AZALEA OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 29 



a native of Switzerland, recorded to have been introduced to 

 this country three hundred years ago. It early l^ecame a 

 florist's flower, and, many varieties being raised, led to the 

 establishment of Auricula societies, and the awarding of prizes 

 for new and fine sorts, which are still continued. 



Ava. {See Kava.) 



Avellano — nut, common. {See Hazel and Filbert IS^uts.) 



Avellano, Chilian, the name of Guevina avellana, by some 

 called Quadria heteroioliylla, a tree of the Protea family (Pro- 

 teacese), native of Chili ; it has large winged leaves of a rusty 

 colour ; the fruit is a conical nut, the kernel of which is eaten. 



Avignon Berries. {See Yellow Berries.) 



Azalea, a botanical (now familiar) name for a beautiful 

 genus of shrubs of the Heath family (Ericaceae). They are 

 natives of China, Armenia, and ISTorth America. The floAvers 

 are showy, of various colours, and similar in form to many 

 rhododendrons, but differing from that genus in having only 

 five stamens, rhododendrons having ten. 



A. po7itica, the common Yellow Azalea, is a native of 

 Armenia, introduced about the end of the last century ; it is a 

 well-known, highly-ornamental garden shrub. Its flowers are 

 fragrant, but the honey made from them is poisonous, and is 

 believed to have been the cause of the illness and death of the 

 Greek soldiers, who (Xenophon says), after eating it, fell stupe- 

 fied in all directions, producing the appearance of a battlefield 

 covered with dead bodies. The white and red flowered Azaleas 

 {A. indica), native of China, are not sufliciently hardy to stand 

 in the open air in this country, but by cultivation fine varieties 

 have been obtained, which are highly ornamental plants in the 

 greenhouse. The original type of the genus Azalea is A. piv- 

 cumhens, a low compact trailing evergreen shrub, with small, 

 ovate, oblong leaves, and rose-coloured flowers, the whole habit 

 of the plant being entirely different from the above species ; 

 and, although differing but little in the technical character of 

 the flower of Azalea, botanists have nevertheless separated it as 

 a distinct genus under the name of Loiseleuria procumhens ; it is 



