THE 



DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



En Encsclopaebia of Horticulture. 



The following are the Abbreviations nsed:-yl. flowers; fr. frnit; L leaves; A. height; de?. degrees; rhiz. r 



cau. caadez ; tti. stipes ; SY.N. synonym ; ORD. order. 

 The Asterisks () Indicate plants that are especially good or distinct. 



A. In compound words from the Greek the initial a 

 has usually a privative meaning ; as aphyllus, without 

 leaves ; acaulis, without a stem, &c. 



AARON'S BEARD. See Hypericum calycinum, 

 Saxifraga sarmentosa, and Verbascum Thapsus. 



AARON'S ROD. See Verbascum Thapsus. 



ABELE TREE. White Poplar. See Populus 

 alba. 



ABELIA (named after Dr. Clarke Abel, Physician to 

 Lord Amherst's Embassy to China, in 1817, and author of 

 a "Narrative of a Journey to China" (1818); died 1826). 

 ORD. Caprifoliacece. Very ornamental shrubs. Corolla 

 tubular, funnel-shaped, five-lobed. Leaves petiolate, den- 

 tately crenated. Well suited for the cold greenhouse, 

 either as trellis or pot plants ; free-flowering when well 

 grown, and of easy culture. May be treated in sheltered 

 and warm climates as hardy ; and can be grown out of 

 doors during summer in less favoured spots. They thrive 

 in a compost of peat and loam in equal parts, to which a 

 small quantity of silver sand may be added. Increased 

 by cuttings in summer, and by layers in spring, under 

 a frame. Only two species, floribunda and rupestris, 

 are much grown in England. 



A. floribnnda (many-flowered).* fi. rosy-purple, about 2in. long, 

 in axillary clusters. March. 1. opposite, oblong, A. 3ft Mexico, 

 1842. The best and freest flowering evergreen species. 



A. rnpestris (rock).* JL sweet-scented, small, pink, in pairs at 

 the ends of the branches ; sepals of leafy texture, with a reddish 

 ting^e. September, I. small, oblong. A. 5ft. China, 1844. A 

 deciduous, branching, hairy shrub. 



A. serrata (serrate-leaved). JL pretty pale red, sweet-scented, 

 very large, in one-flowered terminal peduncles ; sepals leafy. 

 March. A. 3ft China, 1844. A flne evergreen species. 



A. triflora (three-flowered).* fl. pale yellow, tinged with pink, 

 small, arranged in threes at the ends of the branches ; sepals 

 long and linear, clothed with long hairs. September. I. small, 

 lanceolate. A. 5ft Hindostan, 1847. A small evergreen branch- 

 ing shrub. 



ABERRANT. Deviating from the natural or direct 



Aberrant continued. 



way ; applied, in natural history, to species or genera that 

 deviate from the usual characters of their allies. 



(from abeo, to rise ; alluding to the aspiring 

 habit of growth of the tree ; or, according to some, from 

 apios, a Pear-tree, in allusion to the form of the fruit). 

 Spruce Fir. The synonymy of this genus is much 

 confused, plants belonging to several genera being fre- 

 quently referred to Abies in nurserymen's catalogues 

 and gardening periodicals. ORD. Com/era. A genus of 

 about twenty-five species, widely distributed over the 

 mountainous regions of the Northern hemisphere. Cones 

 cylindrical, or but slightly tapering, erect ; catkins gener- 

 ally solitary ; the carpels not thickened at the tip ; and 

 the leaves solitary, partially scattered in insertion, and 

 more or less two-ranked in direction. Scales deciduous, 

 falling off as soon as the seed is ripe, leaving the axis on 

 the tree. All the species bear seeds at a comparatively 

 early age ; most are hardy. For culture, see Finns. 

 A. amabills (lovely).* Aoot* rather rigid, furrowed with elon- 

 gated cushions, covered with numerous small dark hairs. 

 I. scattered, crowded, IJin. to 2in. long ; linear obtuse, dark green 

 above, silvery beneath. The cones are described as cylindrii~d, 

 and about 6in. long. A. 180ft California, 1831. A magnificent 

 conifer, very massive in appearance. 



A. baborensis.* L linear, dark green, silvery on the undc-i 

 surface, very numerous, those of the larger branches shortly 



Eted, and those of the branchlets more obtuse and pointless, 

 to lin. long, cone* erect, cylindrical, usually in clusters of 

 or five, Sin. to Sin. long, and about 2in. in diameter ; scales 

 reniform, greyish-brown, inclosing a thin, dry, and shrivelled 

 bract. A. 40ft to 60ft Algiers, 1864. This is a very beautiful 

 medium-sized tree. SYN. A. Xumidica. 



A. balsamea." Balm of Gilead or Balsam Fir. I. silvery 

 beneath, apex emarginate or entire, somewhat recurved and 

 spreading, jin. long, cones cylindrical, violet-coloured, pointing 

 upwards, 4in. to 5in. long, and 4in. broad; scales Jin. broad, 

 and the same in length. A. 40ft to 60ft United States and 

 Canada, <tc., 1696. A medium-sized slender tree. 



A. blfida (bifid). Identical with A. firma. 



A. brachyphylla (short-leaved).* I. linear, spirally inserted round 

 the branchial*, but pointing laterally in two directions, Jin. to 



B 



