284 



PHI 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



PHL 



fibres that were nearly put out, and greatly injure the plants. 

 They delight in a middling soil, which is neither too wet 

 nor stiff, nor too dry; though the latter is to be preferred to 

 the former, provided it be fresh. Those sorts which have 

 small leaves are commonly two years before they take root 

 when laid; therefore they should not be disturbed, for the rais- 

 ing them out of the ground greatly retards their rooting. If 

 they be propagated by seed, it should be sown in autumn after 

 it becomes ripe, for if kept out of the ground till spring, it 

 will not grow till the second year. The seeds will do best 

 rf they be sown in pots or boxes filled with light loamy 

 earth, and placed under a garden frame, where they may 

 be screened from hard frost, but always exposed to the open 

 air in mild weather. If the seeds be sown early in the 

 autumn, the plants will appear in the spring ; but if they 

 should fail to come up, the pots must be removed into an 

 eastern border, and plunged into the ground, where they 

 may only have the morning sun ; and should remain there, 

 during the following summer, but should be constantly 

 weeded, and in the autumn removed again under a frame 

 for shelter in winter; and if the. seeds were good, the plants 

 will certainly appear in the following spring. Towards the 

 middle of April, the pots should be again plunged into the 

 ground on an eastern border, to prevent the air from drying 

 the earth through the pots, which generally happens when 

 they stand upon the ground, so that they must then be fre- 

 quently watered, which should be avoided if possible. The 

 Michaelmas after, the plants ought to be taken out of the 

 pots, and planted in a nursery bed, covering the surface with 

 old tan to keep out the frost ; and if the winter be severe, 

 cover them with mats, and afterwards treat them as layers. 

 -They are all hardy enough to thrive in the open air in Eng- 

 land, and are never injured except the winters are very se- 

 vere, which sometimes causes their leaves to fall, and kills 

 a few of the weaker branches, but these are repaired by new 

 shoots in the following summer, so that there are few of the 

 evergreen trees which are hardier than these, or that are 

 more worthy of cultivation. They were formerly planted 

 against walls, to which they were trained, to cover them ; 

 or, if they were placed as standards, their branches were 

 sheared either into balls or pyramids, like most of the ever- 

 green trees ; so that when the antique taste of laying out 

 gardens was exploded, the evergreens were generally ba- 

 nished, and for some years there were but few sorts culti- 

 vated, whereby several valuable kinds of evergreen trees 

 were almost entirely lost in England, and have been with 

 difficulty since retrieved. In the manner in which the ever- 

 green trees and shrubs are now disposed in gardens, they 

 have a very fine effect, especially during the winter season, 

 when the other trees are destitute of leaves. 



2. Phillyrea Angustifolia; Narrow-leaved Phillyrea. 

 Leaves linear-lanceolate, quite entire; stalk ten or twelve 

 feet high, sending out opposite branches, covered with a 

 brown bark, spotted with white. The flowers come out in 

 large clusters at each joint of the branches, sitting close like 

 whorled flowers, and almost surrounding them ; they are 

 small and white. Native of Italy, Spain, and Portugal. 



3. Phillyrea Latifolia ; Broad-leaved Phillyrea. Leaves 

 ovate-oblong, subcordate, serrate. It sends out several 

 strong branches, which grow erect, and are covered with a 

 gray bark; leaves an inch and half long, and an inch broad, 

 firm, of a lucid green, and serrate, each serrature ending in 

 a spine. There are several varieties : 1. The Smooth Broad- 

 leaved Phillyrea, which rises with a strong upright stem to 

 the height of eighteen or twenty feet, dividing into several 

 branches, covered with a smooth grayish bark ; flowers axil- 



lary, on each side of an herbaceous white colour, in small 

 clusters ; they come out in March, but, being small, do not 

 make a great appearance. 2. Prickly Broad-leaved Phillyrea, 

 with the leaves ovate-oblong, acute, finely serrate, flat. 

 3. Ilex-leaved Phillyrea. Leaves lanceolate acute, serrate, 

 bent obliquely. Very abundant in the south of Europe, on 

 open hills. 



Philydrum ; a genus of the class Monandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: spathe one-leafed, 

 ovate, acuminate, longer than the corolla: perianth none. 

 Corolla: petals four, two outer larger, ovate; two inner 

 smaller by half, lanceolate. Stamina : filamentum single, 

 free-awl-shaped ; antheree fastened on both sides to the fila- 

 mentum above the middle; cells subglobular. Pistil : ger- 

 men superior, oblong ; style ? Pericarp : capsule oblong, 

 obsoletely three-sided, three-celled, three-valved ; partitions 

 contrary. Seeds: very numerous, irregularly shaped like 

 saw-dust. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Spathe: one-flow- 

 ered. Perianth : none. Corrolla : four-petalled, irregular. 



Capsule: three-celled, many-seeded The only known 



species is, 



1. Philydrum Lanuginosum. Root perennial ; stem two 

 feet high, herbaceous, quite simple, spongy, upright, round, 

 woolly ; leaves awl-shaped, thick, woolly, upright; racemes 

 long, upright, terminating; flowers peduncled, golden, sup- 

 ported by short, acuminate, hirsute spathes; seeds extremely 

 minute. Native of wet places in China and Cochin-china. 



Phleum; a genus of the class Triandria, order Digynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: glume one-flowered, two- 

 valved, oblong, linear, compressed, gaping, with two cusps 

 at top; valves straight, concave, compressed, embracing, 

 equal, truncated, mucronated at the top of the keel. Co- 

 rolla: two-valved, shorter than the calix; outer valve em- 

 bracing the inner, which is smaller; nectary two-leaved; 

 leaflets ovate, concave, acute. Stamina : filamenta three, 

 capillary, longer than the calix; antherse oblong, forked. 

 Pistil : germen roundish ; styles two, capillary, reflex ; stig- 

 mas feathered. Pericarp : none ; the calix and corolla in- 

 closing the seed. Seed: single, roundish. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Calix: two-valved, sessile, linear, truncated, 

 with a two-cusped tip. Corolla: inclosed. For the propa- 

 gation of this genus, see Grass- The species are, 



1 . Phleum Pratense ; Meadow Cat's-tail, or Timothy 

 Grass. Spike cylindric ; calix ciliate, awned ; culm erect ; 

 root perennial; leaves lanceolate, pointed, rough on the 

 upper surface and along the nerve; sheath streaked, smooth; 

 spike regularly cylindric, and blunt at the top, sometimes 

 five or six inches long, but usually in its wild state much 

 shorter : at first sight it bears some resemblance to that of 

 Fox-tail Grass, but on examination it will be found very dif- 

 ferent in form, colour, &c. The flowers are very closely 

 set on the spike; peduncles very short, somewhat branched. 

 This Grass varies much in the size and in the length of the 

 spike ; it has also a leafy spike, in common with many other 

 Grasses, occasioned by the seeds germinating in wet weather 

 without failing. A varietywith a bulbous root is noted for a 

 distinct species; but this swelling of the root is a very equi- 

 vocal character among the Grasses. It was much recom- 

 mended about thirty years ago, under the quaint appellation 

 of Timothy Grass, which it is said to have acquired from 

 Mr, Timothy Hanson, who first brought the seeds of it from 

 New York to Carolina. It then had a great character in 

 North America under the name of Herd Grass. Its reputa- 

 tion here was, however, but short-lived, as it has not one 

 good quality in which it is not excelled by Fox-tail Grass : 

 but, besides this, it is harsh, and late in its appearance. It 



