370 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Miltonia con ti nued. 



erect and branched (differing, in this respect, from most other 

 members of the genus), many-flowered. Under favourable condi- 

 tions, it will blossom twice during the year. Pseudo-bulbs long, 

 much flattened or compressed, dark green, bearing two leaves. 

 Peru, 1869. A beautiful, erect-growing species, requiring less 

 heat than the Brazilian species, and subject, apparently, to 

 considerable variation in the colour of its flowers in different 

 specimens. It was first sold under the name of Oncidium 

 Weltoni, and has also been known in gardens as Oncidium 

 t'uscatum and Odontoglossum Weltoni. See Fig. 574. (B. M. 5843.) 



MIMETES (from mimos, a mimic ; referring to its 

 resemblance to an allied genus). Including Orothamnus. 

 ORD. Proteaceae. A genus comprising fourteen species of 

 greenhouse, evergreen shrubs, natives of South Africa. 

 Flower-heads hermaphrodite ; perianth narrow, often in- 

 curved ; limb ovoid or oblong. Nuts sessile, ovoid, 

 glabrous. Leaves few, sessile, entire, or rarely dentate 

 at apex. The undermentioned species, probably the only 

 one yet introduced, thrives in a peat and loam soil, with 

 plenty of moisture. Cuttings of the ripened shoots should 

 be taken, towards autumn, or in the spring, before growth 

 commences, and inserted in sand, under a glass, with- 

 out bottom heat at least, until a swelling occurs at 

 their base. 



M. Zeyheri (Zeyher's). A.-heads one to three or more at the 

 extremity of a branch, drooping ; bracts glabrous, similar to 

 the leaves ; leaves of involucre petaloid, rose-red, veined, villous ; 

 lacinize of the calyx villous. July. I. alternate on the branches, 

 sessile, imbricated, numerous, entire, elliptic, membranous, 

 externally convex, within concave, lin. to Uin. long, margined 

 with purple, h. 6ft. to 8ft. (B. M. 4357, under name of 'Oro- 

 thamnus Zeyheri.) 



MIMOSA (from mimos, a mimic ; the leaves of many 

 of the species mimic animal sensibility). Sensitive Plant. 

 ORD. Leguminosce. This genus, as now understood, com- 

 prises about 230 species of herbs, rarely tall climbing 

 shrubs, or unarmed or prickly trees, natives, for the most 

 part, of the warmer parts of America, a few inhabiting 

 tropical Africa and the East Indies, but none are yet 

 known from Australia. Flowers small, sessile, in globose 

 heads or cylindrical spikes ; peduncles axillary, solitary, or 

 fasciculate. Leaves bipinnate, often sensitive, with one or 

 more pairs of pinnse, each pinna bearing two or more pairs 



FIG. 575. FLOWERING BRANCH AND SINGLE FLOWER-HEAD, WITH 

 LEAF, OF MIMOSA PUDICA. 



of leaflets. Mimosas thrive in a compost of loam and 

 peat, in equal proportions, to which a small portion of 

 sand may be added. Propagated by seeds, sown, during 

 spring, in a hotbed ; or by cuttings of rather firm young 

 shoots, inserted in sandy soil, in heat. The species com- 

 monly known as the " Sensitive Plant " is M. pudica, 

 whereas the true one is if. sensitiva. M. pudica is 

 usually treated as an annual, but, under stove treatment, 

 it assumes a perennial character. 



M. marginata (margined).* /. in purplish heads on peduncles 

 at least twice as long as the leaves. Summer. I. pinnate ; leaflets 



Mimosa continued. 



with ciliated margins. Extra-tropical South America. A hand- 

 some prostrate shrub, producing long slender shoots, which have 

 an elegant appearance, if allowed to hang down from the rafters 

 of a conservatory. 



M. ptldica (chaste).* Humble Plant, /f. red. Summer. I. some- 

 what digitately pinnate, with four pinnae, each pinna bearing 

 many pairs of linear leaflets. Stem herbaceous, prickly, with the 

 petioles and peduncles more or less beset with stiff hairs or 

 bristles, h. 1ft. Tropical America (naturalised in many parts of 

 tropical Africa and Asia), 1638. A well-known plant, even 

 more sensitive than the true M. gensitiva. See Fig. 575. 

 (A. B. R. 544.) 



M. scandens (climbing). A synonym of Entada scandens. 



M. sensitiva (sensitive), fl. purple. Summer. I., leaflets ovate, 

 acute, clothed with adpressea hairs beneath, but glabrous above, 

 not so sensitive to the touch as those of If. pudica. Stem and 

 petioles prickly. A. 3ft. to 6ft. Tropical America, 1648. An 

 evergreen shrub. (B. B. 25.) 



MIMULTTS (from mimo, an ape ; in reference to the 

 ringent corolla). Monkey Flower. Including Diplacus. 

 ORD. Scrophularinece. A genus comprising about forty 

 species of hardy or half-hardy, erect or decumbent, 

 glabrous, pilose, or viscid, herbs, rarely tall or shrubby. 

 They are dispersed over the extra-tropical or mountainous 

 parts of America, Asia, Australia, and Africa, being 

 numerous in Western America ; but the genus is totally 

 absent from Europe and the whole Mediterranean region. 

 Flowers axillary, solitary, pedicellate, superior ones some- 

 times racemose ; corolla bilabiate ; upper lip erect or 

 reflexed, bilobate ; lower lip trilobate. Leaves opposite, 

 undivided, entire, or toothed. The species are showy and 

 ornamental, and their culture is very simple. All the 

 herbaceous species thrive best in a rather moist situa- 

 tion, and are well worth naturalising in damp borders, 

 by the margins of streams, and in similar situations. The 

 shrubby species do best under pot culture in a cool 

 greenhouse. The seed, being generally very small, must 

 be sown on the surface, and only very lightly covered 

 with soil. When the seedlings are lin. or so high, they 

 should be transferred singly to Gin. pots, and again into 

 the next larger size just previous to flowering. An 

 excellent compost for pot culture is two parts loam, 

 one leaf soil, and one cow manure. The common Musk, 

 M. moschatus, is a well-known and favourite plant, 

 both for outside borders and for pot culture in spring. 

 Its variety, Harrisonii, is a strong-growing, large-flowered 

 form, which has become equally as popular as the type. 

 It makes an excellent pot plant. Propagation of Mimnlns 

 may also be effected by cuttings and by divisions. 

 M. anrantlacus (orange). A synonym of M. alutinosug. 



FIG. 576. UPPER PORTIO.N OF PLANT AND DETACHED FLOWER 

 OF MlMULUS CARDINALIS. 



M. cardinalis (cardinal).* fl. red, large ; peduncles longer than 

 the leaves. June to August. I. stem-clasping, ovate, with erosely 

 toothed margins, h. 1ft. to 3ft. Oregon to California and Mexico, 



