AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



401 



Musssenda continued. 



prises about forty species of mostly stove shrubs or sub- 

 shrubs, rarely herbs, erect or twining, natives of tropical 

 Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Flowers yellowish, 

 rarely white, in many-flowered terminal corymbs ; corolla 

 funnel-shaped, with a five-parted limb and a villous throat. 

 Fruit ovoid, fleshy, naked at the apex from the calyx 

 being deciduous. Leaves ovate, petiolate, villous or 

 glabrous. Several of the species are cultivated chiefly on 

 account of the large coloured floral leaves or bracts, which 

 are formed by the enlargement of one of the calyx seg- 

 ments. Musssendas are of easy culture in a compost of 

 peat, loam, and leaf mould, in equal proportions, to which 

 may be added a small quantity of silver sand. Propa- 

 gated, during May or June, by cuttings, inserted in 

 sandy soil, under a bell glass, in heat. The four under- 

 mentioned species are probably the only ones now in 

 cultivation. 

 M. frondosa (leafy), fl. yellow ; tube of corolla one-third longer 



than the calyx. May to September. I. stalked, oval-lanceolate, 



and, as well as branches, pubescent, h. 3ft. Tropical Asia, 1805. 



Erect shrub. (B. R. 517 ; B. M. 2099, under name of M. pubescent.) 

 M. luteola (yellow).* fl.. bright yellow, with an orange centre, lin. 



long, slender, the bract-formed calycine leaf jin. long, and pure 



white; corymbs terminal, trichotomous. Autumn and winter. 



I. almost sessile, ovate-lanceolate, acute, nerved, tomentose 



beneath, h. 5ft. to 6ft. Tropical Africa. A very pretty, erect, 



greenhouse shrub. (B. M. 5573.) 

 M. macrophylla (large-leaved), fl. orange, in terminal, trichoto- 



mous corymbs ; large segment of calyx white. July and August. 



I. ovate, downy. Stem simple, ascending, h. 6ft. Tropical 



Asia, 1845. Shrub. See Fig. 621. (B. E. 1846, 24.) 

 M. pubescens (downy). A synonym of M. frondosa. 

 M. uniflora (one-flowered), fl. white, sweet-scented, solitary, with 



a long tube. I. opposite, cordate-ovate, sub-sessile. Stem slender. 



Cochin China, &c., 1883. A pretty, vigorous, and free-flowering 



herb, suitable for basket culture. 



MUSSCHIA (named after J. H. Mussche, once 

 Director of the Botanic Garden at Ghent, which he cata- 

 logued in 1810). OKD. Campanulacece. A genus com- 

 prising a couple of species of greenhouse, erect, perennial 

 herbs or sub-shrubs, natives of the island of Madeira. 

 Flowers large, in pyramidal panicles ; corolla yellow or 

 ochre-coloured; calyx lobes of a like colour, or livid 

 purple. Radical leaves large, dentate ; cauline ones 

 smaller or few. Musschias thrive in well-drained fibry 

 loam, and are propagated by seeds, sown in a gentle 

 bottom heat. 



M. aurea (golden).* fl. golden-yellow, erect, in loose panicles, 

 r. I. crowded, glabrous, lanceolate, dentate. Stem short, 

 stout. A. 1ft. to 2ft. 1777. SYN. Campanula aurea. (B. M. 6556.) 



Summer. 



M. Wollastonl (Wollaston's). fl. yellow-green, large, liin. to 

 2in. long; calyx lobes oblong-lanceolate, acuminate ; corolla tube 

 cylindrical, shorter than the linear recurved lobes ; stigmas 

 radiating, Jin. long, revolute at apex ; panicle erect, 2ft. high and 

 upwards, with spreading branches. I. flaccid, 1ft. to 2ft. long, 

 often purplish, oblong-lanceolate, tapering to a broad sessile base, 

 doubly serrate, succulent to wards the middle, h. 2ft. to 6ft. 1857. 

 (B. M. 5606.) 



MUSSEL SCALE. See Apple Mussel Scale. 

 MUSTARD (Sinapis alba). As a small salading at 

 any time of the year, Mustard is largely cultivated for 

 use along with Common Cress (Lepidium sativum). It 

 is a hardy annual, a native of Britain, and may be raised 

 in any quantity from seed, in the way recommended for 

 Cress (see Cress, Garden). The seeds germinate quicker 

 than those of Cress, consequently the latter should be sown 

 about three days in advance, in order that the produce 

 from both may be in the proper condition for cutting at 

 the same time. The common White Mustard is the one 

 in general use as a salad plant ; but this, as well as the 

 Black (Sinapis nigra), is extensively cultivated for its 

 seed, which, after preparation, constitutes the table 

 Mustard of commerce. 



MUSTARD, HEDGE. See Erysimum. 

 MUTICOUS. Pointless. 



MUTISIA (named after J. C. Mutis, 1732-1808, a 

 South American botanist). OKD. Composite. A genus 



VOL. n. 



Mutisia continued. 



of about thirty-six species of stove, greenhouse, or hardy, 

 erect or climbing shrubs, natives of the Andes or extra- 

 tropical South America, with a few Brazilian. Flower-heads 

 purple, rose, or yellow, large, solitary, terminal, peduncu- 

 late ; involucre usually cylindrical, with broad imbricated 

 scales ; receptacle naked ; pappus of long feathery bristles. 

 Leaves alternate, entire or pinnate, often terminating in 

 a tendril. The stove and greenhouse species, which are 

 not often seen in cultivation, thrive best in a rich, stiff, 

 loamy soil ; and may be propagated, in May, by cuttings 

 of half -ripened shoots, placed in sand, under a bell glass, 

 in gentle bottom heat. The hardy sorts do well grown 

 against a sunny wall, in the open air, and in a moderately 

 good soil ; they are also increased, during spring, by cut- 

 tings, treated as above mentioned, but without bottom 

 heat. The species best known to cultivation are described 

 below. 



BE. arachnoidea (cobweb-like), fl.-heads red, solitary. July. 

 I. pinnate ; leaflets six or seven, ovate-lanceolate, very acute, 

 sessile, cobwebbed beneath, terminated by a large branching 

 tendril. Brazil, 1824. Stove climber. SYN. M. speciosa. (B. M. 

 2703.) 



BE. Clematis (Clematis). fl.-heads rich red, large. I. compound, 

 with from seven to nine pairs of leaflets, ending in a branched 

 tendril. Stems somewhat angular and slender, 20ft. to 30ft. in 

 height. New Grenada, 1859. A distinct species, probably hardy 

 in the Southern Counties of England. (B. H. 1864, 5.) 



BE. decurrens (decurrent).* fl.-heads deep orange, 4in. to 6in. 

 across, on stalks 6in. to 12in. long ; outer florets from twelve to 

 twenty, rather long, narrow, reflexed. June to August. I. lanceo- 

 late, glaucous, with a tendril. Stems few, slender, twining. 

 Chilian Andes. A handsome hardy perennial, thriving best when 

 grown in partial shade, and against a wall. (B. M. 5273 ; F. d. S. 



BE. iliclfolia (Holly-leaved). JL-heads varying in colour from 

 white to deep rose, rather small. Summer. I. dark green, Holly- 

 like. Stems slender. South America, 1832. A very handsome 

 stove or greenhouse climber. (B. M. 6009.) 



BE. latifolia (broad-leaved), fl.-heads pink and yellow. Autumn. 

 I. cordate-oblong, dentate-spino.se, woolly beneath, with a petiole. 

 Stems with broad leafy wings. Valparaiso, 1832. A handsome 

 and singular, hardy or half-hardy, evergreen, climbing shrub, 

 thriving best in a dry soil, and against a wall. (S. B. F. G. 

 ser. ii. 288.) 



M. speoiosa (showy). A synonym of M. arachnoidea 



MYANTHUS (from myia, a fly, and anthos, a flower ; 

 in reference to its appearance when dried). Flywort. 

 ORD. OrchideoB. A group of Orchids, distinguished by 

 having two tendrils at the base of the column, instead of 

 at its apex, as in Catasetum (with which genus it is now 

 united). Plants have been found bearing flowers of the 

 three supposed genera viz., Catasetum, Monachanthus, 

 and Myanthus on one spike. 



MYCELIUM. The name given to the vegetative 

 part of fungi as contrasted with the reproductive organs. 

 Fungi, except the lowest forms, are made up chiefly of 

 long, slender threads, composed of rows of cells placed 

 end to end ; these threads usually branch, and are 

 interwoven, so as to form a tissue that seems frequently 

 composed of cells united in the way observed among 

 other plants, though really only a false parenchyma. 

 A good many kinds of fungi, supposed to be distinct, 

 are really barren Mycelium only. Hence, with wider 

 information, several of the genera have had to be in- 

 cluded as mere forms of other groups. Mycelium is 

 usually easily detected in the cells of parts attacked 

 by a fungus. Occasionally, the presence of Mycelia 

 alters the colour of the wood, e.g., Peziza ceruginosa so 

 colours the wood that it becomes coppery-green. See 

 also Mushrooms. 



MYGINDA (named after Francis Von Mygind, 1710- 

 1789, a German botanist). SYN. Rhacoma. ORD. Celas- 

 trinete. A genus comprising about eight species of stove 

 or hardy, glabrous or pilose shrubs, natives of tropical 

 America (Brazil excepted) and Chili. Flowers small or 

 minute, at the tips of the very short or elongated, sub- 

 j cymose peduncles, or sub- solitary, often in fours; calyx 



