NIGELLA 



terranean region. The following 2 are only species now 

 used in America. They require little care. The seed 

 should be sown in the open border in good soil any time 

 after the middle of March, and the seedlings thinned, 

 if necessary, to a distance of about 8 in They seldom 

 succeed well if transplanted. If the seeds be sown in 

 early autumn the plants may withstand the winter and 



Xt)LAXA 



1091 



lWfllil*nil'||''"'tiiJ>iiiifitiffli 



1491. Love-in-a-Mist — Nigella Damasccna (X!-.) 



be ready to flower earlier the next summer. By plant- 

 ing at different seasons the plants may be continued in 

 beauty nearly throughout the summer. The seeds of 

 iV. sativa, Linn., or black cummin, are sometimes used 

 as seasoning in the Old World. 



Damasoina, Linn. Fig. 1491. Height 1-2 ft.: Ivs. 

 bright green, very finely cut : fls. white or blue, large : 

 involucre very dense and fine: styles erect in the fr., 

 nearly as long as the capsules: fr. not divergent at 

 top. 'Summer. S. Eu. B.M. 22. Gu. 37, p. 130. -Var. 

 nina, Hort. A dwarf form with very large fls. 



Hisp&nica, Linn. Lvs. much divided, but less so 

 than in the preceding : fls. deeper blue than the last, 

 with deep red stamens; involucre absent; styles rather 

 spreading : fr. divergent at top. July. Spain and N. 

 Africa. "B.M. 1265. Gn. 37:739. -Var. Fontanesi4na, 

 Hort. (iV. Fontanesidna, Hort.). Much like the type, 

 but said to flower two weeks earlier. g C. Davis. 



NIGGER TOE. Nuts of BirtholJetia. 



NIGHT-BLOOMING CEREUS. See Cereus. 



NIGHTSHADE. SolanHm nigrum. Deadly N., 

 AtntjM liiUiiilniiiui. Enchanter's N., Circma. Three- 

 leaved N., Trill inm. 



NINE-BARK. Plnjsocarpus opulifolia. 



NIPHffiA (Greek, niphos, snow; alluding to the white 

 color of the fls., which is rare in this family). Gesiier- 

 &cece. y. oblonga is a plant something like a Gloxinia, 

 but instead of a large spotted throat the flowers have 

 so small a tube as to appear almost 5-petaled. Niphfeas 

 are tropical American stemless or dwarf herbs, with 

 heart-shaped, coarsely serrate, hairy lvs. and clusters 

 of about a dozen fls. an inch or so across, borne singly 

 on reddish stalks about 2 in. high. For general cult. 

 they are inferior to Gloxinia and Achimenes, but they 

 are desirable for botanical collections as being one of 

 the most distinct types of the gesneraceous family. 

 They have a creeping root, and no tubers: lvs. soft, 

 wrinkled, petiolate, opposite: corolla nearly wheel- 

 shaped; disk absent; filaments shorter than the an- 



thers, straight; anthers erect, free, the cells facing in- 

 ward, parallel, confluent at the apex: glands none. 



"Like many other plants from Guatemala," says 

 Lindley in B.R. 28:5, speaking of If. oblonga, "it seems 

 to require a teraperattire between that of a greenhouse 

 and of a stove. In its general habits it resembles 

 Achimenes rosea. It flowers in the autumn and winter, 

 after which the stems die off, and the plant remains in 

 a dormant state until the following season. When in 

 this state it ought of course to be kept perfectly dry, 

 on a light, warm shelf, and then when the season of 

 rest is past, which will be indicated by the young stems 

 making their appearance, it may be repotted and liber- 

 ally supplied with water. It forms a great number of 

 curious imbricated scaly buds, both on the surface and 

 under ground, by which it may easily be multiplied in 

 the same manner as Achimenes; it also strikes readily 

 by cuttings. Any rich light soil will do for its cultiva- 

 tion." 



obl6nga, Lindl. Lvs. heart shaped or perhaps some- 

 what oblong, more or less whorled: fls. drooping; co- 

 rolla about ^% in. across ; lobes roundish, concave at 

 first, then revolute. Guatemala. B.R. 28:5. 



NIPH6B0LUS Lingua, 



■HV.d. crested fern, r.-coii 



■. corymbifera, is a tough- 

 indod by G. W. Oliver for 

 ■s that this plant can be 

 quickly increased by division of the stems, which grow 

 near the surface of the soil. Niphobolus appears in a 

 few trade catalogues. By English writers it is gen- 

 erally referred to Polypodium, but L. M. Underwood 

 refers it to the genus Cyclophorus. The typical form 

 of Nipliobolus Lingua has the sori set in close rows of 

 4-6 each between the main veins. Rhizomes wide creep- 

 ing, covered with rusty scales: stalks 3-6 in. long, firm, 

 erect: lvs. entire, oblong- acuminate, 4-8 in. long, 1— t 

 in. wide, matted beneath with close, cottony, somewhat 

 rusty down. It is a native of northern India and Japan. 

 Its var. corymbifera has the Ivs. much divided at the 

 apex, forming a flatfish, corynili-Iike cluster. N. N. 

 Bruckner writes that var. variegata is also cult. "It 

 has light yellow lines about an eighth of an inch wide 

 and three-fourths of an inch apart, running across the 

 fronds at right angles to the midrib." 



NITROGEN. The role of Nitrogen in horticulture is 

 discussed under Fertility, Fertilizers, Legnmea and 

 Manures. 



NOLANA (from notn . a little bell; referring to the 

 shape of the corolla). CoiimlvulAceie. About 18 species 

 of prostrate annual herbs with showy blue fls., opening 

 only in sunshine, all native to Chile and Peru. They 

 are valued chiefly for covering poor or rocky soils. 

 Stem often slightly angulate, usually spotted and 

 streaked with purple above, much branched, the ends 

 of the branches ascending several inches: lvs. solitary 

 or in pairs, entire, ustially fleshy, the lower long-peti- 

 oled ; the upper short-petioled, sessile or attenuated into 

 a winged petiole : fls. borne singly in the axils of the 

 lvs., mostly short-peduncled, commonly blue or purple, 

 rarely white or rose ; calj-x 5-parted ; corolla funnel- 

 shaped or bell-shaped, entire, 5-angled or 5-10-lobed : 

 ovaries 5 to many, 1-5-seeded, arranged in 1-2 series or 

 clustered irregularly around the base of the style. 



The characters by which several species of Nolana 

 have been separated are not well defined. It is probable 

 that iV. atriplicifolia, N. prostrata and iV. paradoxa 

 should be considered as one species. The chief char- 

 acters which have been used to distinguish them are the 

 number of ovaries in each fl. and the number of seeds 

 in each ovary ; but these characters vary in different 

 plants of these and other species of Nolana. N. atri- 

 plicifolia is commonly sold under the names of the 

 other two. Consult Benth. and Hook., Genera Plan- 

 tarum 2: 879. Latest monograph D.C. Prod. 13:9 (1852). 



Nolanas grow readily from seeds sown in the open in 

 May. For early blooming and for seed production they 

 should be started under glass in March and transplanted 

 in May. iV. atriplicifolia is tised with fine effect when 

 planted in large patches in the border or on rocky hill- 

 sides. All of the species do well in pots. 



They prefer a light soil and sunny situation. N. atri- 

 plicifolia is well suited for use in vases and baskets. 



