20 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Fork continued. 



implement, is of much more importance when purchasing 

 than the difference in price would suggest; consequently, 

 those from the best makers should be obtained. Some 

 are easily bent when under pressure : others just as easily 

 snap. A good Fork should be made of steel, so combined 

 in the manufacture as to wear evenly, and in such a 

 way that the prongs will neither snap nor bend when 

 in ordinary use. Forks for loading leaves are specially 

 made with four or five long tines, and are very 

 useful in winter where large quantities have to be col- 

 lected and taken away. Hand Forks are useful for 

 plunging, planting out, &c. ; they are made with three 

 short flattened prongs, and a handle of the same size, 

 like that of a trowel. 

 FORMICIDJE. See Ants. 

 FORNICATE. Arched. 



FORRESTIA (commemorative of Peter Forrest, a 

 botanist of the seventeenth century). ORD. Comme- 

 linacece. A genus of seven species of pretty and singular 

 stove perennials, of which one is from tropical Africa, 

 and the rest natives of India and the Malayan Archi- 

 pelago. For culture, see Commelina. 

 F. Hooker! (Hooker's), fl. purplish, capitate, sessile, bracteate, 

 in dense clusters from the lower sheaths, and often from the 

 naked stems after the leaves have fallen ; sepals boat-shaped ; 

 petals much paler, almost white, ovate, acute. I. sub-succulent, 

 obovate-lanceolate, finely cordate-acuminate, more or less hairy, 

 deep purple beneath, at length glabrous above, and there uni- 

 formly green, striately veined ; base tapering downwards, often 

 very hairy, and terminating in a large, striated, often very 

 villous, sheathing base. Stem herbaceous, 1ft. to 3ft. long, simple 

 below, creeping and radicant, and leafless, h. 3ft. Malay Archi- 

 pelago, 1864. (B. M. 5425, under name of F. hispida.) 

 FORSYTHIA (named in honour of William Forsyth, 

 1737-1804, the King's Gardener at Kensington, author 

 of " Observations on the Diseases of Trees," London, 

 1791). ORD. Oleaceae. Very ornamental hardy dwarf 

 deciduous shrubs. Flowers yellow, drooping, solitary. 

 Leaves simple or compound, glabrous. Branches slender. 

 For culture, see Foiitanesia. 



FIG. 23. FLOWERING BRANCH OF FORSYTHIA SUSPENSA. 



F. suspensa (hanging-down).* fl. yellow, few, scattered, on very 

 slender branches ; peduncles slender. 1. simple and trifoliolate on 

 the same branch, toothed ; central leaflet largest. Japan and 

 China. This is a very graceful shrub, which does thoroughly 



Forsythia continued. 



well either as a climber against a wall, or treated as a bush in 

 the open shrubbery border ; it also forces readily. In nurseries, 

 it is frequently met with under the names of *". Fortunei and 

 F. Siebotdi. See Fig. 23. (S. Z. F. J. 3.) 



F. viridissima (very green).* fl. yellow, numerous ; peduncles 

 much shorter than the flowers, bracteolate. March. I. all 

 simple, entire, linear-lanceolate or oblong, acute. h. 10ft. 

 Japan, 1845. (B. M. 4587.) 



FORTUNEA. A synonym of Platycarya (which 

 see). 



FOTHERGILLA (named in honour of John Fother- 

 gill, 1712-1780, an eminent physician and patron of 

 botany). ORD. Hamamelidece. The only species of this 

 genus is a pretty hardy deciduous shrub. It thrives 

 best in a moist sandy peat; and may be increased by 

 seeds, which should be sown in spring, in a peaty soil. 

 The varieties may be propagated by layers. 



F. alnifolia (Alder-leaved).* fl. white, sweet-scented, sessile, 

 spicate, terminal, ovate, appearing before the leaves. April, 

 May. I. alternate, obovate, stipulate, clothed with soft, starry 

 down. h. 3ft. to 6ft. North-eastern America, 1765. The 

 following are varieties : 



F. a. acuta (acute). I. narrow, ovate, acute. 



F. a. major (greater). I. ovate-oblong, somewhat cordate at 

 the base. (B. M. 1342.) 



F. a. obtusa (blunt-leaved). I. obovate, crenate at the top, 

 when young downy beneath. (B. M. 1341.) 



F. a. scrotina (late-flowering). I. oblong, acute, crenately 

 toothed at top. 



FOUNTAINS. In connection with garden, con- 

 servatory, and room decorations, Fountains are represented 

 in various forms, and are constructed in sizes varying from 

 specimens of the most minute description in a room, 

 to an enormous display of waterworks, as shown in exten- 

 sive public gardens and other establishments. An im- 

 portant point in the introduction of a Fountain is the 

 selection of a situation that is at once appropriate and 

 in keeping with surrounding objects. The centre of an 

 inclosed flower garden, of a formal description and 

 geometrically laid out, could not, perhaps, be better 

 occupied than with a Fountain and circular basin, having 

 a walk round it in connection with other cross walks 

 formed at right angles. Intersecting points are best in 

 any case, on account of the means thereby supplied of 

 utilising the water from the basin. Either a single jet 

 or an indefinite number, if desired, must be in connec- 

 tion with an elevated reservoir or other source of 

 supply from which a force can be obtained, and they may 

 be fixed so as to conduct the water in various direc- 

 tions, and cause it to disperse and descend in minute 

 particles. The jets are best arranged amongst a pile 

 of rockwork or large stones, that help to conceal them 

 from view when the water is stopped. A Fountain 

 has a cooling effect in a conservatory, in summer; and 

 when constructed in a prominent position, as in the 

 centre, it is invariably a source of attraction. In 

 some of the most extensive and beautiful summer floral 

 decorations, a small Fountain is introduced, with flowers 

 of various Nymphaeas, &c., dropped in the water beneath. 

 This forms an interesting and novel addition, and one 

 that is generally much admired. 



FOUQUIERA (named in honour of Peter Edward 

 Fouquier, M.D., a French physician). ORD. Tama- 

 riscinece. A genus containing three species of very 

 glabrous, spinose trees or shrubs, natives of Mexico. 

 F. formosa is described as being a very showy stove 

 shrub. It thrives in a loamy and fibry peat ; and is 

 increased by cuttings, planted in heat, under a bell 

 glass. 

 F. formosa (splendid).* fl. scarlet, lin. long, disposed in terminal 



erect spikes ; corolla tube cylindrical, a little arched ; limb 



spreadingly reflexed. I. oblong, scattered, rather fleshy, h. 6ft. 



to 10ft. 



FOUQUIEREJE. A tribe of Tamariscinece. 



FOURCROYA. See Furcraea. 



