AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



173 



Ichneumon Flies continued. 

 insects, if any, are wholly 

 free from the attacks of 

 Ichneumons, which are among 

 the most active and efficient 

 allies of the gardener, be- 

 cause of the number of de- 

 structive insects killed by 

 them. Hence, Ichneumon 

 Flies ought to be protected, 

 as far as possible, by every 

 horticulturist alive to his 

 own interests. 



ICHNOCARPUS (from 

 ichnos, a vestige, and karpos, 

 a fruit ; in reference to the 

 slender follicles). STNS. Aga- 

 nosma, Springia. OBD. Apo- 

 cynacece. A genus compris- 

 ing nine species of tall climb- 

 ing stove shrubs, natives of 

 the East Indies, the Malayan 

 Archipelago, Eastern Asia, 

 and tropical Australia. For 

 culture, sec Dipladenia. 

 According to Bentham and 

 Hooker, the plants described 

 under Aganosma should be 

 included here. 



I. frutescens (shrubby), fl. 

 purple, small ; corolla salver- 

 shaped ; peduncles axillary, 

 very long, racemose. July and August. I. opposite, oblong- 

 lanceolate, glabrous. Tropical Asia and Australia, 1759. 



ICICA. This genus is now included, by Bentham 

 and Hooker, under Bursera. 



ICOS. This, in Greek compounds, signifies twenty. 



FIG. 



FIG. 267. BRANCH OF IDESIA POLYCARPA. 



BRANCHI.ET OF IDESIA POLYCARPA CRISPA. 



IDESIA (named after Yobrants Ides, a Dutch traveller 

 in China). OBD. Bixinece. A monotypic genus, the 

 species being a large and ornamental hardy tree. It 

 thrives in light and well-drained sandy soil. Increased 

 in spring or autumn, by half-ripened cuttings, inserted in 

 sandy loam, and placed under a bell glass, in gentle heat ; 

 also by seeds, sown in spring, likewise in a gentle heat. 

 I. polycarpa (many-fruited).* /. dioecious and apetalous, incon- 

 spicuous, in terminal panicles, fr. in drooping clusters, orange- 

 coloured, about the size of a pea. I. large, alternate, cordate, 

 remotely serrulate, acuminate. Japan. SYNS. Flacourtia 

 japonica, Polycarpa Maximowiczii. See Fig. 267. (R. H. 1868, 320.) 

 I. p. crispa (curled). This is a sport from the type, and is re- 

 markable for its curiously cut and crisped leaves. See Fig. 268. 

 IDOTHEA. See Drimia. 

 IDOTHEARIA. See Drimia. 



IGNATIA. Now included under Strychnos (which 

 see). 



IGNEUS. Fiery-red. 



ILEX (from Ilex, the Latin name given by Virgil to 

 Quercus Hex). Holly. Including Prinos. OBD. Ilicinece. 

 A genus comprising 145 species of mostly hardy 

 shrubs or trees, inhabiting temperate and tropical 

 regions, abundant in South America, rare in Africa and 

 Australia. Flowers white, often sub-dioecious ; peduncles 

 axillary, few-flowered, or often ramose. Drupe globose. 

 Leaves alternate, often shining, entire, dentate or 

 spinose. The common Holly, with its innumerable 

 varieties, is well known and extensively cultivated. It 

 submits to training in almost any shape, and soon 

 recovers if severely pruned to preserve the desired 

 character in this respect. Pruning or cutting should 

 be practised either in September or April, both in 

 the case of trained trees and the clipping of hedges. 

 The Holly may be best transplanted at the beginning of 

 May, or early in autumn, when there is sufficient time 

 for new roots to be formed before winter. It does not 

 transplant well when old, but is a long-lived tree when 

 established in good soil and left undisturbed at the root. 

 One of the handsomest and most endurable hedges which 

 can be grown is made from this plant. It is slow-grow- 

 ing, taking eight or ten years from seed to make a fence 

 4ft. high ; consequently, it is less extensively employed than 



