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In the fourth, the stem rises to the height of 

 about four feet : the leaves are divided into long 

 segments, deeply jagged into many narrow parts 

 which lie over one another like scales, having 

 long spikes of pale yellow flowers of a middling- 

 size. It may be allowed a place among shrubs, 

 or in such parts of the garden as are not much 

 frequented by young children. 



The fifth species has a tall stem, frequently 

 rising to the height of six feet : the leaves are 

 divided irito numerous wedge-shaped lobes, which 

 arc cut into many acute parts: the flo *ers are 

 large and numerous, and of a pale blue colour. 



The varieties chiefly cultivated are : the Wedge- 

 lobed Purple, the Wedge-lobed Blueish Purple, 

 and the Wedge-lobed Deep Blue Aconite. 



The sixth sort has a stem rising sometimes 

 ncarlv to the height of the former, with pal- 

 mated three-parted leaves acutely divided, and 

 large white flowers. 



The seventh species seldom rises to more than 

 the height of two feet: the leaves are many- 

 parted, the segments being half cut through, 

 and the upper ones the broadest ; the spikes of 

 flowers small, and variegated with blue. It 

 flowers about the end of June. 



In the eighth the leaves are three- or five-lobed, 

 angular, and toothed : the flowers are blue, and 

 come out singly, having the top of the helmet 

 hooked, extending straight further than the tail. 



All the species have perennial roots ; but the 

 stems and leaves are annual, rising in the spring, 

 and decaying in the autumnal months. 



Culture. — These are plants that require little 

 difficulty in their culture. All the species and 

 varieties may be easily raised from seed, as 

 well as by parting the roots. In the first me- 

 thod the seeds should be sown in autumn, on 

 good common earth, in a rather shady situation : 

 this is said to be preferable to sowing them in the 

 spring months, as where that mode is practised 

 they seldom come up till the year after, whereas 

 in this they commonly appear in the spring fol- 

 lowing. They are to be kept clean from weeds 

 during the ensuing summer months, and must 

 have water given them occasionally when the 

 season turns out dry, until theplants are in a state 

 to be pricked or planted out in a bed or border, 

 which should be done at the distance of about 

 fourteen inches each way, taking the plants up 

 carefully, and watering them as often as may be 

 necessary until they have taken fresh root. After 

 this they demand no other management, but that 

 of keeping them clean from weeds, till they are 

 ready to be finally planted out in the succeeding 

 autumn. They afterwards require little attention, 

 except that of cutting down and clearing away 

 their stems and other parts every autumn. 



Where the method by parting the roots is 

 practised, it is best performed in October, or to- 

 wards the month of March. In the common 

 sorts, every piece that possesses a bud or eye will 

 readily grow and produce a plant, on being set in 

 good earth. 



As these plants, especially all the common 

 kinds, delight in such shady situations as are not 

 much exposed to the drop of trees, they are well 

 calculated for those large borders, clumps, and 

 other compartments in ornamented grounds, that 

 are not much overhung by trees or tall -growing 

 shrubs, as in such exposures they continue much 

 longer in flower. Some of the blue sorts will 

 likewise thrive under trees, where they do not 

 stand too closely together. From their contain- 

 ing large handsome spikes of flowers that con- 

 tinue long in blow, and their having much di- 

 versity in their leaves, they afford considerable 

 variety when planted out in such situations as 

 mentioned above. There is, however, one ob- 

 jection to them, which is their possessing poi- 

 sonous qualities, which render them improper in 

 places where children are much admitted. 



Most of the blue sorts have been long in cul- 

 tivation, and almost all the other kinds may be 

 procured from the nurseries and flower-gardens. 



ACORN, the seed or fruit produced by the 

 different species and varieties of the oak. It is a 

 sort of nut, from which trees of this kind are 

 mostly raised. See Quercus. 



ACORUS, a genus comprehending hardy, her- 

 baceous perennials, of the Sweet Rush or Flag 

 kind, cultivated for the sake of their fragrant 

 aromatic qualities. 



It belongs to the class and order Hexandria 

 Monogynia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 PiperilcB. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a cylin- 

 dric, simple spadix, covered with floscules, with- 

 out spatha or perianthium : the corolla is com- 

 posed of six petals, obtuse, concave, loose, thicker 

 at the top, and in a manner truncate : the sta- 

 mina are thickish filaments, somewhat longer 

 than the corolla; and the antherse are thickish, 

 twin, terminal, and adnate : the pistillum is a 

 gibbous germ, rather oblong, and of the lentrth 

 of the stamina, without style : the Stigma is a 

 prominent point : the pericarpium is a short tri- 

 angular capsule, attenuated to both ends, obtuse, 

 and three-celled : the seeds are many, and ovate- 

 oblong. 



The species are two : \. A. Calamus, Calamus 

 aromaticus, Common Sweet Rush ; 2. A. gra- 

 mineus, Grass-leaved Sweet Rush, or Chinese 

 Sweet Grass. 



The first is a plant of the aquatic kind, beino- 

 found to grow naturally in watery situations in 

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