AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



213 



Potherb Moths continued. 



Noctua, Plusia) ; hence, it is unnecessary to repeat 

 here what is to be found under these headings, as to 

 the form and habits of the moths. The larrse are long 

 and worm-like (see Pig. 266), not hairy, and generally 

 dull green, brown, or yellowish in colour, with longi- 

 tudinal lines and black dots, though sometimes orna- 

 mented with brighter colours. They live hidden between 

 the leaves of their food-plants, or underground upon 

 roots of Turnips and other plants, and, unless looked 

 for, are very seldom to be seen. Owing to their mode 

 of life, they are apt to remain in Cabbages and other 

 vegetables till cooked and sent to the table. It is hardly 

 possible to get rid of them entirely, and the more so, 

 since most of them feed largely on weeds, as well as on 

 garden produce. Hadena oleraeea sometimes gets the 



FIG. 267 HADENA OLBRACEA. 



name of Potherb Moth, though not peculiarly destruc- 

 tive. For its appearance, see Pig. 267. The front wings 

 are reddish-brown; there is a nearly white line parallel 

 to the hind margin, and bent so as form a W nearly 

 in the middle; the stigmas near the middle of the wing 

 are margined with white scales, and the one nearer the 

 tip (the reniform stigma) is of a dull ochreous colour. 

 The hind wings are grey-brown, paler towards the 



Fro 268. LAIIVA OF HADEXA OLERACS*. 



base, and the body is grey-brown. The larva (eee Fig. 

 268) is usually some shade of dull greenish -grey, with 

 many white dots, and a smaller number of regularly- 

 arranged black dots along the body. The back is marked 

 with three dull, darker lines lengthwise, and there is a 

 white line running along the lower part of each ride. 

 The pupa is protected in an earthen cocoon. 



Remedies. The larvae of all kinds of Potherb Moths 

 should be destroyed whenever seen. Hand-picking, though 

 slow, is, perhaps, the surest method. Gas-lime is a very 

 useful application, either used fresh in a narrow ring on 

 the soil, round, but not touching, the stems of the plants, 

 or after some months' exposure to air, when it should be 

 dusted over the plants, so as to allow it to get between 

 the leaves. Soot has also been successfully employed. 

 Of course, such remedies render it necessary to thoroughly 

 wash the plants before using them at table. The pupae 

 are often exposed when the soil is dug over in garden- 



Potherb Moths continued. 



ing operations, and they should be destroyed. The 

 moth? may be attracted by light, or by " sugaring," and 

 should be caught and killed. 



Potherbs are also frequently damaged by hairy larvae. 

 Some account of these will be found under Tiger 

 Moths (which tee). 



POTHOMORPHE. Included under Piper. 



POTHOS (the Cingalese name of one of the species; 



the Pothos of Theophrastus is an entirely different plant). 



ORD. Aroideae (Araceoe). Of this genus, about forty species 



have been enumerated, but, according to the " Genera 



Plantarom," not more than twenty are really distinct. 



They are much-branched, tall, stove, climbing shrubs, with 



the lower branchlets rooting, and those at the summit 



spreading, and inhabit Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands, 



and (one species) Madagascar. Spathe small, ovate or 



conchoid, rarely elongated, reflexed, green, accrescent or 



| persistent; spadix shorter than the spathe, long-stipitate, 



j clavate, globose, or ovoid, often decnrved. sometimes 



1 twisted or fleiuous, clothed with perfect flowers, each of 



I which has a perianth of sir segments, fornicate at apex; 



I peduncles leafy, sheathed, or naked. Leaves distichous, 



obliquely linear or ovate-lanceolate, the blade sometimes 



deficient; petioles winged or widened, and leafy. The 



species described below are the only ones worth growing, 



the others being more curious than ornamental. For 



culture, see Anthurinm. 



P. acaulls (stemless). A garden synonym of Anthurium Hookeri. 



P. argyraaa (silvery). A garden synonym of Seindaptut aryyraea. 



P. aurea (golden). 1. strikingly variegated, of a dark green, 



boldly and irregularly marked by bands or fantastic-shaped 



blotches of creamy-yellow, here and there suffused with pale 



yellowish-green, cordate, ovate, acute, thick, fleshy. Solomon 



Isles, 1880. A very distinct and remarkable plant, of free growth ; 



"probably some species of Seindaptus or Rayhidophora (N. K. 



Brown). (L H. 38?.) 



P. cannaefolia (Canna-leaved). A synonym of SpathiphyUum 



eannctfolivm. 



P. celatocanlis (concealed-stemmed).* I. oblique, sessile, with a 

 short, clasping sheath, broadly elliptic in outline, very obtuse at 

 apex, and cordate at base, rich dark green ; under surface pale 

 green, and minutely crystalline. North-west Borneo, 1880. A 

 handsome climber, lying perfectly flat upon the surface over 

 which it climbs ; it is a most desirable plant for covering walls, 

 trunks of tree-ferns, Ac. As the flowers of the plant are un- 

 known, it is far from certain that it belongs to the genus Pothot. 

 (F. d. S. 2419-20 ; L H. n. s., 496.) 



P. fcettdus (fetid). A synonym of Symplocarptu fcefidm. 

 P. Seemannl (Seemann's). JL, spathe ovate or ovate-oblong, 

 apiculate; spadix slightly longer than the stipes; peduncles 

 short. May. L lanceolate, acute, obtuse at base ; petioles more 

 or less cuneate, auricnlate-rotundate, shorter than the blade. 

 China, 1821. (B. R. 1357, under name of P. tcandent.) 



POTS AND POTTHTO. Pots are amongst the 

 most essential of garden utensils, and on the proper 

 i execution of Potting depends materially the success 

 j attained in plant culture. Potting is a general term 

 meant to imply that a plant is being first placed in a 

 Pot, or transferred from one size to another for providing 

 additional rooting space. Pots are generally made of clay, 

 and as this varies in different localities, so do the articles 

 made from it ; from different potteries, too, the sizes and 

 shapes vary considerably. In making Pots, a certain 

 quantity of clay is called a " cast " ; this is worked to make 

 the number by which the sizes are in many places dis- 

 tinguishedthus, 48's, 32's, 24's, Ac. the two lesser 

 numbers taking respectively the same quantity of clay 

 to the cast as the other, but the Pots being in two larger 

 sizes. In other places, the sizes are known by inches, as 

 Sin., 6in., 8in., and so on. All Pots are made, or should 

 be made, wider at the top than at the bottom; this 

 is an essential provision for allowing the balls to be 

 turned out without becoming broken. If the shape were 

 cylindrical, or the bottom wider than the top, this would 

 be an impossibility, as the ball becomes compressed inside 

 to the same shape, and, in due course, is usually permeated 



