408 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



NABALUS. Included under Prenanthes (which 

 see). 



NACIBEA. A synonym of Manettia (which see). 



N2EGELIA (named after Karl Nasgeli, an eminent 

 German botanist, Professor of Botany at Munich). OBD. 

 GesneracecB. A genus comprising' six species of stove 

 herbaceous perennials, with catkin-like scaly stolons, in- 

 habitants of Mexico and Central America. Flowers red, 

 whitish-yellow, or painted, in terminal, leafle??, alternate 

 racemes ; corolla tube declinate ; throat broadly oblique ; 

 limb broadly lobed, spreading, rotundate. Leaves opposite, 

 soft, often cordate, on long stalks. Naegelias are exceed- 

 ingly ornamental plants, both on account of their flori- 

 ferous habit, and also because of their beautifully marked 

 foliage. This latter should be carefully preserved from 

 drip, and the use of dirty water avoided for syringing 

 purposes ; otherwise, a sediment collects amongst the tiny 

 hairs on the surface of the leaves, and renders the whole 

 plant unsightly. The stolons or roots, as they are 

 generally termed, should be potted up in spring or 

 summer, according to the time of year at which the plants 

 are required to flower. A light compost of peat, leaf 

 soil, and a small quantity of loam, is most suitable; it 

 should only be pressed moderately firm in potting. Pots 

 5in. to 6in. in diameter, are large enough, about three 

 roots being placed in the latter, or only one in the 

 former size, covering them with lin. of soil. If potting 

 is deferred until after midsummer, the flowering season 

 is often prolonged throughout the winter, especially 

 with N. cinnabarina, a late-flowering and beautiful 

 species. When the foliage dies away, the pots, with 

 their contents, should be stored and kept quite dry, 

 until the season for starting arrives again. Naegelias 

 are readily propagated by the increase of stolons ; also by 

 cuttings made of the young stems or matured leaves, 

 and inserted in a close propagating frame. See also 

 Gesnera (under which genus the present one is often 

 included). 



N. amabllis (lovely). ^ synonym of N. multiflora. 

 N. olnnaharlna (cinnabar-red). fl. scarlet, with a light throat 

 1. cordate, or broadly ovate, green, beautifully shaded with 

 flame-coloured hairs, h. 2ft. Mexico, 1856. A very handsome 

 winter-flowering plant. SYN. Gesnera cinnabarina. (B. M. 5036.) 

 N. fnlgida (shining), ft. vermilion; panicles erect. I. broadly 

 ovate, deeply and coarsely toothed at the edges, hairy, of a rich 

 dark green. Veru Cruz, 1864. (R. G. 538.) 



N. f. bicolor (two-coloured), fl., upper portion of corolla ver- 

 milion, lower barred with white. Garden variety. (F. d. 8. 

 1755.) 



N. Geroltiana (Von Gerolt's). fl. like those of A', zebrina. 

 Nearly throughout the year. L cordate, sub-rotund-acute, 

 coarsely dentate, softly pubescent, dark green, h. lift, to 2ft. 

 Mexico, 1844. (F. d. & ii. April, 4, under name of Gesnera 

 Geroltiana.) 



N. multiflora (many-flowered), fl. white or cream-colour, 

 shorter than the pedicels, drooping ; raceme terminal, elon- 

 gated: corolla with the tube scarcely ventricose, elongated, 

 curved upwards below the very oblique, rather large, spreading, 

 five-lobed limb ; calyx almost hispid, with glandular hairs. 

 Autumn. I. on long petioles, cordate, crenate. Eastern 

 Cordillera of Oaxaca. (B. M. 5083 ; F. d. S. 1192, under name 

 of N. amabtii*. 



N. zebrina (zebra-marked), fl. bright orange-scarlet, disposed 

 in a long panicle. September. I. handsome, dark -marbled. 

 h. 2ft. Brazil, 1840. A fine species. SYN. Gesnera zebrina. 

 (B. M. 3940 ;B. R. 1842, 16.) 



NAIADACE2E. An order of marine or fresh-water, 

 annual or perennial herbs, widely distributed over the 

 globe. Flowers hermaphrodite, monoecious or dioecious, 

 small, often inconspicuous, spicate, racemose, or disposed 

 on pedunculate, terminal, or axillary spadices, bracteate 

 or ebracteate. Leaves submersed, emerging, or floating, 

 in scape-bearing genera radical, linear, or rush-like ; stem 

 leaves opposite, alternate, or very rarely ternately whorled, 

 sessile or petiolate, oblong, linear, or capillary, sheathed 

 at base. The order comprises sixteen genera, and about 

 120 species. Examples: Aponogeton, Naias, and Tri- 

 glocliin. 



NAIIiS. Nails are required in quantity for training 

 fruit-trees and various other plants on garden walls, and 

 are made of cast iron specially for the purpose. Any 

 of another description would bend rather than enter a 

 hard substance, such as that of a brick, while the cast- 

 iron ones may invariably be driven in a horizontal 

 direction far enough to retain a hold. They are said 

 to be much preserved from rust by heating almost to 

 redness before using, and throwing them into linseed 

 oiL Wall Nails are made in different lengths, and aa 

 they are usually sold by weight, the smaller sizes 

 represent a much greater number in any given weight 

 than the larger ones. Nail bags are very handy for 

 holding a stock of shreds, &c., whilst nailing up trees 

 or plants from a ladder. They are best made from 

 leather in the shape of an open pocket, and held in 

 position by a narrow belt and a shoulder strap. One 

 or more upright sheaths or divisions are frequently 

 made inside, in which the workman's knife and hammer 

 may be placed when either are not in use. Canvas 

 bags answer the purpose equally well when leather ones 

 are not procurable. 



(from nama, a stream of water; alluding 

 to the natural place of growth). OBD. Hydrophyllacece. 

 A genus comprising fifteen species of low, annual, peren- 

 nial, or at length suffruticose, herbs, of which one is a 

 native of the Sandwich Isles, and the rest are found in 

 North-west America and Mexico, one of them extending 

 in South America as far as Brazil. Flowers often blue, 

 small or mediocre, solitary in the axils, sessile or shortly 

 pedicellate, or irregularly cymose at the apices of the 

 branches. Leaves alternate, petiolate, sessile or decur- 

 rent, entire. The species are not much grown. They 

 thrive in sandy loam or in any ordinary good garden 

 soil, and require a sheltered situation in summer, and 

 protection throughout the winter. Propagation may bo 

 effected by divisions, or by cuttings, made in spring, and 

 inserted in a close, warm frame or propagating house. 

 N. Parryi is the best known member of the genus. 



N. Parryi (Parry's), fl. lilac-purple, arranged in unilateral, 

 dense, scorpioid clusters, on a terminal branched panicle ; corolla 

 about lin. long. L linear, repandly-toothed, villous, hirsute. 

 Stems woody at base. h. 4ft to 5ft California, 1881. Half- 

 hardy herbaceous perennial. 



NANDINA (from Nandin, the vernacular name of the 

 shrub in Japan). ORD. BerberidetB. A monotypic genus. 

 The species is an erect, half-hardy or greenhouse, ever- 

 green shrub, thriving in loam and sandy peat. It may 

 be propagated by cuttings of ripened shoots, inserted in 

 sand, under a handlight. Probably this plant would 

 prove hardy in a sheltered place in the more southern 

 counties. 



N. domestica (domestic), ft. white, with yellow anthers, ter- 

 minal, panicled. July. Berries about the size of peas. I. de- 

 compound ; leaflets entire ;petioles sheathing at the base. A. 5ft 

 China and Japan, 1804. This elegant plant varies a good deal 

 in the size of the leaflets, (B. M. 1109.) 



NANDIRHOBE.3:. Synonymous with Cucurbitacece. 



NANNORHOPS (from nannos, dwarf, and rhops, a 

 bush ; in reference to the low growth of the plant). OBD. 

 Pahneas. A monotypic genus, the species being a low, 

 gregarious, unarmed, stove Palm, with a tufted, creeping 

 caudex. It thrives in a compost of sandy loam, to which 

 some leaf soil and a little charcoal may be added with 

 advantage. Efficient drainage is an important essential. 

 Propagated by seeds ; also by offsets, when any can be 

 procured and detached without injury to the parent 

 plant. 



N. Ritcbieana (Ritchie's). /. inclosed while in bud in the 

 sheathing bracts ; inflorescence erect, a slender compound panicle. 

 fr. sub-globose or oblong, varying in size from Jin. to tin. in 

 diameter. 1. coriaceous, greyish-green ; segments eight to fifteen, 

 linear, rigid, 1ft. to IJft. long, induplicate, deeply bipartite, h. 3ft 

 to 20ft India, Ac. The leaves, Ac., of this plant are used in the 

 manufacture of fans, sandals, bushels, brushes, &c. 



