H YD 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



H YD 



721 



The upper ones are smaller, barren, stand upright, form a 

 corymb, and are blue or violet, as are also their long pedicels. 

 Parkinson remarks, that " the whole stalk with the flowers 

 upon it doth somewhat resemble a long purse-tassel, and 

 thereupon divers gentlewomen have so named it." This spe- 

 cies is more distinguished by its singularity than its beauty, 

 afld by the difference between the lower and the upper bar- 

 ren flowers. It varies with white and blue flowers, but the 

 purple is most common. They appear with us at the end of 

 April and beginning of May. Mr. Miller received both roots 

 and seeds from Spain and Portugal. Native of the corn-fields 

 in the south of Europe. Mr. Curtis calls it Tassel Hyacinth : 

 this is the name Parkinson alluded to ; see above. 



14. Hyacinthus Botryoides ; Blue Grape Hyacinth. Co- 

 rollas globular, uniform. Leaves channelled, cylindrical, 

 strict, three lines wide, straight on account of their short 

 petioles ; spike with from twenty to thirty flowers ; the teeth 

 of the corolla are white, and the uppermost are small. It 

 differs from the next species, in having the leaves upright, 

 the bunch of flowers smaller, the flowers themselves larger, 

 rounder, of a paler and brighter blue. It is now seldom met 

 with but in long-established gardens ; whenever once admit- 

 ted, it is not essily rooted out; and if permitted to scatter its 

 seed, will fill the ground with its roots. -Native of the vine- 

 yards and arable fields of France,, Italy, and Germany. This 

 and the next species are alike troublesome by their great 

 increase ; and this will not flower readily in an open border. 

 It is a good method to plant the bulbs in moderately sized 

 pots, filled with light earth, and to plunge them in the bor- 

 ders to flower : in the autumn they should be taken out, and 

 the offsets thrown away. 



15. Hyaeinthus Racemosus ; Clustered Grape Hyacinth. 

 Corollas ovate, the upper ones sessile ; bractes solitary, very 

 short; leaves loose. Bulb small ; scape a span high, blue 

 under the flowers, compressed at top, terminated by a close 

 globular spike or raceme, of from forty to fifty dark bine 

 flowers, with a three-cornered mouth : they are imbricated 

 downwards, have very short peduncles, a sweetish smell, 

 somewhat like new starch or plums : hence Mr. Curtis calls 

 it the Starch Hyacinth. This is more common in our gardens 

 than the preceding, for which it is often mistaken : it flowers 

 in April and May. Native of corn-fields in the south of 

 Europe. For its propagation and culture, see the preced- 

 ing species. 



16. Hyacinthus Brevifolius ; Short-leaved Hyacinth. Corol- 

 las six-parted ; raceme drooping ; leaves shorter than the 

 scape. Native of the Cape. 



17. Hyacinthus Flexuosus ; Bending Hyacinth. Corollas 

 bell-shaped ; raceme upright ; leaves linear, longer than the 

 scape. Native of the Cape. 



Hydnum; a genus of the class Cryptogamia, order Fungi. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. A horizontal fungus, echinated 

 beneath with awl-shaped fibres. These awl-shaped bodies, 

 which Linneus compares to the prickles of a hedge-hog, are 

 soft, solid, conical, or cylindrical substances, emitting seeds 

 from every part of their substance. Linneus has six species 

 of this fungus, five with stems, and one stemless. Of these 

 Hudson has three, all having a stem. Dr. Withering enume- 

 rates five with a stem, and six without. Swartz has added 

 three from Jamaica; and Albertini has added two more very 

 minute species. They chiefly grow upon decaying wood. 



Hydrangea ; a genus of the class Decandria, order Digy- 

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

 five-toothed, permanent, small. Corolla: petals five, equal, 

 roundish, larger than the calix. Stamina: filamenta ten, 

 longer than the corolla, alternately longer and shorter ; an- 

 VOL. i, 61. 



therse roundish, twin. Pistil: germen roundish, inferior; 

 styles two, short, distant ; stigmas blunt, permanent. Peri- 

 carp : capsule roundish, twin, two-beaked with the double 

 style, angular with several nerves, crowned with the calix, 

 two-celled, with a transverse partition, opening by a hole 

 between the horns. Seeds : numerous, angular, acuminate, 

 very small. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Capsule: two-celled, 

 two-beaked, containing many seeds. Corotta . five-petalled. 

 Calix: five-cleft, superior. The specie* are, 



1. Hydrangea Arborescens ; Shrubby Hydrangea. Leaves 

 ovate, smooth, alternate ; stamina longer. This has a spread- 

 ing woody root, which produces several soft, pithy, woody 

 stems, from three to four feet high ; they are four-cornered 

 when young, and have a green bark, but as they grow older 

 they become taper, and have a Tight brown bark ; leaves at 

 each joint opposite, three inches long, and two broad near 

 the base, pointed, serrate, deep green above, pale under- 

 neath, with many transverse veins ; flowers terminating in a 

 cyme ; corolla small, white, having an agreeable odour. They 

 appear towards the end of July, and in August, but seldom 

 perfect their seeds in England. Native of Virginia and Ca- 

 nada. It is easily increased, by parting the roots at the end 

 of October, which is also the best time to transplant them. 

 It should have a moist soil, for it grows naturally in marshy 

 places, and requires no other culture but to be kept free from 

 weeds, and to have the ground between them dug every 

 winter. If the stalks should be killed by severe frosts, the 

 root will send out new ones in the spring. 



2. Hydrangea Radiata; Downy Hydrangea. Leaves lobed, 

 tomentose underneath. The stem is rather shrubby, branched, 

 and growing to the height of about five feet. The leaves are 

 broad, heart-shaped, and serrated : they are foot-stalked, 

 and stand opposite ; the lower surface is downy, of a silvery 

 appearance. Found in Carolina and Florida. 



3. Hydrangea Hortensis ; Garden Hydrangea, or Chinese 

 Guilder Rose. Leaves elliptical, serrate, very smooth ; sta- 

 mina all of an equal length. Root fibrous, much branched, 

 whitish ; stems several growing together, erect, shrubby, 

 branched, round, with a smooth brown bark ; branches op- 

 posite, each pair crossing the others, round, smooth, leafy, 

 green, with dark purple spots, flowering at the top; cymes 

 terminating, the size and figure of the Common Guilder 

 Rose, and, like that, almost entirely composed of radiatecf 

 abortive flowers, of a beautiful rose colour, inodorous, green 

 when young, as well as in decay. Native of China and 

 Japan. Loureiro informs us, that on dissecting the germen, 

 and viewing it with a microscope, it appeared to be many- 

 seeded, which confirrns the idea of its being an Hydrangea. 

 It is much valued on account of the profusion of its elegant 

 flowers, which are botanic-ally termed monstrous, in the same 

 manner as the Viburnum Opulus, or European Guilder Rose. 

 This beautiful plant being very easily increased by cuttings, 

 has been pretty generally diffused within these few years. It 

 thrives best in a good rich loam. Some trials have been, 

 made with it abroad, and it is hardy enough, in a sheltered 

 situation and warm soil, to endure most of our winters ; but 

 it does not flower so well in the open air as in a green-house : 

 superfluous plants only should, therefore, be ventured in the 

 open borders of the flower-garden. 



Hydrastis ; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Poly- 

 gynia. GE-NERIC CHARACTER. Calix: none. Corolla: 

 petals three, ovate, regular. Stamina: filamenta numerous, 

 linear, compressed, a little shorter than tbe corolla ; antherse 

 compressed, blunt. Pistil: germen numerous, ovate, col- 

 lected into an ovate head ; styles very short; stigmas broad- 

 ish, compressed. Pericarp: berry compounded of oblong 







