T U R 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



T U R 



719 



should be carefully taken away, the sides and ends of the 

 bed neatly boarded up, and the paths lowered two or three 

 inches, to bring the flowers nearer to the eye, and they 

 ought to be defended from injury by a slight frame, two feet 

 high, surrounding the bed ; lines of small twine, painted 

 green, should pass from one end of the bed to the other, 

 between the rows of flowers ; and to these the stems are to 

 be loosely tied with short pieces of green worsted. The 

 awning may be continued on for three weeks with great ad- 

 vantage. When the petals of many flowers begin to drop off, 

 the awning should be taken down, together with the frame 

 and boards, and the mats and hoops replaced, to throw off 

 excess of rain. As the petals fall, the seed-vessel should be 

 broken off close to the stem; for if this be suffered to remain 

 on the plant, it will weaken the root considerably. The bed 

 may remain in this state about a fortnight longer, by which 

 time the foliage will become of a yellowish-brown, and two 

 or three inches at the top of* the stem will wither, dry up, 

 and becomes purplish: this denotes the critical period to take 

 up the roots: if they be taken up sooner, they will be weak 

 and spongy; and if deferred later, their juices will become 

 gross, and at the next blowing the flowers will be what is 

 generally termed foul. When the roots are taken up, they are 

 to be gradually dried, and kept dry. In August or September 

 take off the loose skins, fibres, and such offsets as are easily 

 separated ; observing not to leave the roots too bare. The 

 last brown skin, which is intimately connected with the root, 

 should remain on it till the time of planting ; it should then 

 be entirely stripped off, and the root left perfectly bare and 

 white ; but it should be performed with great care, with a 

 small sharp-pointed penknife, to avoid bruising or wounding 

 the root, especially at the lower end, where the fibres are 

 formed, for that is at this time extremely tender, and will 

 scarcely bear to be touched. The smallest and weakest 

 offsets, particularly such as are not provided with a brown 

 skin, may be replanted as soon as they are taken up, about 

 an inch and half deep, in a fresh sandy loam, in a dry situa- 

 tion, defending the beds from heavy rains by hoops covered 

 with mats; or, they may be buried in dry sand till the au- 

 tumn, and then planted with the larger roots, only not quite 

 so deep. Tulips are hardier than most other flowers ; the 

 offsets, and more ordinary ones, may be planted in any part 

 of the garden, from two to four inches deep, according to the 

 size of the roots, in a good sound soil, with a little rotten 

 cow-dung placed from seven to twelve inches below the sur- 

 face. Hail-storms are very destructive to the foliage of these 

 flowers, when they occur early in the spring; hence, although 

 there be no necessity to cover the beds of inferior plants du- 

 ring a common winter, it still is highly proper to defend them 

 against spring-storms ; and to cover them during hot and 

 windy weather, while they are in bloom. 

 Tulip Tree. See Liriodendron. 



Turbith Root. See Convolvulus Turpethum, and Seseli. 

 Turkey Berry Tree. See Cordia. 

 Turkey Wheat. See Zea. 

 Turnip. See Brassica. 



Turnera; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Trigynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth two-leaved, 

 funnel-form, deciduous; tube oblong, erect, cylindric, angu- 

 lar ; border erect, five-parted : segments lanceolate, length 

 of the tube. Corolla: petals five, obcordate, acuminate, flat, 

 from upright spreading; claws narrow, inserted into the tube 

 of the calix. Stamina: filamenta five, awl-shaped, shorter 

 than the corolla, inserted into the tube of the calix; anthers; 

 pointed, erect. Pistil: germen conical; styles three, filiform, 

 length of the stamina; stigmas capillaceous, multifid. Peri- 

 VOL. u. 126. 



carp: capsule ovate, one-celled, three-valved ; receptacles 

 annexed to the valves longitudinally, linear. Seeds : nume- 

 rous, oblong, obtuse. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: 

 five-cleft, funnel-form, exterior, two-leaved. Petals: five, 

 inserted into the calix. Stigmas: multifid. Capsule: one- 

 celled, three-valved. The species are, 



1. Turnera Ulmifolia; Elm-leaved Turnera. Flowers ses- 

 sile, petiolary ; leaves biglandular at the base. Stem shrubby, 

 eight or ten feet high, sending out branches on every side 

 the whole length. The corolla is large, and of a bright 

 yellow. Browne says, that it has a shrubby weakly stalk, 

 seldom rising above four or five feet from the root, with a 

 few serrated ovate leaves, and large yellow flowers, having 

 somewhat of the appearance of the malvaceous tribe at first 

 sight. Native of the West Indies. There is a variety found 

 in Jamaica, with a smaller corolla, pointed petals, bractes 

 without glands, and the antheroe orange, not yellow. This 

 species is easily propagated by sowing the seeds on a hot- 

 bed early in the spring ; and when the plants are come up 

 two inches high, they should be transplanted into small 

 pots, and plunged into a hot-bed of tanners' bark, observ- 

 ing to water and shade them until they have taken root, 

 after which they must be treated as has been directed for 

 the Guavas, and other tender plants, from the same coun- 

 tries. Their seeds will often fall into the pots which are 

 placed near them in the stove, and will grow in abundance. 

 As they are too tender to live in the open air in England, 

 they must be placed in the bark-bed in the stove, and kept 

 warm, and frequently watered in winter : in summer they 

 require plenty of air. When the plants are grown pretty 

 large, they may be treated more hardily by placing them in 

 the dry stove ; where, if kept in a moderate degree of heat, 

 they will thrive and flower very well. Those who would 

 save the seeds of these plants, must watch them carefully, 

 because, when they are ripe, they soon scatter if not ga- 

 thered. The flowers are produced during great part of the 

 year, if kept in a proper degree of warmth, so that there are 

 some of the flowers in beauty for nine or ten months; which 

 renders the plants more valuable, though they seldom con- 

 tinue above three years. 



2. Turnera Pumilea. Flowers sessile, petiolary; leaves 

 uniglandular. Root annual, branching, fibrous; stem her- 

 baceous, from three to six inches high, branched, nearly up- 

 right, but often decumbent, round, hirsute; branches simple, 

 erect; flowers small, yellow, seldom expanded, solitary, ses- 

 sile at the base of each upper leaf, on its hairy footstalk. 

 Browne called this and the seventh species Pumilea, from 

 their smallness. He describes this as always simple and 

 upright, never rising more than two or three inches high, 

 the flowers always solitary, from the axils of the upper 

 leaves. Native of Jamaica, on dry sandy fields, flowering 

 towards the end of the year ; common about Old Harbour, 

 and the foot of the Liguanea mountains. 



3. Turnera Rupestris ; Rock Turnera. Peduncles axil- 

 lary, two-bristled ; caves linear, serrate. This is a rigid, 

 slender, branched s: rub, three feet high : flowers small, yel- 

 low, axillary, solitary. Native of Guiana. 



4. Turnera Sidoides ; Sida-leaved Turnera. Peduncles 

 axillary, leaves obovate, wedge-shaped, serrate. Stems 

 palmary, simple, hairy, flowers solitary, in the axils, on very 

 short peduncles. It agrees with the seventh species, in hav- 

 ing a hairy stem ; but that wants the bractes and the nap on 

 the leaves. Native of Brasil. 



5. Turnera Frutescens ; Shrubby Turnera. Peduncles 

 axillary, two-bristled ; leaves lanceolate, acuminate, equally 

 serrate. This is a shrub eight feet high; flowers yellow, 



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