A D 



ADO 



Culture. — The method of raising plants of this 

 sort is from the seeds, which are obtained from 

 abroad, and sown in pots of good mold, their 

 vegetation beino; promoted by the assistanee of a 

 hot-bed, under glasses, or the bark-bed. After 

 the plants are a little advanced, they should be 

 placed out in the bark-stove of the hot-house, 

 where' they must constantly remain; and where, 

 from their large and beautifully branching leaves, 

 they afford a fine appearance. They have not yet 

 been found to produce flowers in this climate. 



ADIANTUM, Maiden-hair, a genus compre- 

 hending several herbaceous perennial plants of 

 the fern kind, some of which have been intro- 

 duced into culture. 



It belongs to the class and order Cryptogamia 

 Filices. 



The characters of which are : that the fructi- 

 fications are collected in oval spots at the end of 

 the fronds or leaves, which are folded back; or 

 at the reflex tip of the frond underneath. 



The species are very numerous, but there are 

 only a few introduced into cultivation ; the prin- 

 cipal of which are : 1 . A. Capillus Veneris, True 

 Maiden-hair ; 2. A.pedatum, Canadian Maiden- 

 hair; 3.A.renifiirme, Kidney-leaved Maiden-hair; 

 4. A.fragrans, Sweet-scented Maiden-hair; 5. 

 A. pteroides, Heart-leaved Maiden-hair ; 6. A. 

 vilhsum, Hairy-stalked Maiden-hair; 7. A. tra- 

 pexiforme, Rhomb-leaved Maiden-hair. 



In the first, the fronds, branches and petioles 

 are of a shining blackish colour. The leaves are 

 at first roundish, afterwards wedge-shaped. The 

 stem is slender, and of a dark purple colour. The 

 petioles of the branches are very large, sustaining 

 three leaves, which are smooth, tender, toothed 

 in the further part, fan-shaped, dilated, either 

 cut shortly into lobes, or more deeply, three-, 

 four-, seven-lobed ; the lobes obtuse. There is one 

 or two fruit-bearing dots to each tooth, to which 

 the edge of the leaf is attracted. The roots are 

 of the fibrous creeping kind. It is a native of 

 France, Italy, and other southern kingdoms. 



In the second species the root is small. The 

 stipes is of a dark purple colour, eighteen inches 

 in height or more. The leaves have much resem- 

 blance to the comb of a cock. It is a native of 

 Canada in America. 



The third sort has the fronds somewhat of the 

 kidney form, the stalks being adorned with 

 numerous flowers. It is a native of the Island of 

 Madeira. 



The fourth species has the fronds bipinnate ; 

 the pinnas being ovate, sublobed, obtuse, and 

 naked underneath. It is an inhabitant of the 

 same island as the above. 



In the fifth, the stipes are seven inches high, of 

 a purple colour, smooth. The pinnas are streaked ; 



the edge being covered underneath with as many 

 white scales as there are notches, covering the 

 fructifications. It is a native of the Cape of 

 Good Hope. 



The sixth sort rises to the height of two feet. 

 The stem is of a black colour, strong, triangular, 

 and covered with a hairy, ferruginous, mossy 

 substance. The fronds proceed from this about 

 a foot from the ground. The pinnas are alter- 

 nate ; the pinnules being an inch long, and 

 about half as broad, and of the figure of a tra- 

 pezium. It is a native of Jamaica. 



In the seventh species the leaflets are alternate ; 

 the pinnas being of a rhomboid form, gashed, 

 bearing fruit on each side. It is found in its na- 

 tive state in New Zealand. 



Culture. — The first and second species of these 

 plants require little or no trouble in their culti- 

 vation, being propagated simply by parting their 

 roots. The latter is however the most tender, as 

 though it will often stand through the winter in 

 the open air, when the winter is not too severe, 

 yet when that season is very severe it is liable to 

 be destroyed by the frosts. A plant or two 

 should of course always be kept under the shel- 

 ter of a frame, or the greenhouse. The first suc- 

 ceeds much better when planted out in pots filled 

 with gravel and lime rubbish than if put in good 

 mold. 



The third, fourth, and fifth species require the 

 constant protection of the greenhouse, in order 

 to preserve them in the winter season. 



And the last three sorts, from their being na- 

 turally inhabitants of hot climates, demand the 

 continual aid of the stove to preserve them. 



All the species are useful for the purpose of 

 affording variety, and the three last highly cu- 

 rious and ornamental among collections of exo- 

 tics, on account of their black shining stems, and 

 the great irregularity in the shape of their leaves. 



ADONIS, a genus comprehending several 

 annual and perennial herbaceous plants of the 

 flowery tribe ; the Flos Adonis, Adonis Flower, 

 or Pheasant's Eye. 



The characters are: that the calyx is a five- 

 leaved perianthium, and the leaflets are obtuse, 

 concave, a little coloured and deciduous: the 

 corolla has from five to fifteen, but most com- 

 monly eight, oblong, obtuse, shining petals: 

 the stamina consist of very short subulate 

 filaments, and the antherse are oblong and 

 inflex : the pistillum has numerous get ;ns col- 

 lected in a head, no styles, and acute reflex 

 stigmas ; no pericarpium, but an oblong, spiked 

 receptacle : the seeds are numerous, irregular, 

 angular, gibbous at the base, reflex at the top, 

 a little prominent, and naked. 



The species chiefly cultivated are : ] . A. ait- 



