FUC 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



FUC 



583 



be treated in the same manner as Tulips, and other bulbous- 

 rooted flowers, with this difference only, that the roots will not 

 bear to be kept out of 'he ground so long ; therefore, if there 

 should be a necessity for keeping them out of the ground 

 any time, it will be best to put the roots into sand to prevent 

 their shrinking. As these flowers come out early in the 

 spring:, they make a handsome appearance in the borders of 

 the pleasure-garden, where they are planted in small clumps ; 

 for when they stand singly in the borders, they make but a 

 poor figure. 



3. Fritillaria Pyrenaica ; Black Frilillary. Lowest leaves 

 opposite, some of the flowers having a leaf interposed between. 

 The leaves of this species are brdader, and of a deeper green, 

 than the common Fritillary ; the lower ones opposite, but 

 those above alternate ; the stem is a foot and a half high, 

 terminated by two flowers of an obscure yellow colour, and 

 spreading more at the brim than those of the common Fritil- 

 lary, but turned downwards in the same mnner. It flowers 

 three weeks after the common sort, and is a native of France 

 and Russia. For its propagation and culture, see the pre- 

 ceding species. 



4. Fritillaria Meleagris ; Common Fritillary, or Chequered 

 Lilly. All the leaves alternate; stem one-flowered; root a 

 solid bulb or tuber, about the size of a hazel-nut, white, or 

 yellowish-white, roundish, compressed, divisible into several, 

 enclosed by the withered wrinkled bulb of the preceding year, 

 as in a case ; stem from six to twelve, fifteen, and even eigh- 

 teen inches in height; flower usually single, sometimes two, 

 or even three, on the top of the stem, large, pendulous, at 

 first somewhat pyramidal, but afterwards bell-shaped ; petals 

 chequered with purple and white, or purple and greenish 

 yellow; in our wild ones the colour is a dull red chequered 

 with a deeper, but without mixture of either green or yellow. 

 It flowers in April and May, and, if the season be mild, at 

 the beginning of the former month, or even the end of March. 

 Many varieties have been sent from Spain, Portugal, and 

 Italy, and many others have been raised from seed by the 

 florists, which differ in the size and colour of their flowers ; 

 these amount to a considerable number in the catalogues of 

 the Dutch florists ; but as new varieties may be continually 

 produced, and these flowers are no longer in such esteem as 

 they formerly were, it would be useless to enumerate them. 

 Gerarde calls it the Turkey-hen, or Guinea-hen flower, and 

 Chequered Daffodil. The curious and indefatigable Parisian 

 herbalist, John Robin, sent him many plants for his garden, 

 where they prospered, as he informs us, and were then greatly 

 esteemed for ornamenting the English flower-gardens, and 

 the bosoms of the ladies. The Germans call this flower 

 kiebitzey ; the Dutch, kievitsbloem; the Danes, vibeteg ; the 

 Swedes, vipaiigg ; the French, la fritillaire, meleagre, or pana- 

 chee, le damier ; the Italians, fritillaria, giglio variegato, me- 

 leagride,fritillaria scaccheggiatn ; and the Spaniards, la fri- 

 tillaria, el meleagro. For its propagation and culture, see the 

 preceding species. 



5. Fritillaria Cantoniensis. Leaves three-nerved, the 

 upper ones opposite ; flowers in pairs, axillary ; stem annual, 

 quite simple, hard, slender, round, upright, a foot and a half 

 high; flowers pendulous, the whole dusky purple, and with- 

 out smell. Native of Canton in China. 



Frog-bit. See Hydrocltaris. 



Fuchsia; a genus of the class Oetandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one-leafed, 

 funnel-form, coloured, superior, deciduous ; tube ovate at 

 the base, contracted above it, then gradually widening, pa- 

 tnlous, angular; border short, four-parted ; parts ovate, acu- 

 minate, spreading. Corolla : petals four, ovate, acuminate, 



sessile, spreading, the same length with the parts of the calix. 

 Stamina: (ilamenta four (or eight) filiform, erect, inserted 

 into the tube of the calix below the middle, and a little longer 

 than the tube; antherse twin. Pistil: germen inferior, 

 ovate, below the insertion of the calix constricted; style 

 simple, the length of the stamina; stigma obtuse. Pericarp: 

 berry ovate, four-grooved, four-celled. Seeds: many, ovate, 

 fixed in a double row to a columnar receptacle in the middle 

 of the berry. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : one-leafed, 

 coloured, bearing the corolla, very large. Petah: four, 



small. Berry: inferior, four-celled, with many seeds. The 



species are, 



1. Fuchsia Triphylla ; Three-leaved Fuchsia. Peduncles 

 one-flowered ; leaves by threes, lanceolate, entire, pale green, 

 a little firm or coriaceous, sessile. Root woody, branched, 

 reddish ; stem herbaceous, upright, quite simple, reddish- 

 green, leafy, two feet high at most ; flowers large, very fine, 

 of a very bright scarlet, having eight stamina, not projecting 

 beyond the flower; and the berry is a little larger tlian an 

 olive, fleshy, soft, reddish-black, somewhat pubescent, of a 

 very pleasant taste; the seeds are small and brown. Found 

 at St. Domingo, and at Carthagena in New Spain. It is pro- 

 pagated by seeds, which must be sown in pots filled with rich 

 light earth, and plunged into a hot-bed of tanners' bark, where 

 they are to be treated like other seeds from warm countries. 

 In a month or six weeks the plants will begin to appear, when 

 they should be carefully cleared from weeds, and frequently 

 refreshed with water to promote their growth ; and when they 

 are about two inches high, they should be taken out of the 

 pot, and separated carefully; then plant each into a small 

 pot filled with light rich earth, and plunge them again into a 

 hot-bed of tanners' bark, being careful to screen them from 

 the sun until they have taken new root ; after which they 

 must have fresh air admitted to them every day, in proportion 

 to the warmth of the season, and should be frequently watered. 

 As the season advances and becomes warm, the glasses of 

 the hot-bed should be raised higher, to admit a greater share 

 of air to the plants, which will prevent them from being drawn 

 up weak ; and when they are grown so tall as to reach the 

 glasses, they should be removed into the bark-stove, and 

 plunged into the tan-bed. They are too tender to thrive in 

 the open air of this country, even in the hottest part of the 

 year; they should always, therefore, remain in the stove, ob- 

 serving to admit a large share of fresh air in summer, but to 

 exclude the external air in winter; with this management, they 

 will produce their flowers, and make a beautiful appearance 

 in the stove among other tender exotic plants. 



2. Fuchsia Coccinea ; Scarlet-flowered Fuchsia. Leaves 

 opposite, ovate, toothletted ; petals obovate, obtuse. This is 

 a shrub, growing to the height of six or seven feet. The leaves 

 are commonly opposite, on short petioles, of a fine green, 

 having the veins tinged with red, with a fine down on them ; 

 peduncles axillary, one -flowered, longer than the leaves; 

 flowers pendulous, bright scarlet, with a four-parted calix, 

 four petals, and eight stamina. This is a plant of peculiar 

 beauty, producing its rich pendant blossoms through most part 

 of the summer ; the petals in the centre of the flower are par- 

 ticularly deserving of notice ; they somewhat resemble a small 

 roll of the richest purple-coloured riband. It flowers from 

 May to July, and is a native of Chili. It may be propagated 

 in the same way as the first species. Though it will not suc- 

 ceed well in the winter, nor be easily propagated unless iri a 

 stove, yet it will flower very well during the summer months 

 in a good green-house or hot-bed frame. It is easily in- 

 creased by layers and cuttings, as well as seeds. For further 

 particulars, see the first species. 



