276 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Raphanus continued. 



leaves lyrate. Eoot often succulent. R. caudatus fur- 

 nishes long, edible pods. For culture and general re- 

 marks, see Radish. 



R. caudatus (tailed), fl. purplish and veined, the size of those 

 of the common Wallflower. Slay to August. Pods depressed 

 acuminated, longer than the whole plant Stems purplish, with 

 a glaucous hue, at first erect, then prostrate. Commonly 

 cultivated in Western India, said to be a native of Java, 1816. 

 Annual. (R, G. 594.) 



R. sativus (cultivated). Common Garden Radish, fl. varying 

 from white to pale violet, with strong, dark-coloured veins, mode- 

 rate-sized, borne on a round, erect and branching stem, about 3ft. 

 high. May. Seed-pods smooth, ending in a beak. I. rough, 

 lyrate, or partly divided into transverse segments, the outer one 

 largest and broadest. Root reddish-purple, white, yellowish, or 

 deep brown, fusiform, semi-globular, or turnip-shaped. Annual. 

 This is a native of temperate regions of the Old World, but, 

 since remote historical times, it has been widely cultivated, and 

 is now naturalised in many countries. Some botanists (Ben- 

 tham, Hooker, and others) regard R. sativus as a form of 

 R. Raphanistrum. 



RAFHIA (from raphis, a needle; alluding to the 

 beaked fruit). STN. Metroxylon (of Sprengel). ORD. 

 Palmce. A genus comprising six or seven species of 

 stove palms, unarmed or with armed sheaths ; one is 

 a native of America, from the mouth of the Amazon to 

 Nicaragua, and the rest are found in tropical Africa 

 and Madagascar. Flowers elongated, often decurved, 

 long-exserted, on pectinate, compressed branchlets; com- 

 mon spathe none ; partial ones numerous ; spadices large, 

 pendulous, cylindrical, densely much - branched, the 

 branches imbricated, flabelliform, pectinate ; bracts ladle- 

 shaped, compressed, closely imbricated. Fruit large, 

 oblong, ovoid, or ellipsoid, rostrate, one-valved, one- 

 seeded, with ample scales, the spikes sometimes weighing 

 from 2001b. to 3001b. Leaves terminal, long, sub-erect, 

 equally pinnatisect ; segments linear-lanceolate, acu- 

 minate, thickly coriaceous, recurved, bristly or slightly 

 aculeate at base and on the margins ; petioles cylindrical, 

 or convex at back and flattened above; sheaths short, 

 with long-fibrous margins. Trunk mediocre or tall, simple 

 01- dichotomously divided, densely annulate. Several of 

 the species are grown in this country. For culture, 

 see Cocos. 



R. Ruffla. Raffia or Roffia Palm. fr. obovate or pyriform, 

 mucronate, twelve (rarely thirteen to fifteen) sulcate; scales 

 shining, deeply sulcate. 1. 50ft to 60ft. long. Caudex tail. 

 Mascarene Islands. 



R. tsedlgera (torch-bearing). Raffia or Roffia Palm. fl. greenish, 

 olive, densely clustered ; spadices very large, compoundly 

 branched, and drooping, fr. 2Jin. long, oblong, reticulated with 

 large scales. I. 50ft. or more long, rising nearly vertically from 

 the stem, and bending out on every side in graceful curves, 

 forming a magnificent plume 70ft. high and 40ft. in diameter ; 

 leaflets spread out 4ft. on each side of the midrib, rather 

 irregularly scattered, and not very closely set, drooping at the 

 tips, and having weak spinules along the margins. Trunk 

 generally 6ft. to 8ft. high, and about 1ft. in diameter, clothed for 

 some distance down with the sheathing bases of the leafstalks 

 Amazon, 1847. 



R. vinifera (wine-producing). Bamboo or Wine Palm. fr. linear- 

 oblong, slightly acute, nine-sulcate ; scales pale chestnut, slightly 

 convex. I. 6ft. to 7ft. long ; leaflets beset with spines. Sierra 

 Leone. A middle-sized tree. 



RAPHIDES. or RHAPHIDES. Crystals formed 

 in the cells of plants, consisting of various salts. They 

 are mostly needle-shapedhence the name. 



RAFHIDOFHORA. A synonym of Rhaphido- 

 phora (which see). 



RAFHIOLEFIS. See Rhaphiolepis. 



RAPHISTEMMA (from raphis, a needle, and 

 stemma, a crown ; in. allusion to the needle-shaped seg- 

 ments of the corona). ORD. Asclepiadece. A genus con- 

 sisting of only two species of stove, twining, glabrous 

 shrubs or sub-shrubs, natives of the East Indies and the 

 Malayan Archipelago. Flowers white, rather large, in 

 umbellifprm, long -pedunculate cymes ; calyx deeply five- 

 cut or parted ; corolla sub-campanulate, with five twisted 

 lobes; corona scales five, adnate at base in a staminal 



Raphistemma continued. 



tube. Leaves opposite, membranous. The species intro- 

 duced requires culture similar to Stephanotis (which 

 see). 



R. ciliatum (ciliated). A synonym of Dcemia extensa. 

 R. pulchcllum (pretty), fl., corolla segments ovate, obtuse, 

 erect ; stigma rather prominent, umbilicate. July. I. cordate, 



acuminate, membranous, glabrous on both sides, glanduli 

 ferous. East Indies, 1852. 

 101 ; P. M. B. xiv. 27.) 



Shrub. (F. d. S. 228; L. & P. F. U. 



RAPUNCULUS. A synonym of Fhyteuma (which 

 see). 



RAFUNTIUM. A synonym of Lobelia (which 

 see). 



RASFAIIilA. A synonym of Polypogon. 



RASFALIA (named after F. V. Easpail, a celebrated 

 French chemist and botanist, 1794-1878). OED. Bru- 

 niacece. A genus comprising seven or eight species of 

 small, greenhouse, Heath-like shrubs, with twiggy 

 branches, confined to South Africa. Flowers white or 

 yellow, small, disposed in small, globose or elongated, 

 not involucrate, densely aggregate heads; calyx five- 

 lobed; petals five, free, not keeled; bracts shorter than 

 the flowers. Leaves dense, imbricated, appressed, thickly 

 coriaceous, glabrous or velvety. E. microphijlla, the 

 only species calling for description, thrives in a compost 

 of sandy peat. Propagated by cuttings of young, stubby 

 shoots, inserted in sand, under a bell glass, in a cold 

 frame. 



R. microphylla (small-leaved). H. white, minute ; heads the 

 size of a pea. July. I. half to one line long and wide, spirally 

 inserted, the younger ones ciliolate. Branches short, woolly, a 

 little spreading, h. 1ft. or more. 1804. 



RASPBERRY (Rubus Idceus). The Easpberry is a 

 native of most European countries, including Great 

 Britain. It is a deciduous shrub, with a creeping, peren- 

 nial rootstock, and a biennial stem. The fruit is 

 extensively employed for cooking and preserving in 

 various ways ; it is also favoured for dessert, and 

 largely used in the manufacture of Easpberry brandy, 

 wine, vinegar, &c. When first ripened, it has a fine 

 aroma, which is generally not retained longer than a 

 day or two afterwards. Easpberry shoots, which are 

 technically termed " canes," proceed annually from esta- 

 blished plants, either from the rootstock or as suckers 

 from the root. They grow through the summer, ripen 

 and lose their leaves in autumn, and bear fruit the 

 following season, on little branchlets, which are pro- 

 duced from the joints (see Fig. 357). In the following 

 autumn, these canes die down, and their place, the 

 next season, is occupied by others that will have been 

 growing in succession. These remarks have reference 

 to the summer-fruiting varieties ; those which bear in 

 autumn do so on the points of shoots made during the 

 summer. 



PROPAGATION. Easpberries are propagated from seeds, 

 suckers, or offsets, and occasionally from cuttings. Seeds 

 required for sowing should be saved from large, well- 

 ripened fruits. They should be washed, to separate them 

 from the pulp, and afterwards dried a little, yet not too 

 much. If sown at once, in sandy soil, they will vegetate 

 in the spring, be ready for transplanting the following 

 autumn, and bear some fruit the second year. Propa- 

 gation by suckers or offsets is the plan most generally 

 adopted. These must be carefully detached from esta- 

 blished plants, when they proceed from near the base; 

 the root-suckers, which often spring up some distance 

 away, may easily be transplanted. October and No- 

 vember are the best months for making new planta- 

 tions, and for removing suckers ; but the work may 

 be performed, during fine weather, later on in winter. 

 Cuttings are seldom inserted, unless for increasing 

 any particular variety more rapidly than suckers alone 

 admit. 



