woo 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



WOO 



811 



crowded more or less numerously, into a corymbose tuft; 

 corolla two inches long; tube yellow at the base, dark blue 

 for a considerable extent in the upper part ; border yellow, 

 scarcely spreading, full half an inch long, clothed externally 

 with dense shaggy pubescence of a very peculiar kind, con- 

 fined to the tips of the inner segments. Root perennial, 

 woody; stem shrubby, erect, more or less branched, two feet 

 high, compressed, naked in the lower part, and appearing as 

 if jointed, from the scars of fallen foliage; leafy above. It 

 flowers in April and May, on the sides of shady hills at the 

 Cape of Good Hope. 



2. Witsenia Corymbosa; Corymbose Witsenia. Corymb 

 many-flowered ; flowers very numerous, bright blue, in a 

 forked, corymbose, compound panicle, supported by a long 

 stalk, at first terminal, but soon becoming lateral; corolla 

 externally smooth ; leaves like those of the first species, but 

 only half its size, rather glaucous ; stem shrubby, from four 

 to six inches high. -Native of the Cape. 



3. Witsenia Ramosa ; Branching Witsenia. Stem much 

 branched, only a span high, remarkably woody, repeatedly 

 branched in a corymbose manner, naked below; the branches 

 compressed, two-edged, knotted or scarred as if jointed, leafy 

 at their extremities; leaves equitant, two-ranked, linear, nar- 

 row, one and a half or two inches long, rather glaucous, 

 reddish at the base; flowers terminal, very few together, if 

 not quite solitary, bine, remarkable for the length and slen- 

 derness of their tube, which sometimes measures nearly two 

 inches; corolla externally smooth ; its tube capillary, twice 

 the length of the border, which is rather less spreading, and 

 more bell-shaped, than that of the preceding species ; bractes 

 n.embranous, elongated, brownish. Native of hills at the 

 Cape ; flowering in October, November, and December. 



4. Witsenia Pumila ; Dwarf Witsenia. Stems simple, 

 tingle-flowered; leaves crowded, two-ranked, awl-shaped, 

 compressed, strongly ribbed, about an inch long; flowers 

 whitish, small, solitary, nearly sessile, among the uppermost 

 leaves, which form a kind of sheath, but each appears to 

 have also a bivalve sheath, or pair of permanent bractes ; 

 capsule brown, with rather rigid emarginate valves. The 

 root is perennial, long, branched, bearing dense tufts of 

 simple leafy stems, an inch or an inch and half high. 

 Found at the Straits of Magellan. 



Woad. See hatis. 



Woad, Wild. See Reseda. 



Wolf'sbane. See Aconitum. 



Woodbine. See Lonicera. 



Woodroof. See Asperula. 



Wood Sage. See Teucrium. 



Woods and Groves are the greatest ornaments to a country- 

 seat, without which it must be greatly defective, wood and 

 water being absolutely necessary to render a place agreeable 

 and pleasant. Where there are woods already grown to a 

 large size, so situated as to be taken into the garden or park, 

 or so nearly adjoining as that an easy communication may be 

 made from the garden to the Wood, they may be so contrived, 

 by cutting walks through them, as to render them the most 

 delightful parts of an estate, by procuring an agreeable shade 

 from the scorching heat of the sun in summer. Whoever 

 have grown Woods already near, their habitation, lying so 

 that an easy communication may be formed from one to the 

 other, will have little occasion for wildernesses in the garden, 

 because natural Woods may be so contrived as to render 

 them much pleasanter than any new plantation can possibly 

 become for many years, even where the trees make the 

 greatest progress in their growth. In places where their 

 growth is slow, it would take nearly half a century before 

 VOL. ii. 133. 



their shade could equal that of Woods already in perfection. 

 Add to this, the great saving of expense, with other parti- 

 culars, which are fully detailed under the article Wilderness. 

 The culture of Woods, for the profit of the proprietor and 

 the benefit of the nation, is of vast importance. It has been 

 often urged, by persons whose judgment in other affairs 

 might be relied upon, that the great plantations, which, for 

 several years past, have been carried on in several parts of 

 this kingdom, will be of public benefit in the propagation of 

 timber: but in this we fear they will be generally mistaken; 

 shade and shelter, except in a few public-spirited instances, 

 having been more considered than the increase of valuable 

 timber. The two most substantial timbers of this country 

 are the Oak and Chestnut, the latter of which has become 

 very scarce. Next to these, as a profitable wood, comes the 

 Elm, few of which are now cultivated, except the Wich Elm, 

 in the north-west part of England : see Timber. Wherever 

 there are young Woods, great attention should be paid to the 

 fences; for if cattle get in among the trees while young, they 

 will soon do infinite damage by browsing on the branches, or 

 barking them. Hares and rabbits are also very destructive 

 in frosty weather, and when the ground is covered with snow, 

 gnawing the bark and branches, and soon inflicting irrepar- 

 able injury. Another care to be taken of young Woods, is 

 the thinning of the trees as they advance in their growth. 

 This should be very cautiously and gradually performed, so as 

 not to open the trees too much, to let in the cold winds among 

 them, which would greatly obstruct their growth; nor ought 

 they to be left so close as to draw each other up like May- 

 poles, but a medium should be observed, cutting down a few 

 each year, as there may be necessity, not suffering those to 

 stand which injure the growth of the neighbouring trees, and 

 always allowing the most promising to remain. The young 

 trees should not be lopped or pruned, for the more they are 

 cut, the slower will their increase in bulk be; every branch 

 that is cut off will rob the tree of its nourishment, in pro- 

 portion to the size of the branch ; hence the hatchet should 

 never be used by any but skilful persons. Where more re- 

 gard is had to the future produce of the timber than to im- 

 mediate profit, the under- wood should be grubbed up as the 

 trees advance, that the roots may have the whole benefit of 

 the soil, and their stems enjoy the free air ; otherwise they 

 will generally be covered with moss, and their growth greatly 

 stinted. This may be observed in all Woods where there is 

 any quantity of under-wood remaining; in such places the' 

 trees seldom grow to a large size : but where timber is ex- 

 pected, the trees must have room to extend their roots and 

 branches, though, from covetousness, many let their under- 

 wood remain as long as it will live. Hence, as the timber 

 gradually increases, the under-wood will be gradually decay- 

 ing in the shade and drip of the large trees ; by which prac- 

 tice the timber suffers more in a few years than all the under- 

 wood is worth ; for, by endeavouring to obtain both, neither 

 of them can be so good as when they are separately pre- 

 served. If proprietors of estates would be careful to nurse 

 up trees in their hedge-rows, it would, in time, become a 

 fortune to their successors ; as the timber growing in the 

 hedges might be worth more than the freehold of the estate, 

 which has in fact been the case with estates, from which 

 their possessors have cut down timber for fortunes to their 

 younger children ; besides, as the trouble and expense are 

 not great, and the profit is certain, it is foolish to neglect 

 such an advantage, especially where the sight of trees, of our 

 own sowing, making yearly advances, must be very grateful 

 to those who have any relish for rural amusement. There 

 are some persons who plant copses for cutting every ten or 

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