100 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Apricot continued. 



Moorpark.* The sort most generally grown ; large, handsome, 



and of excellent quality. Colour brownish-orange ; flesh rich, 



juicy, and sweet. It is one of the best and most useful sorts in 



cultivation. 



Peach, or Grosse Pcche. Distinct and very desirable. Fruit 



very large ; flesh rich, firm, and juicy. One of the very best. 

 RoyaL* Not unlike Moorpark, but with a more robust constitution, 

 and less given to limb dying. Fruit large, dull, yellow, rich, 

 and juicy. 



Turkey.* A good variety. Colour pale yellow ; flavour rich and 

 juicy ; flesh firm. 



For modes of Training and Budding, Diseases, Insect 

 Pests, &c., full information will be found under each indi- 

 vidual title. 



APTEK. ANTHES. See Boucerosia. 

 APTEROUS. Without wings. 



AQUATIC PLANTS. The culture of Aquatic Plants, 

 both indoors and in the open air, has been greatly neglected 

 of late years ; they are, therefore, rarely seen to perfection 

 in places other than where their culture is made a speciality. 

 Generally speaking, they are most easily grown. The 

 following stove and greenhouse genera are well worth at- 

 tention : Aponogeton, Cyperus, Damasonium, Herpestis, 

 Limnocharis, Nelumbium, Nymphaia, Ouvirandra, Pistia, 

 Pontederia, Salvinia, Thalia, Trianea, Victoria. Many 

 species belonging to some of the foregoing genera are 

 hardy, as are also the following : Alisma, Butomus, Calla, 

 JTottonia, Menyanthes, Nuphar, Polygonum, Sagittaria, 

 Trapa, Typha, Villarsia. 



AQUATICUS. Living in water. 

 AQUATILIS. Living under water. 

 AQUIPOLIACE2E. See Ilicinese. 

 AQUILEG-IA (from aquila, an eagle ; in reference to 

 the form of the petals). Columbine. ORD. Ranunculacece. 

 Erect hardy perennial herbs with fibrous roots. Flowers soli- 

 tary or panicled, drooping ; sepals five, petaloid, deciduous ; 

 petals five, concave, spurred ; spurs very large, produced 

 downwards into hollow tubes, and frequently curved at 

 the extremity; carpels five, sessile, free. Radical leaves 

 on long stalks, twice or thrice ternate, with trifid-toothed, 

 nsnally blunt segments. Too much praise can scarcely be 

 lavished upon this elegant genus of plants. They prefer 

 a moist and sheltered situation, with exposure to the 

 sun. The more robust species will thrive in ordinary 

 garden soil, but the rarer and more delicate kinds 

 require a good friable sandy loam and leaf soil, with good 

 drainage. Seed is produced in abundance, and must be 

 sown very thinly, as soon as practicable after being ripe, 

 in a shady place or in pans in a cold frame. When up, 

 and strong enough to remove, the seedlings may be 

 planted out where they are to flower, allowing every 

 plant at least 9in. each way. The strong-growing kinds 

 may be placed in the border, the dwarf ones on the 

 rockery. When in blossom, the inferior sorts should bo 

 weeded out, retaining only the best varieties. To obtain 

 seed true of any species, it is absolutely necessary to plant 

 the separate kinds far apart, and cover them with fine 

 muslin, to prevent the access of insects to the flowers, as 

 none are more easily cross-fertilised. Division of the root 

 is the only way to perpetuate any particular variety with 

 certainty, unless seed is saved in the way mentioned, or 

 imported from the native habitats of particular species. 

 There are many beautiful hybrids, as well as species, in 

 cultivation. 



A alplna (alpine).* fl. from 2in. to Sin. in diameter when ex- 

 panded deep blue or blue and white, on leafy, two to three- 

 flowered stems ; spurs straight, but somewhat incurved at the 

 apex, one-half shorter than the petal limb. May I with seg- 

 ments deeply divided into linear lobes. /. 1ft. Al'ps of Swit- 

 zerland, in shady humid places, 1731. Plant this on the rockery. 

 A arctica (Arctic). A form of A. formosa. 

 A atropurpurea (dark purple). /. dark purple or bluish violet, 

 about 1m. or IJm. in diameter when expanded, two or three in 

 a head; spurs straight, equal in length with the petals' limb; 



Aqnilegia continued. 



sepals about as long as the petals. May. I. petioled, biternate. 

 h. 2ft. to 3ft. Siberia. Border plant. 



A. aurea (golden). A synonym of A. chrysantha flavescens. 



A. Bertoloni (Bertoloni's).* /. about lin. across, blue-violet 

 throughout ; sepals about Jin. long, rounded ; petals about the 

 same length; spurs very short, knobbed; stems two to four 

 flowered. June and July. I. small, daVk green, and glaucous. A 

 very pretty little alpine, growing about 1ft. high. SYN. A. Reuteri. 



FIG. 133. AQUILEGIA C^EUULEA. 



A. cserulca (sky-blue).* fl. several on a stem, blue and white, 

 sometimes more or less tinted with lilac or claret, rarely pure 

 white, when expanded 2Jin. to 3in. in diameter ; spur very 

 slender, nearly straight, green tipped, about 2in. long. April to 

 July. I. large, biternate. h. 9in. to 15in. Rocky Mountains, 

 1864. A very lovely species for the border or base of the rockery. 

 SYNS. A. leptoceras, A. macrantha. See Fig. 133. 



A C. alba (white).* /. the same size and form as the type, white 

 throughout. Rocky Mountains. A very rare and lovely variety ; 

 sometimes met with under the name of A. grandijlora. 



A. C. hybrida (hybrid).* fl. blue and white, not so wide across as 

 the type, but more numerous, and the plant has a much more 

 vigorous habit. Of garden origin. 



A calif ornica (California!!). A form of A. formosa. 



FIG. 134. AQUILEGIA CANADEMSIS, showing Habit and Flower. 



A. canadcnsis (Canadian).* fl,. scarlet, mixed with yellow, less 

 than lin. in diameter ; spur straight, longer than the limb ; styles 

 and stamens protruding ; sepals acutish, a little longer than the 

 petals' limb. April to June. L, segments three-parted, bluntish, 

 and deeply toothed at the apex. h. 1ft. to 2ft. North America, 

 1640. Border or rockery ; very pretty. See Fig. 134. 



A. chrysantha (yellow-flowered).* fl., sepals primrose yellow, 

 spreading horizontally in full expansion, nnarly or quite lin. long, 



