ACT 



ADA 



filled with gravel or lime rubbish. Hence they 

 are proper for the purpose of adorning different 

 kinds of artificial rock-work, and for being plant- 

 ed upon old walls. 



But those species which are natives of warm 

 climates require to be planted in pots, and plun- 

 ged into bark-pits, in order to preserve them in 

 this country. 



ACT^EA, a genus comprehending plants of 

 the Herb Christopher or Baneberry kind, which 

 are hardy herbaceous perennials, of tall growth. 



It belongs to the class and order Polyandria 

 Monogynia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Multisiliquce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a perian- 

 thium of four leaves, with roundish, obtuse, con- 

 cave, and caducous leaflets : the corolla has four 

 petals, acuminate at both ends, longer than the 

 calyx, and caducous : the stamina consist of nu- 

 merous, usually about thirty, papillary filaments, 

 broader at top : the antherae are roundish, twin, 

 and erect : the pistillum has a superior ovate ger- 

 men, no style, and a thickish, obliquely-depres- 

 sed stigma : the pericarpium is an oval-globose, 

 smooth, one-furrowed, and one-celled berry; 

 and the seeds are many, semi-orbicular, and 

 lying over each other in two rows. 



The species that chiefly deserve notice for the 

 purpose of cultivation are : 1. A. spicata, 

 Common-spiked, Black-berried Herb Christo- 

 pher ; 2. A. racemose, Clustered, Long-spiked, 

 American Herb Christopher. 



The first sort grows two feet and a half high, 

 the footstalks of the leaves rising from the root ; 

 these divide into three smaller footstalks, each of 

 which divides again into three, and these have 

 each three lobes, so that each leaf is composed of 

 twenty-seven lobes or small leaves. And the 

 flower-stem which rises from the root has leaves 

 of the same form, but smaller. On the top of 

 the stalk appear the flowers, which grow in ra- 

 mose spikes, and are of a pure white; these 

 come out in May, and are succeeded by black 

 shining berries about the size of peas, which ripen 

 in autumn. 



There is a variety of this plant with white ber- 

 ries, and another in which they are of a red colour. 



The second kind has large compound leaves, 

 which rise immediately from the root, and are 

 branched after the same manner with the first. 

 The flower-stems frequently rise to the height of 

 four or five feet or more. The flowers are white, 

 in a long spike, reflex at the top. It flowers in 

 June, or the beginning of July, but does not per- 

 fect seed in this climate. It is a native of North 

 America, where it is often distinguished by the 

 title of Black Snake-root. 



Culture. — The propagation of these plants may 



be easily effected by sowing the seed on a shady 

 border of common earth in the autumn, as soon 

 as they are taken from the plants, as when 

 the sowing is deferred till the spring they are 

 liable to remain in the soil until the same time 

 in the following year before they come up, and 

 much time is lost. From the irregular manner 

 in which the plants mostly appear, the mold of 

 the beds should be as little as possible disturbed, 

 lest they be destroyed. When fully grown in 

 the succeeding autumn, they may be transplant- 

 ed into the situations where they are to remain, 

 which should be rather shady. 



The seeds of the second species are mostly sent 

 annually from America, and should be put into 

 the ground as soon as possible after they arrive. 



As these plants rise to a considerable height, 

 and are ornamented with leaves on the lower 

 part of the stems, and with handsome spikes of 

 flowers on the upper parts, they are well suited 

 for adorning the common compartments and 

 clumps of pleasure-grounds, especially where 

 there is a degree of shade without the inconve- 

 niences of large trees ; and also in the intervals 

 between large shrubs in conspicuous situations, 

 where, from their hardy nature, they will only 

 require the same treatment as them. 



As these plants are perennial in root, but an- 

 nual in the leaf and stem, these last require to be 

 cut off and cleaned away every autumn. 



The berries of these plants are believed to have 

 a poisonous property, a single berry being said 

 to be capable of instantly destroying fowls and 

 other birds. 



ADANSONIA, a genus furnishing a tree of 

 the deciduous kind, which grows to an extraor- 

 dinary size in its native soil. It is the African 

 Calabash Tree, which, when cultivated here, does 

 not rise to any great height. 



It belongs to the class and order Monadtlphia 

 Polyandria, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Columniferce. 



Its characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed, semiquinquefid, cyathiform perianthium, 

 with divisions revolute, and deciduous : the co- 

 rolla consists of five roundish, nerved, revolute 

 petals, connected by the claws with each other 

 and the stamina: the stamina have numerous 

 filaments united at bottom into a tube, which 

 they crown, expanding horizontally : the pistil- 

 lum has an ovate germ, very long, tubulous, and 

 variously intorted style : the stigmata are many, 

 often ten, prismatic, villous, and radiate-ex- 

 panded : the pericarpium is an ovate, wood}', 

 not gaping, ten-celled capsule, with farinaceous 

 pulp, and the partitions membranaceous : the 

 seeds are numerous, kidney-shaped, rather bony, 

 being involved in a friable pulpy substance. 



