AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



177 



Hex continued. 



and green, with a broad, well-defined, continuous margin of deep 

 golden-yellow. A very handsome form, and said to be the finest 

 of the gold-edged series. It is also known as aurea maryinata, 

 latifolia marginata, and recjintx. (G. C. n. a., v. 44.) 



I. A. Cookii (Cook's). I. ovate, flat, with rather weak spines ; very 

 dark green, with a narrow edge of greenish-yellow, and some 

 central blotches. (G. C. n. s:, v. 437.) 



L A. ferox argentea (fierce, silvery).* Silver-striped Hedgehog. 

 I. ovate, more or less convex, deep green, bristling with stiff 

 echinate spines towards the front and edges ; margin and surface 

 spines creamy-white. Known also as ferox argentea variegata. 

 (G. C. n. s., v. 44.) 



I. A. Handsworthensis (Handsworth).* I. elliptic-oblong, 2iin. 

 to Sin. long, margined with very strong prominent white spines ; 

 disk mottled with green and greyish-green, and with a distinct 

 and tolerably even margin of creamy-white. A handsome, free- 

 growing form. 



I. A. heterophylla aureo-plcta (various-leaved, gold-painted). 

 1. ovate, flat, toothless, 2im. long; edge dark green; middle 

 conspicuously marked with a broad, unequally-developed, 

 feathery blotch of bright yellow. (G. C. n. s., vi. 389.) 



I. A. Hodglnsil aurea (Hodgins 1 golden).* I. broadly oblong- 

 ovate ; disk conspicuously mottled with dark and grey-green ; 

 margin broad, golden. 



I. A. Lawsoniana (Lawson's).* I. ovate or bluntly elliptical, 2iin. 

 to 3in. long, opaque green ; central or discal portions marked 

 with broad bands or blotches of yellow ; spines distant. Very 

 handsome. The same as Lawsoniana variegata. (G. C. n. a., 

 v. 624.) 



I. A. Madame Brlot. I. large, 2iin. to Sin. long, IJin. to 

 liin. broad, oblong-ovate, furnished at the edge with strongly- 

 developed wavy or divaricate spines ; surface considerably 

 mottled with yellow and green on the disk, and having a narrow 

 golden edge. Of Continental origin. 



X. A. maderensis variegata (variegated Madeiran). I. ovate 

 or obovate, 2in. to 2iin. long, distantly plane-spined, or occasion- 

 ally somewhat wavy ; dark green at the margin, with a feathered 

 golden blotch, mixed with pale green in the centre. 



I. A. scotica aurea (Scotch golden). I. obovate, marginate, about 

 WaL long, nearly entire, but loosely wavy, narrowing to wedge- 

 shaped at the base ; disk dark mottled green, with a broad golden 

 edge. 



I. A. Waterlana (Waterer's).* L oblong, ovate, or obovate, 

 often oblique, Ijin. to 2iin. long, with or without spines ; disk 

 dark green, mottled, often in sectional streaks, with yellowish- 

 green and greyish-green, and with a broad but irregular marginal 

 band of deep golden-yellow, which is not continuous, sometimes 

 wholly golden, at others half golden. A beautiful dense dwarf 

 shrub. It is known also as compacta aurea and nana aurea. 

 (G. C. n. s., vi. 233.) 



ILICINE2E. A small natural order of trees or 

 shrubs, of which the common Holly, Hex AquifoUum, 

 is the type. Flowers white, often small ; inflorescence 

 axillary and terminal, cymose. Leaves alternate ; stipules 

 minute or absent, petiolate, simple, generally coriaceous, 

 often entire. The species inhabit temperate and tropical 

 regions, but are absent from North-west America. They 

 contain a bitter principle, the Ilicine of chemists, com- 

 bined in various proportions with an aromatic resin 

 and a glutinous matter, to which some species of Holly 

 owe medicinal properties. There are about 150 species, 

 and the following genera : Byronia, Hex, and Netnopanthes. 

 The order is sometimes known as Aquifoliacece. 



ILLAIB.EA. This genus is now included under 

 Loasa (which see). 



ILLECEERACEJE. An order of sub-erect, diffuse, 

 or pulvinately-tufted, annual or perennial herbs (rarely 

 shrubs or sub-shrubs). The species are widely distri- 

 buted, principally throughout warm and dry regions, 

 many being found in South Europe and North Africa. 

 Flowers green or white, regular, generally hermaphrodite, 

 inconspicuous, herbaceous, often scariously bracted, gene- 

 rally disposed in trichotomous cymes ; petals small or 

 absent. Fruit small, indehiscent, or three-valved. Leaves 

 generally opposite, small, entire ; base often connate ; 

 stipules scariose, simple, bifid or connate, rarely none. 

 The order comprises seventeen genera and about ninety 

 species. Illustrative genera are : Illecebrum, Paronychia, 

 and Scleranthus. 



IliLECEBRUM (from illecebra, an old Latin word, 

 meaning enticement or attraction, applied by Pliny to the 



VoL IL 



Illecebrom continued. 



Stonecrop). OBD. Illecebracece. A genus now reduced 

 to a single species, but which formerly included several 

 South European ones now forming the genus Paronychia. 

 I. verticillatum is a small, hardy, glabrous, much-branched 

 annual, thriving best in a moist peat soil. Propagated 

 by 



FIG. 282. FLOWERING SHOOT OF ILLECEBRUM VERTICILLATOM. 



I. verttcillatum (whorled). fl. shining - white, in whorls, in 

 the axils of the leaves. Summer. I. opposite, obovate, green. 

 h. lin. to Sin. North Africa and West Europe (Britain, only in 

 Devon and Cornwall). See Fig. 282. 



ILLICIUM (from illicio, to entice or allure ; on account 

 of the agreeable aromatic smell of the species). Ani- 

 seed - tree. OBD. Magnoliacece. A genus comprising 

 five species of half - hardy evergreen shrubs. Flowers 

 very beautiful and fragrant, singly or in threes from 

 the sides of the branches; petals nine to thirty, disposed 

 in several series. Carpels stellately - disposed, capsnlar, 

 opening on the upper side. Leaves oblong, stalked, 

 coriaceous, exhaling a strong odour of Aniseed. The 

 species thrive in a compost of sandy loam and peat, 

 and need greenhouse protection during winter, except in 

 the southern counties. Propagated, during summer, by 

 cuttings of young ripened shoots, inserted in sandy soil, 

 under a hand glass. 



I. anisatum (Anise-scented).* fl. yellowish- white, small, dis- 

 posed in terminal clusters. Summer. I. entire, smooth, h. 4ft 

 China and Japan. This tree is held sacred by the Japanese, 

 who form wreaths of it with which to decorate the tombs of 

 their deceased friends ; they also burn the bark as incense before 

 their deities. The leaves are reported to possess poisonous pro- 

 perties. SYN. /. reliyiosum. (B. M. 3965.) 



I. floridanum (Floridan).* fl. of a fine deep red, having the ap- 

 double; petals twenty to thirty; peduncles 



irance of being dc 

 nging down, but b 

 July. ?. oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, h'. 8ft. Florida,' 1771. 



iging down, but becoming erect as the petals drop. April to 

 ly. T. ob' 

 (B. M. 439.) 



I. parviflorum (small-flowered), fl. scentless ; petals yellowish, 

 six to twelve, ovate-roundish ; sepals three, ovate, somewhat 

 ciliated. May and June. I. lanceolate, acute, scented, h. 3ft. 

 Southern United States, 1790. 



I. religiosum (holy). Synonymous with /. anisatum. 



IM ANTOPHYLLUM (from imas, imantos, a leather 

 thong, and phyllon, a leaf ; alluding to the shape and 

 substance of the foliage). OBD. Amaryllidece. This 

 genus is now included under Clivia ; but, as the plants 



2 A 



