prickly), h. 40ft. West Indies, 1791. 

 A. fusiformis (spindle-shaped), h. 40ft. Trinidad, 1731. 

 A. globosa (globular), h. 20ft. St. Vincent, 1824. 

 A. horrida (horrid), h, 30ft. Trinidad, 1820. 

 A. lasiospatha (hairy spathed). /. drooping. Trunk about 40ft. 



high, smooth and ringed. Para, 1846. 



A. Bclerocarpa (hard-fruited).* A very elegant species bearing a 

 head of spreading pinnate leaves, with the rachises and petioles 

 aculeate, and the leaflets linear, taper-pointed, glaucous under- 

 neath, about 1ft. long. A. 40ft. West Indies, 1731. SYN Coco! 

 fusifonnis. 



A. tennifolia (narrow-leaved). h. 50ft. Brazil, 1824. 



ACROGENS. Plants increasing at the summit, as 

 Ferns, <tc. 



ACRONYCHIA (from aJtron, tuft, and onux, a 

 claw ; referring to the curved points of the petals). ORD 

 Rutacea;. An ornamental rue-like greenhouse evergreen 

 shrub. Petals and sepals four ; stamens eight, inserted on a 

 disk; fruit berry-like. It requires ordinary greenhouse 

 treatment. Increased by cuttings in July in sand under a 

 bell glass. 

 A. Cunningham! (Cunningham's).* fl. white, in clusters, resem- 



More ton^ iax5. range> Wlth " ex 1 uisite 'gnuice. July. h. 7ft. 



ACROPERA. See Gongora. 



ACROPHORUS >. Davallia. 



ACROPHYLLUM (from akros, top, and phyllon, a 

 leaf ; referring to the way in which the leaves are produced 

 t the Biuuiuit of tlio branches, above the flowers). ORD. 



Acrophyllum continued. 



Cunoniacece. Handsome greenhouse small, erect-growing, 

 evergreen shrubs, flowering profusely during the spring 

 months. They require a mixture of fibrous peat, a little 

 loam, and sharp sand ; thorough drainage, an airy situation, 

 and as little artificial heat as possible, are important to its 

 well-being. Re-pot in February. Propagated by cuttings 

 of the half ripened shoots, which strike freely in a soil of 

 sand and peat, if covered with a hand glass, and placed in 

 a cool house. The roots should not be allowed to get dry, 

 and light syringing during late spring and summer will bo 

 found beneficial in assisting to keep down thrips. 



A. venostun (veined).* /. pinkish white, in dense spikes, borne 

 in the upper axils. May and June. I. nearly sessile, oblong, 

 cordate, acute, serrate, in whorls of thre3. h. 6ft. New South 

 Wales. SYN. A. verticillatum. 



ACROFTERIS. 



Asplenii 



A. apiifollum( Parsley- 

 barren fronds 2in. to 3ii 



ACROSTICHUM (from akros, outermost, and sticnos, 



row ; the disposition of the sori has been compared to the 



beginning of lines of verse). ORD. Filices. Including 



Aconiopterit, Clirysodium, Egenolfia, Elaplwglossum, t Gym- 



nopteris, Olfersia, Photinopteris, Pcecilipteris, Polybotrya, 



Rhipidopteris, Soromanes, Stenochlcena, Stenosemia. A 



large and almost entirely tropical genus ; it includes 



groups with a wide range in venation and cutting. Sori 



spread over the whole surface of the frond or -upper pinnae, 



or occasionally over both surfaces. The species having 



long fronds are admirably suited for growing in suspended 



baskets, and the dwarfer sorts do well in Wardian cases. 



A compost of peat, chopped sphagnum, and sand, is most 



suitable. For general culture, see Ferns. 



A. acuminatum (taper-pointed).* rhiz. thick, climbing, tti. 4in. 



to 6in. long, firm, erect, scaly throughout, barren fronds 1ft. to 



2ft. long, 1ft. or more broad, deltoid, bipinnate ; upper pinnae 



oblong-lanceolate, slightly lobed, truncate on the lower side at 



the base, 2in. to 3in. long, |in. to lin. broad ; lower pinnae, 6m. to 



Sin. long, 4in. to 5in. broad, with several small pinnules on each 



side ; light green, with a firm texture, fertile fronds 1ft. long, 



deltoid, tripinnate. Brazil. Stove species. SYN. Polybotrya 



acuminatum. 



A, alicnum (foreign), rhiz. woody, tti. 6in. to 18in. long, scaly 

 downwards, barren fronds 1ft. to 2ft. long, often 1ft. broad, the 

 upper part deeply pinnatifid, with lanceolate lobes, the lower 

 part pinnate, with entire or deeply pinnatifid lower pinnae, fertile 

 .fronds much smaller, with distant narrow linear or pinnatifid leafy 

 pinnae. Tropical America. Stove species. SYN. Gymnopteris aliena. 

 leaved).* cau. stout, woody, erect, tti. of 

 n. long, erect, densely clothed with tomen- 



turn, barren fronds 4in. to 6in. each way, deltoid, tripinnate ; 

 pinnae close, only the lowest pair with pinnatifid pinnules, ulti- 

 mate divisions oblong-rhomboidal, Jin. to Jin. long, the base 

 cuneate, the outer edge slightly toothed, fertile fronds on a 

 slender naked stem 6in. to Sin. long, the fronds panicled with a 

 few distant, slender, simple, or compound branches. Philippine 

 Islands, 1862. Stove species. SYN. Polybotrya apiifolia. 

 A. apodum (stemless).* can. thick, woody, the scales dense, 

 linear, brown, crisped, sti. tufted, very short, or obsolete, barren 

 frondt 1ft. or more long, liin. to 2in. broad, the apex acuminate, 

 the lower part narrowed very gradually, the edge and midrib 

 densely fringed with soft, short, orown hairs, fertile fronds much 

 smaller than the barren ones. West Indies to Peru, 1824. Stove 

 species. SYN. Elaphoglossum apodum. 



A. appendiculatum (appendaged).* rhiz. firm, woody, barren 

 fronds 6in. to 18in. long, 4in. to Sin. broad, simply pinnate, sti. 3in. 

 to 6m. long, erect, naked, or slightly scaly ; pinna; 2in. to 4in. 

 long, |in. to Jin. broad, the edge varying from sub-entire to cut 

 halfway down to the midrib of the blunt lobes, the upper side 

 often auricled, the lower one obliquely truncate, dark green. 

 fertile fronds narrower, on a longer spike, the pinna; roundish or 

 oblong, often distinctly stalked. India, &c., 1824. Stove species. 

 SYN. Egenolfia appendiculata. 



A. aureum (golden).* cau. erect, tti. erect, 1ft. to 2ft. long, strong. 

 fronds 2ft. to 6ft. long, 1ft. to 2ft. broad, the upper pinnse fertile, 

 rather smaller than the barren ones, which are usually stalked, 

 ligulate oblong, Sin. to 1ft. long, iin. to 3in. broad, acute or blunt, 

 sometimes retuse with a mucro; edge quite entire, base sub-cuneate. 

 Widely distributed in the tropics of both hemispheres, 1815. An 

 evergreen aquatic stove species, requiring abundance of heat and 

 moisture. SYN. Chrysodium aureum. 



A. auritum (eared).* cau. erect, woody, barren fronds with a 

 stipe 6in. to 9in. long, deltoid, Sin. to 12in. each way, ternate, 

 the central segments deeply pinnatifid, with lanceolate entire 

 lobes ; the lateral ones unequal sided, with lanceolate oblong, 

 lobed lower pinnules, fertile fronds with a stem 12in. to ISin. 

 long, deltoid, with distant linear pinnae half line broad ; uppei 



