AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



29 



Fritillaria continued. 



pale green ; upper linear-lanceolate. Stem slender, leafless below, 

 but there clothed with appressed sheaths. Caucasus, &c., 1872. 

 An elegant little plant, remarkable for the peculiar colour of 

 its flowers. (B. M. 5969.) 



P. verticillata (verticillate). fl. white, at the base externally 

 green, and within at the base sprinkled with small purplish 



spots ; solitary, axillary, or terminal, nodding ; segments tipped 



i, slightly pubescent apex. Ma 

 y glaucous, somewhat crowded 

 of the stem ; the lowest pair opposite, many-nerved, without a 



SJJULS , suiiuuy, axuiiuy, ur tei , __ , --- - - 



with a green, callous, slightly pubescent apex. May. I. bright 

 green, or slightly glaucous, somewhat crowded about the middle 



conspicuous middle rib, ovate, tapering towards the apex, which 

 is rather blunt. Stem simple. Altaic Mountains, 1830. (B. M. 

 3083, under name of F. leucantfia.) 



F. v. Thunbergii (Thunberg's).* fl. greenish, mottled with 

 pale purple, small, solitary, bell-shaped. I. long, narrow, linear, 

 terminating in a tendril. China and Japan, 1880. See Fig. 43. 

 F. Walujewl (Walujew's). fl. lead-coloured outside, within 

 purple-brown, with whitish spots, large, solitary. I. linear, 

 attenuated into a tendril ; those at the middle of the stem verti- 

 cillate. h. 1ft. Central Asia, 1879. (B. G. 993.) 

 FRITILLARY. See Pritillaria. 

 FRCELICHIA (named in honour of Jos. Al. Froelich, 

 a German physician and botanist, 1796-1841). OBD. 

 Amarantacece. A genus containing about ten species of 

 annual or perennial herbs, found in the warmer parts of 

 the New World, from Texas to South Brazil. Flowers 

 hermaphrodite, bracteate ; spikes sessile or stalked. 

 Leaves opposite, sessile (radical stalked), ovate, linear- 

 oblong or spathulate. They thrive in sandy loam and 

 leaf mould. Propagated by seeds sown in heat, in spring. 

 F. floridana (Florida), fl. white, tomentose or woolly, in ovate or 

 oblong spikes. I. varying from linear to oblong; bracts mostly 

 blackish, shorter than the woolly calyx. Stem, erect, simple or 

 branched, h. 6in. to 3ft. Southern United States. (B. M. 2603, 

 under name of Oplotheca floridana.) 



FROG HOPPER, FROG SPIT, or CUCKOO 

 SPIT (Aphrophora spumaria). The insects secreting 

 "Frog Spit," which often so disfigures plants, are com- 

 monly known as Frog Hoppers. They belong to the same 

 order as the Aphides, but to that section which has the 

 whole of the upper wings leathery. There are two simple 

 eyes or " ocelli," in addition to the two compound ones 

 common to insects in general. It is the larvae of the 



FIG. 44. FROG HOPPER (APHROPHORA SPUMARIA), showing 

 Larva, Frothy Secretion, and Perfect Insect. 



" hoppers " that produce Cuckoo Spit (see Fig. 44). The 

 former are plentiful in spring, while the perfect insects 

 abound most in the autumn. When the curious-looking 

 larvae are deprived of the shelter afforded by this sugary 

 secretion, they appear at first quite helpless, and, if the 

 day be hot, are almost immediately killed. Hence an 

 effectual mode of clearing plants of Cuckoo Spit, is to 

 brush it off during sunshine, and the insects are at the 

 same time destroyed. This pest attacks the young shoots 

 of plants, choosing the axil of a leaf for its abode, and so 

 damaging the shoot in some cases as to cause it to die 

 or become malformed. Carnations, Pinks, and similar 

 plants suffer greatly from its ravages. The following 

 remedies, together with a frequent syringing with clear 

 water, will be found effective : 



Tobacco Liquid. To a gallon of water add loz. of soft 

 soap, and, when thoroughly dissolved, mix a tablespoonful 

 of Corry and Soper's Nicotine, well syringing the plants. 

 This is best applied lukewarm, and then well washed off 

 with clean water in about an hour. 



Quassia. Steep ilb. quassia chips in a gallon of boil- 

 ing water, and, when cold, add about the same quantity 



Frog Hopper, &c. continued. 



of water. This should be applied with a syringe, and 

 not washed off afterwards. It renders the stems of the 

 plants nauseous, but does not injure them. Bitter aloes 

 may also be used in a similar way. 



FRONDS. The leaves of palms and ferns are im- 

 properly called Fronds. A true Frond is a combination of 

 leaf and stem, as in many seaweeds and liverworts. 



FROST. The presence of Frost denotes a fall of 

 temperature to a point at which still water becomes 

 solidified; and its intensity is known by the contraction 

 of another liquid used in the construction of the ther- 

 mometer, which does not become frozen at any tempera- 

 ture experienced in this country. Fahrenheit's scale is 

 that in use for thermometers in Great Britain, and this 

 places freezing point at 32deg., and boiling water at 

 212deg., the intervening space being divided equally 

 into 180 parts, termed degrees. Similar divisions are 

 made below freezing point, and the fall cf the liquid in 

 use, which is either Mercury or Spirits of Wine, below 

 this indicates, in so many degrees, the amount of Frost. 

 On plants or other subjects unprotected, the action of 

 Frost is from the top downwards towards the earth ; 

 hence the value of, and safety frequently effected by, 

 slight coverings that are non-conductors of heat, and 

 consequently prevent its loss by radiation. The effect 

 of Frost on plant life is not always in proportion to 

 its intensity or the hardiness of the plant under what 

 may be termed natural conditions. A spell of mild 

 weather frequently places vegetation in a growing and 

 tender state, especially in spring, when a sudden change 

 to a few degrees of Frost may cause more destruction 

 than a great deal at another time, when vegetation was 

 more dormant. Frost acts most injuriously on anything 

 wet, and is least destructive under the reverse condition. 

 It is most successfully removed from plants too tender to 

 withstand it, by adopting a method as gradual in effect 

 as possible. Frost penetrates in a slow and natural way, 

 and the greatest injury, if any, is caused when it is sud- 

 denly displaced by heat, either from sunshine or artificially. 

 Syringing is sometimes recommended with tender subjects 

 that have become frozen, but it should be remembered 

 that water which is itself much above the freezing point, 

 will, when applied, cause a sudden change to anything 

 that is considerably below. Frost has a most beneficial 

 effect on all soils exposed to its influence, by penetrating 

 and pulverizing them, so that what was before unwork- 

 able and useless, is afterwards rendered fertile and 

 amenable to the successful cultivation of various crops. 



FRUCTIFICATION. All those parts composing 

 the fruit of plants. 



FRUIT. That portion of a plant which consists of 

 the ripened carpels, and the parts adhering to them. 



FRUIT BORDERS. See Borders, Fruit. 



FRUIT GARDEN. See Garden. 



FRUIT-GATHERING. This cannot be too care- 

 fully performed to avoid bruising, especially with those 

 fruits having a tender skin. Dry weather should be 

 selected at all times for the operation outside, and only 

 such gathered as are at the proper stage. It sometimes 

 becomes necessary, at the expense, however, of quality, to 

 select Peaches and similar fruits several days before they 

 are fully matured, to admit of packing and transmitting 

 them to a distance. It is important, in gathering these, 

 that the necessary pressure be equally applied by the 

 whole of the fingers, and the fruits carefully placed bottom 

 downwards on some soft material, in a shallow tray or 

 basket. Nothing is more quickly bruised, or shows its 

 consequent effect by decay, than thin-skinned ripe fruits. 

 Those grown under glass are even more susceptible to 

 injury in this way than hardier ones from outside. The 

 keeping properties of Apples, Pears, and similar fruits, 



