MES 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



MES 



119 



hot-bed until they have got fresh roots, when they should be 

 gradually hardened to the open air, if it be suuraer, or placed 

 near the old plants in the dry-stove in winter. When they 

 have filled the small pots with their roots, they should be 

 supplied with larger ones. If raised from cuttings, the shoots 

 need not be large, and the youngest are the best; they should 

 be divested of a few of the old leaves, and, if very succulent, 

 laid in a dry shady place, from one to twenty-four hours, to 

 heal their wounds; after which, plant them in a light, sandy, 

 unmanured soil, which will not bind, with the earth pressed 

 close; water them very sparingly, and shade them from the 

 sun until they have stricken root, but without covering them 

 with a hand-glass. Their striking will be greatly accelerated 

 by plunging 1 them into a gentle hot-bed, though most of them 

 will succeed very well without that assistance if kept in the 

 house; and many will do well during the summer even in 

 open borders, proivded they are gently watered when dry. 

 May is the most favourable season for striking them; but they 

 may be struck at almost all times of the year, in a very mode- 

 rate stove. Some strike in ten days, some take a fortnight, 

 and others require a month or six weeks. 



6. Mesembyranthemum Copticum; Coptic Fig Marigold. 

 Leaves half round, papulose, distinct; flowers sessile, axil- 

 lary; calices five-cleft. Annual; and a native of Egypt. 

 See the first species. 



7. Mesembryanthemum Apetalum; Dwarf Spreading Fig 

 Marigold. Leaves embracing, distinct, linear, flat above, 

 longer than the internodes, papulose; papulae oblong; flow- 

 ers peduncled; calices five-cleft. Annual. Stem herbaceous, 

 round, red, and, like the whole plant, covered with obsolete, 

 papulose, shining dots. It flowers in July and August. 

 Native of the Cape. See the first species. 



8. Mesembryanthemum Geniculiflorum; Jointed Fig Ma- 

 rigold. Leaves half round, papulose, distinct; flowers ses- 

 sile, axillary: calices four-cleft. Herbaceous while young, 

 becoming shrubby by age; flowers small, making a poor 

 appearance. Native of the Cape. This plant strikes readily 

 from young shoots, but with difficulty from old ones, and is 

 apt to lose its leaves, and then looks like a different plant. 

 See the fifth species. 



9. Mesembryanthemum Noctiflorum : Night-flowering Fig 

 Marigold. Leaves semi-cylindric, undotted, distinct; flowers 

 peduncled; calices four-cleft. The trunk becomes about the 

 thickness of a little finger, is smooth and even, covered -with 

 a bay-coloured bark, and has frequent joints where branches 

 have fallen. The flowers are closed during the day, open in 

 the evening, and continue open during the night, when they 

 smell very sweet. There is a variety with larger flowers, out- 

 side of a pale yellow colour. Native of the Cape. See the 

 fifth species. 



10. Mesembryanthemum Splendens; Shining Fig Mari- 

 gold. Leaves roundish, undotted, recurved, distinct, heaped ; 

 calices finger-shaped, terminating. Stems woody, a foot and 

 more high, with many short branches, and clustered leaves; 

 flowers solitary, at the end of the branchlets, large, whitish 

 or very pale yellow; appearing in July and August. They 

 open before and after noon when the sun shines, opening 

 and shutting several times, and finally closing about the fruit. 

 Native of the Cape. See the fifth species. 



11. Mesembryanthemum Umbellatum; Umbelled Fig Ma- 

 rigold. Leaves awl-shaped, rugged, dotted, connate, with 

 a patulous tip; stem upright; corymb trichotomotis. Stems 

 woody, forming a regularly branched handsome shrub, stand- 

 ing without support, with a stout stem, from two to three 

 feet high, and even more; flowers terminating, white, opening 

 when the sun shines, from seven or eight in the morning to 



VOL. ii. 76. 



two or three in the afternoon, and smelling like those of May 

 or White-thorn. They appear from June to September. 

 Native of the Cape. See the fifth species. 



12. Mesembryanthemum Expansum; Houseleek-leaved Fig 

 Marigold. Leaves flattish, lanceolate, undotted, spreading, 

 distinct, opposite and alternate, remote. Stems and branches 

 irregular and distorted. The dots upon the leaves shine like 

 silver in the sun. Native of the Cape. It flowers in July 

 and August. See the fifth species. 



13. Mesembryanthemum Testiculare; Short White-leaved 

 Fig Marigold. Leaves four, decussated, flat above. Stem- 

 less, very white and short. Native of the Cape. 



14. Mesembryanthemum Criniflorum; Hairy-flowered Fig 

 Marigold, Leaves ovate; scapes one-flowered. This plant 

 is the size of a common daisy. Native of the Cape. 



15. Mesembryanthemum Tripolium; Plane-leaved Fig 

 Marigold. Leaves alternate, lanceolate, flat, undotted ; steins 

 loose, simple; calices five-cornered. Root biennial; stems 

 prostrate, smooth, finally terminating in flowers; leaves many, 

 almost as long as the stems, succulent. This, and the other 

 succulent sorts, may be propagated by cuttings taken from 

 the plants ten days or a fortnight before they are planted 

 that they may have time for their wounded part to heal over 

 and dry. The lower leaves should be stripped off, that their 

 naked stalks may be of a sufficient length for planting. As 

 they are mostly plants of humble growth, so if their stalks be 

 divested of their leaves an inch and half, it will be sufficient. 

 The cuttings require to be covered with glasses, to keep oft' 

 the wet; they must also have less water than the other, but 

 in other particulars require the same treatment. They must 

 not have much water in summer, and still less in winter. If 

 these succulent sorts are placed in an open airy glass-case in 

 winter, where they may have free air admitted plentifully to 

 them in mild weather, and be at the same time screened from 

 frost, they will thrive better than when more tenderly treated. 

 They require to be shifted twice a year. 



16. Mesembryanthemum Calamiforme; Quill-leaved Fig 

 Marigold. Stemless: leaves roundish, ascending, undotted, 

 connate ; flowers eight-styled. Flowers solitary, on a short 

 scape from the centre of the plant, large; petals very narrow, 

 white, shining like silver in the sun, void of scent, opening 

 about noon in July, August, and .September. Native of the 

 Cape. See the preceding species. 



17. Mesembryanthemum Digitatum; Blunt-leaved Fig 

 Marigold. Almost stemless: leaves alternate, round x blunt; 

 flowers axillary, sessile. Native of the Cape. See the fif- 

 teenth species. 



18. Mesembryanthemum Fallens ; Pale or Channel-leaved 

 Fig Marigold. Leaves opposite, embracing, distinct, oblong- 

 lanceolate, acute, bluntly keeled ; teats minute. Native of 

 the Cape. See the fifteenth species. 



**Wilh red Corollas. 



19. Meaernbryanthemuin Papulostim ; Angular-stalked Fig 

 Mangold. Leaves opposite, distinct, ovate-spatulate; teats 

 subglobular; calices angular, five-cleft; branches angular. 

 Root biennial; stem short, nearly the thickness of the little 

 finger. The flowers have no scent, and are open from three 

 to six in the afternoon. It flowers from April to October. 

 Native of the Cape. See the fifteenth species. 



20. Mesembryanthemum Cordifolium; Heart-leaved Fig 

 Marigold. Leaves opposite, petioled, cordate ; calices four- 

 cleft; stem round. Root perennial; stem rather shrubby, 

 fleshy, upright, much branched, roundish, smooth, covered, 

 as well as the leaves and calix, with depressed dots. Flowers 

 solitary, pednncled, erect; petals numerous, reddish purple, 

 white at the base. It flowers from Mav to September. Native 



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