458 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Nuphar continued. 



N. luteum (yellow).* Yellow Water Lily. JL yellow, with a 

 brandy-like scent, on stalks rising a little above the surface 

 of the water; sepals five; petals very minierons ; stigmas 

 entire, ten to thirty-rayed, profoundly umbilicated. Summer. 

 I Sin to 12in. across, orbicular, deeply two-lobed at base; 

 lobes usually contiguous. The rootstock abounds in tannic 

 add. See Fig. 70L (Sy. En. B. 54.) 



N. pumilum (dwarf), fl. 4in. to lin. across when fully outspread ; 



stigma ravs eight to ten, reaching the margin. I. oblong, deeply 



two-lobed at the base; lobes at length spreading. SYN. 



If. Jfalmiana. (B. M. 1243, under name of Xymphoea Kalmivia ; 



Sy. En. B. 56.) 



NUT. See Corylus. 



NUT. A hard, indehiscent pericarp, usually con- 

 taining only one seed. 



NUTANS. Nodding ; e.g., the flowers of the Snow- 

 drop. 



NUTMEG. See Myristica fragrans. 



NUTMEG, CALABASH. See Mouodora Myri- 

 stica. 



NUTT AIiIilA, of Torrey and Gray (named after Thomas 

 Nnttall, a celebrated North American botanist ; he died 

 in 1859). OBD. Rosncece. A monotypic genus. The 

 species is a small, ornamental, hardy, deciduous shrub, 

 growing freely in almost any garden soil, and, where 

 seeds cannot be procured, is easily increased by means 

 of the suckers which spring plentifully from the roots. 

 N. cerasiformis (Cerasus-like).* /. white, small, polygamo- 



dio3cious, in axillary, drooping racemes ; stamens fifteen. Early 



spring, fr. Plum-like, with a purple bloom. I. obovate, entire. 



h. 5ft. California, 1848. An extremely pretty plant, of nearly 

 globose habit, branching freely, and producing flowers in abund- 

 ance. (G. C. n. s., xix. 309.) 



N. cordata. See Callirhoc triangulate. 

 N. digitata. See Callirhoe digitata. 

 N. Papaver. See Callirhoe Papaver. 



NUTTALLIA (of De Candolle). A synonym of 

 Nemopanthes (which see). 



NUT-TREE. The common name for Cory Ins 

 Avellana (which see). 



NUT - WEEVIL (Balaninus nucum). It has pro- 

 bably occurred to most persons, when eating Hazels or 

 Filberts, to find some of the shells filled with a black, 

 nauseous powder, instead of with the healthy kernel ; or, 

 occasionally, a fat, white maggot may be found feeding 

 on the kernel. The cause of these disappointments is 

 the Nut-Weevil, a curious-looking beetle (see Fig. 702), 

 remarkable for the length and slenderness of its beak, 

 on the middle of which are situated the antennae. The 

 beetle is about Jin. long. The body is egg-shaped ; it 

 is dark brown or black, but is covered with grey, 

 yellowish-grey, or white hairs, which form irregular, 

 oblique, paler spots on the shoulders, and on the wing- 

 covers. The hairs can be readily rubbed off, leaving 

 the dark ground colour visible. The beak is red-brown ; 

 it is a little thickened towards the tip, but beyond the 

 antennae it curves downwards, slightly in the male, 

 strongly in the female. The antenna?, have a long joint 



Nut- Weevil continued. 



at the base, followed by a number of short ones; the 

 end ones are thicker, so that they form a knob at the 

 tip. There is a sharp bend, like an elbow, formed just 

 at the tip of the long joint (see Fig. 702). 



In June, when the nuts are about half-grown, the 

 female Weevils may be found boring 

 holes in the still soft nutshell. One 

 egg is laid in each nut, and it ia 

 pushed, by aid of the long beak, into 

 ^^ the nut. The hole very quickly closes 

 up, and hardly a scar even can be 

 detected. From the egg emerges a 

 little grub, which feeds upon the seed 

 or kernel, and leaves, in its stead, 

 only a mass of dark, powdery excre- 

 j, ^ - ment. The grub is yellowish-white, 



^--- wrinkled, and footless, and lies curled 

 round on one side. Its head is small, 

 and yellowish-brown. When full-fed, 

 it eats a round hole through the shell 

 of the nut, falls to the earth, and 

 burrows under it, there to become a 

 pupa. The beetles emerge from the soil in May of the 

 following year ; and, for a time, they feed on the young 

 buds of the Hazel-bushes. 



Remedies. When the nuts are attacked, the grubs 

 cannot be detected or removed, except when the nuts 

 fall from the bushes. The latter should be well shaken 

 during the autumn, occasionally ; and all the nuts that 

 fall should be gathered and burned, before the grubs 

 come out. In April, and the beginning of May, gas-lime 



FIG. 702. NUT-WEEVIL A.\D ORCB. 



or soot may be scattered below the bushes, in prepara- 

 tion for the beetles coming up from the soil. Beating 

 the bushes in dull weather will cause the beetles to 

 fall from the branches ; and tarred boards, or other 

 appliances, to prevent their escape, should be placed 

 below, to receive them when they fall ; or they may be 

 swept up at once from cloths laid on the soil. It is 

 well not to allow wild Hazel-bushes to grow near planta- 

 tions of cultivated Hazels or Filberts. 



NUYTSIA (named after Peter Nuyts, a celebrated 



Dutch navigator, and discoverer of that part of Australia 



called Nuytsland). Fire - tree. OBD. Loranthaceoe. A 



monotypic genus. The species is a very glabrous, showy, 



greenhouse tree, differing much from its near allies, 



Loranthus, &c., in being terrestrial and not parasitical. It 



would probably thrive in a compost of sandy peat and 



fibry loam ; but, so far, it is believed, the plant has not 



been successfully grown in. this country. 



N. floribunda (many-flowered). H. orange; racemes 6in. to8in. 



long, crowded at the tops of the branches, simple ; peduncle* 



longer than the flowers, bearing each three bracts and three 



flowers at the apex ; corolla nearly lin. long. /. alternate, linear, 



obtuse, thick, 2in. t<> 3in. long. Branches terete h. 15ft. to 



25ft. South-west Australia 



