AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



Feronia continued. 



F. elephantum. Elephant's Apple, ft. white, with reddish 

 anthers ; panicle small, axillary, or terminal, ft. large, about 

 the size of an apple, with a greyish rind; pulpy part edible. 

 1. impari-pinnate ; leaflets five to seven, obovate, sessile, crenu- 

 lated, shining, h. 30ft. Coromandel, 1804. (B. F. S. 121.) 



FERRARIA (named after J. B. Ferrari, 1584-1653, 

 an Italian botanist). OBD. Irideae. A genus of half-a- 

 dozen species of interesting dwarf bulbous plants, with 

 juriously spotted evanescent blossoms, from the Cape 

 of Good Hope. This genus belongs to the section 

 Morceece ; it has many-flowered spathes, the filaments 

 united in a tube, and the petaloid stigmas fringed. In 

 a warm, sunny situation, and if planted about 6in. deep, 

 Ferrarias prove hardy. Increased by seeds and offsets. 

 They rarely grow more than Gin. in height. 

 F. antherosa (large-anthered). A synonym of F. Ferrariola. 

 F. atrata (blackish), fl. dark reddish-purple, fringed with 



brownish-green. (L. B. C. 1356.) 



F. divaricata (divaricate), ft. brown. May to July. I. linear, 



acute, glaucescent. Stem branched at top. 1825. (S. B. F. G. 192.) 



F. Ferrariola (Ferrariola).* fl. greenish-brown. March to July. 



I. equitant, ensiform ; lower narrow. Stem simple. 1800. SYN. 



F. antherosa. (B. M. 751.) 



F. obtusifolia (obtuse-leaved), fl. brown. May to July. 

 I. distichous, ensiform, obtuse, keeled on both sides. Stem 

 erect, branched, many-flowered. 1825. (S. B. F. G. 148.) 

 F. uncinata (hooked), fl. brown ; spathe two-flowered ; seg- 

 ments of perianth involuted at apex. May to July. I. linear, 

 striated, hooked at top. Stem branched, shorter than the 

 leaves. 1825. (S. B. F. G. 161.) 



F. undulata (waved).* fl. greenish-brown. March and April. 

 I. equitant, ensiform, wavy ; inner twice as narrow as the outer. 

 Stem branched. 1755. See Fig. 8. (B. M. 144.) 



FERRUGINOUS. Iron-coloured, rusty. 



FERTILISATION BY INSECTS. It is only 



within comparatively recent years that the important 

 part played by Insects in the Fertilisation of flowers, 

 has been thoroughly realised. A goodly number of plants 

 nil be found, upon examination, to bear flowers mani- 

 festly adapted for Insect visitations; and observations 

 will prove that in the cases where precautions are taken 

 to prevent these, Fertilisation does not occur, although 

 the flowers in question may be hermaphrodite. As a rule, 

 flowers of gay colours, those possessing much scent 

 or secreting nectar, are more or less dependent upon In- 

 sect agency. Most dioecious plants, or even hermaphro. 

 dito ones, in the Fertilisation of which the wind is a 

 necessary auxiliary, present peculiarities of structure which 

 do not obtain in those which are now called " entomo- 

 philous ; " they do not secrete nectar, the pollen is too 

 dry to adhere to Insects, and the corolla is either absent, 

 or possesses neither the colour, scent, nor nectar which 

 attract them. Amongst hermaphrodite flowers which 

 are homogamous that is to say, those in which the 

 stamens and stigma ripen together there are some which, 

 experiment has proved, are sterile with their own pollen, 

 but fertile enough if furnished with pollen from the 

 flowers of other plants of the same species. The scarlet- 

 flowered Linum grandiflorum is, according to the obser- 

 vations of Darwin, a case in point. The same authority 

 has shown conclusively enough, by a series of carefully 

 conducted experiments, that, in the case of the common 

 Primrose, more capsules and larger seeds are developed 

 as the result of Cross-fertilisation than when Self-ferti- 

 lisation obtains. Therefore, unless the aid of the cul- 

 tivator be called into requisition, in some cases Insect 

 visits are absolutely essential, and in others of consider- 

 able value, to the species. 



FERULA (the old Latin name, perhaps from ferio, 

 to strike ; stems used as rods). Giant Fennel. Including 

 the genera Ferulago and Narthex, which are sunk under 

 Ferula by the authors of the " Genera Plantarum." OKD. 

 Unibelliferce. A genus of about forty species of splendid 

 hardy herbaceous plants, natives of Southern Europe, 

 Northern Africa, and Central and Western Asia. Umbels 

 of many rays ; lateral ones usually opposite or verti- 



Vol. II. 



Ferula continued. 



cillate. Leaves supra-decompound ; leaflets usually cleft 



into linear segments. Stems tall. Roots thick. They 



are of very simple cultivation in almost any ordinary 



garden soil; and form admirable plants for growing near 



water, on banks and herbaceous borders, where their deep 



green, elegant foliage is produced almost in midwinter. 



It is important to plant them in permanent situations. 



The two best species are, perhaps, communis and tingitana, 



but all the others below named are well worth growing. 



F. Assafcotida (Asafoetida). fl. greenish-yellow ; umbels stalked. 



July. I., radical ones lift, long, stalked ; cauline ones broadly 



sheathing ; both cut into oblong-lanceolate, obtuse segments, 



lin. to 2in. long. h. 7ft. Persia, 1855. 



F. asparaglfolia (Asparagus-leaved).* fl. yellow. I., radical ones 

 (including the petiole) 1ft. to 2ft. long, broadly ovate in outline, 

 quadripinnate, the divisions very narrow, linear, hairy; upper 

 cauline leaves sheath-like ; involucral ones numerous, oblong- 

 lanceolate, acute, rettexed. h. 4ft. to 5ft Asia Minor. 



FIG. 9. FERULA COMMUNIS. 



F. commnnls (common).* fl. yellow ; central umbel nearly sessile ; 

 lateral ones male, pedunculate ; involucre wanting. June. 

 I. green ; leaflets linear-setaceous, flaccid ; sheaths of upper leaves 

 very large. A. 8ft. to 12ft. Mediterranean region, 1597. A very 

 noble herbaceous plant. See Fig. 9. (S. F. G. 279, under 

 name of F. nodiflora.) 



F. Ferulago (Ferulago). fl. yellow, in a large terminal umbel ; 

 leaves of involucre numerous, oblong-lanceolate, reflexed. June. 

 I., leaflets pinnatitid, divaricate ; segments linear, cuspidate. 

 Stem terete, striated, h. 6ft. to 8ft. Spain. (J. F. A. 5, under 

 name of F. nodiflora.) 



F. glauca (glaucous).* fl. yellow ; central umbel pedunculate ; 

 lateral ones male, on longer peduncles ; involucre wanting. June. 

 I. glaucous beneath ; leaflets linear, elongated, flat. Stem terete, 

 branched, h. 6ft. to 8ft. South Europe, 1596. 



F. persica (Persian), fl. yellow; involucre and involucels 

 wanting. L, leaflets rather remote or decurrently pinnate ; seg- 

 ments linear-lanceolate, dilated and cut at the apex. Stem 

 terete, glaucous, h. 3ft. to 6ft. Persia, 1782. (B. M. 2096.) 



F. Sumbul (Sumbul). A newly imported species, with graceful 

 habit, elegant fern-like foliage, and stately pyramidal panicu- 

 late inflorescences, h. 9ft. Turkestan, 1872. This species re- 

 markable for the fujtid, musky, and milky juice of its root was 

 introduced into Russia in 1835, as a substitute for musk, and a 

 remedy for cholera ; thence the drug reached Germany and 

 England, where it was admitted into the Pharmacopoeia in 1867. 

 (B. M. 6196.) 



F. tingitana (Tangiers).* fl. yellow ; terminal umbels on short 

 peduncles ; lateral umbels few, male, on longer peduncles; 



C 



