AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



103 



Arabia continued. 



A mollis (soft). /. white, in tenninal racemes. May to July. 

 /. grossly toothed, somewhat pubescent, with small stellate hairs ; 

 lower ones on long petioles, cordate-roundish ; cauline ones ovate- 

 cordate, clasping the stem. k. 2ft. Caucasus, 1823. 

 A. petrsea (rock).* /. white ; petals ovate, with stalks. June. I 

 smooth, ciliated or scabrous, with simple or bifid radical ones 

 on longish stalks, entire, toothed ; cauline ones oblong-linear, 

 entire, or toothed. A. Sin. or 4in. Britain. 



A praecox (early). JL white ; petals obovately cuneated, double 

 the length of the calyx. April to June. I. oblong, acute, sessile, 

 quite entire, smooth. Stem covered with close pressed rigid hairs. 

 h. 6in. to 9in. Hungary. 



A proem-Tens (procurrent). JL white; petals obovate, double 

 the length of the calyx. May and June. I. ovate, quite entire, 

 smooth, ciliated with two-parted hairs ; radical ones narrowed 

 into a petiole ; cauline ones sessile, pointed. Stolons creeping 

 h. 9in. Servia, 1819. There is a brilliantly variegated form of 

 this pretty species well worth growing. 



A rosea (rosy).* JL rosy purple; petals oblong, somewhat wedge- 

 shaped, double the length of the calyx ; pedicels longer than the 

 calyx. May to July. Z., cauline ones oblong, some what cordate, and 

 rather stem-clasping, scabrous with branched hairs. A. 1ft 

 Calabria, 1832. 



A verna (spring). JL small, purple, with a white claw ; pedicels 

 shorter than the calyx. May to June. L, cauline ones cordate, 

 clasping the stem, toothed, scabrous with three-parted hairs. 

 A. 3m. to 6in. South Europe, 1710. The best annual species. 

 ABACEJE or AROZDIUE. An extensive order of her- 

 baceous plants, with tnberons rhizomes. Flowers on a spadix, 

 unisexual or hermaphrodite, protected by a spathe. Leaves 

 large, radical. Well known genera belonging to this order 

 are : Alocasia, Arum, Caladium, Colocasia, a&dDieffenbachia. 

 ARACHIS (from a, without, and rachis, a branch; 

 plant branchless). Ground or Earth Nut. OED. Legumi- 

 nosae. A stove annual, of economical value. Corolla resn- 

 pinatc ; calyx a long tube, with a bilabiate limb ; ovary 

 stipitate, inclosed in the tube of the calyx ; the stipe 

 at first short, but afterwards becoming elongated. Sandy 

 loam is the soil most suitable for their cultivation. Seeds 

 should be sown in heat ; and, when the plants have grown 

 to a sufficient size, they should be potted off singly, and 

 placed among other stove annuals. After the plant has 

 finished flowering, and the pods begin to lengthen, the pe- 

 dicels force them into the earth, where they ripen their seeds. 

 A hypogsea (underground). Monkey Nut. JL vellow, five to seven 

 together in the axils of the leaves. May. I. abruptly-pinnate, 

 bearing two pairs of leaflets, without any tendril ; stipulas elon- 

 gated, adnate to the petioles, k. 1ft., or procumbent. South 

 America, 1812. See Fig. 140. 



ARACHNIMORPHA. A synonym of Bondeletia 

 (which see). 



ARACHNOID. Resembling a cobweb in appearance ; 

 seeming to be covered with cobweb, in consequence of the 

 entanglement of long, white hairs. 



ARAIiIA (meaning unknown). OBD. Araliaceae. This 

 widely-grown genus includes stove, greenhouse, and hardy, 

 herbaceous and shrubby plants. Flowers inconspicuous, 

 umbellate, the umbels usually disposed in panicles ; petals 

 five, inserted on the margin of the disk; stamens five 

 (see Fig. 142). Leaves usually compound. These plants are 

 of moderately free growth, and the majority are easy to 

 manage. Those requiring indoor treatment thrive well 

 under the ordinary routine of management. One most im- 

 portant requirement, however, is that they must be kept 

 well supplied with water at the roots. The finer, or stove 

 varieties, should be potted in a mixture of sandy loam and 

 peat, with the addition of a little fibrous leaf soil, and 

 sufficient sand to keep the whole porous. The stronger 

 growing kinds thrive in a richer compost. Propagation 

 by cuttings of the roots is a common and very successful 

 method. To obtain the roots, one of the strongest plants 

 should be turned out of the pot, and the roots should 

 be cleared of soil by shaking or washing it out ; the 

 requisite number of pieces should then be selected. 

 As each piece is removed, it should have the end nearest 

 the stem cut horizontally, to distinguish it from the other 

 or furthermost end. In planting cuttings of the roots, 

 it is best to place the end nearest the stem uppermost. 

 The pieces may be left about 2in. long, and should be 



AT alia continued. 



FIG. 140. ARACHIS HYPOG.EA, showing Leaf, Flower, Ac., and 

 Cluster of short wrinkled Pods. 



inserted in pots, well drained, and filled with sandy soil, 

 leaving the tops of the cuttings about level with the surface 

 of the soil. A square of glass must be placed over the top 

 of each pot, plunging them in moderate bottom heat. The 

 stems of the plants from which the roots have been taken 

 may be cut into pieces lin. or IJin- long, leaving an eye or 

 bud near the top ; a slice of half the shoot may be taken off 

 opposite the bud. When prepared, these pieces should bo 

 pressed into pots of sand or sandy soil, and plunged into 

 bottom heat. The stems may be cut down without dis- 

 turbing the roots ; in that case, if the pots are plunged in 

 bottom heat, and kept moderately supplied with water, 

 they will probably throw up several suckers or shoots from 

 the roots. These, if taken off with a portion of root to 

 each, and placed in small sized pots, will, with a little 

 care, soon make useful plants. All the hardy species and 

 most of the greenhouse ones are propagated readily by 



