452 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Nierentbergia continued. 



adapted for pot culture and greenhouse decoration. (B. M. 3108 ; 

 S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 112.) 



N. rivularis (brook-loving).* fl. white, with a yellowish, and, 

 sometimes, a rosy tinge ; corolla bell-shaped, about lin. across, 

 with a very slender tube, lin. to 2iin. long. July. I. very variable 

 in size, oblong or spathulate, obtuse. Stems much branched and 

 matted, slender, smooth, creeping and rooting. La Plata, 1866. 

 A. handsome hardy perennial when well grown ; moisture and a 

 little shade being the chief conditions required. In bare places, or 

 the more moist parts of rockwork, it may be grown with capital 

 effect ; but the patches should be broad. It also forms a good 

 surfacing subject for leggy plants or shrubs. Propagation is best 

 effected by divisions in spring, just as the new growth com- 

 mences. (B. M. 5608.) 



N. Veitchii (Veitch's). fl. pale lilac, with a very slender corolla 

 tube, lin. long. I. ovate-oblong. Stems slender, branching, 

 prostrate. South America, 1866. Greenhouse. (B. M. 5599.) 



NIGELLA (a diminutive from niger, black ; referring 

 to the colour of the seeds). Devil-in-the-Bush ; Fennel 

 Flower ; Love - in - a - Mist. Including Garidella. ORD. 

 Ranunculaceae. A genus comprising about half-a-score 

 species of curious, hardy, erect-growing annuals, inhabit- 

 ing the Mediterranean region and Western Asia. Flowers 

 white, blue, or yellowish ; calyx of five petal-like deciduous 

 sepals ; petals five, two-lipped, with a hollow, necta- 

 riferous claw. Stem leaves alternate, cut into very 

 narrow, sub-pinnate segments. Nigellas are of the 

 easiest culture in any moderately good garden soil. Seeds 

 should be sown in March or April, in the open border, 

 in light soil, and the seedlings thinned out to Gin. apart. 

 The species most generally grown are N. damascena and 

 N. hispanica. 



FIG. 693. NIGELLA DAMASCENA FLORE-PLENO, showing Habit and 

 detached Flowering Branchlet. 



N. damascena (Damascus).* fl. white or blue, large, snr- 

 rounded by a mossy involucre ; sepals spreading. Summer. 

 I. bright green, finely cut. h. 1ft. to 2ft. South Europe, 1570. 

 (B. M. 22.) Of this there is a double -flowered variety, flore- 

 pleno. See Fig. 693. 



N. hispanica (Spanish).* /. deep blue, with blood- coloured 

 stamens, large, without any involucre. Summer, h. 1ft. to 2ft. 

 Spain and Southern France, 1629. (B. M. 1265.) 



N. Nigellastrum (Star Tfigella). fl. brown and green ; petals 

 sessile, spreading. July. I. very slender, h. 1ft. South Europe, 

 1736. (B. M. 1266, under name of Garidella A'iyellastrum.) 



N. orientalis (Eastern).* fl. yellow, spotted with red. Summer. 

 1. divided into long narrow segments, pale glaucous green. A. IJft. 

 Asia Minor, 1699. An inferior species, but very curious in both 

 flower and carpels. (B. M. 1264.) 



N. satlva (cultivated). /. bluish, destitute of an involucre. 

 July. I., segments short, linear, diverging. Stem erect, rather 

 hairy, h. lift. South Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor, 1548. 

 Ihis plant is supposed, by some persons, to be the Fitches men- 

 tioned in Isaiah xxviii. 25, 27. See Fig. 694. (S. F. G. 511.) 

 NIGER. Black. 



NIGGER CATERPILLAR. See Turnip Sawfly. 

 NIGHTFLOWER. See Nyctanthes. 



NIGHT MOTHS. See Noctua. 

 NIGHT-SCENTED STOCK. A common name 

 applied to Hesperit tristis, Mathiola odoratissima, &c. 



NIGHTSHADE. See Solanum. 



FIG. 694. FLOWER-STEM, WITH LEAF, OF NIGELLA SATIVA. 



NIGHTSHADE, DEADLY. A common name for 

 Atropa Belladonna. 



NIGHTSHADE, ENCHANTER'S. See Circeea. 

 NIGRESCENS, NIGRICANS. Blackish. 

 NIGRINA. A synonym of Melasma (which see). 

 NIOBE. Included under Funkia. 

 NIPA (its Moluccan name). ORD. Palmes. A mono- 

 typic genus. The species is an ornamental, unarmed, stove 

 Palm. This plant is somewhat difficult to grow; its pot 

 should be partially or nearly submerged in a tank in 

 which tropical aquatics are cultivated. 

 N. fruticans (shrubby), fl. monoecious, axillary, enclosed in a 

 spathe. Jr. drupaceous, angular, one-seeded, aggregated in large 

 heads. I. terminal, pinnatisect, often more than 20ft. long ; seg- 

 ments lanceolate, acuminate, plicate-nerved, glaucous paleaceous 

 beneath ; margin recurved at base. Trunk horizontal, elongated, 

 robust. Estuaries of rivers of tropical Asia and Australia, 1822. 



NIFACE2E. Included under Palmce. 



NIFH2EA (from niphos, snow; in allusion to the 

 white flowers). ORD. Gesneracece. A very small genus 

 (two species) of softly villous, stove, herbaceous plants, 

 of which one is Mexican, and the other a native of 

 Cuba. Flowers white ; corolla rotate, broadly five lobed ; 

 tube very short ; pedicels fascicled in the axils. Leaves 

 petiolate, ovate, toothed, soft, sub-membranous. Stems 

 dwarf, erect; roots creeping. For culture, see Aclii- 

 menes. 



