A G A 



A G A 



rofia is one-petalled, funnel-shaped, and regular; 

 the tuhe cornered, as it' composed of six claws ; 

 the border six-parted, with the parts oblong and 

 spreading : the stamina are six filaments in- 

 serted into the throat, shorter than the corolla, 

 declinate : the antherae are kidney-shaped and in- 

 cumbent : !he pistillum is a superior germ, ob- 

 re< -cornered; the style filiform, of the 

 the stamina, and declinate; the stigma 

 or triiid : the pericarpium is an oblong 

 capsule, three-sided, three-celled, three-valved : 

 valves navicular, with contrary dissepiment ; the 

 seeds numerous, oblong, compressed, and en- 

 larged with a membrane. 



There is only one species, the A. umlellatus, 

 African Blue, or Asphodel Lily. 



It has the root composed of many thick fleshy 

 fibres, diverging from the same head, striking- 

 deep into the ground, and putting out many 

 smaller fibres, which are of a white colour and 

 fleshy. From the same head arises a cluster of 

 ieaves surrounding each other at the base, so as 

 to form a kind of herbaceous stalk about three 

 inches in height, from which the leaves spread 

 only two ways, appearing flat in the other two. 

 The leaves are thick, succulent, about a foot 

 long, and near an inch broad, compressed, and 

 of a dark green colour. Between these comes 

 out the flower-stalk, which is from two to three 

 feet in height, round, and as large as a man's 

 little finger, naked to the top, where it supports 

 a large head or umbel of blue flowers, inclosed 

 in a sheath, which splits into two parts, and is 

 bent backward. Each flower stands on a pedicel 

 about an inch long. The petals are blunt, and 

 waved on their edges ; the umbel being large, 

 the flowers numerous, and of a bright blue co- 

 lour, making a fine appearance. 



They appear about the end of August, or the 

 beginning of September, and frequently continue 

 in full beauty till the spring. 



It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



Culture. — This plant may be easily propagated 

 by means of offsets taken from the parent plant. 

 The operation of parting them is to be performed 

 at the season when the process of vegetation is 

 in the most languid state, which in this plant is 

 generally about the latter end of June. In per- 

 forming the work the old plants are to be turned 

 out of their pots, and the mold cautiously 

 cleared away from them, that the fibres of the 

 offsets may be better ascertained. The offsets 

 arc then to be separated in such a manner as that 

 their heads may not be injured. When they 

 adhere very closely a knife may be employed for 

 the purpose, being careful not to wound the 

 bulb of either the old or new plant. After this 

 has been accomplished the bulbs are to be planted 



out separately, in pots of good garden mold, 

 and placed in shady situations that admit the 

 morning sun. A little water should be given 

 once or twice a week when the season is drv, 

 care being taken not to endanger the rotting of 

 the roots by applying it in too large a proportion. 

 In four or five weeks, when the new planted 

 bulbs have put out fresh roots, they should be 

 removed into other situations that are more fully 

 exposed to the influence of the sun, a little 

 more water being cautiously applied in order to 

 strengthen their flowering. The flower-stems 

 mostly appear in the beginning of September, 

 and towards the end of it the flowers begin to 

 open. At this period, if the season be not quite 

 favourable, the plants must be brought under 

 shelter, in order to protect them from the effect* 

 of frost or too much wet, care being taken to 

 admit the air as freely as possible, as without this 

 the flowers become pale, weak, and of a bad co- 

 lour. About the end of October it is necessary 

 to remove them to the greenhouse, and place 

 them in such situations as that they may have 

 the advantage of free air without being shaded 

 by other plants. During the winter season, 

 when the weather is mild, a little water may be 

 given occasionally ; but in case of frost it must 

 be wholly omitted, the plants being kept as dry 

 as possible. 



The only management that plants of this sort 

 demand is that of protection from the effects of 

 frost and too much moisture ; it is of course 

 onlv necessary to shelter them in the house in the 

 winter months, without the aid of artificial heat, 

 and place them out in the open air in summer. 



AGARICUS, a genus comprising the Agaric 

 or Common Mushroom, and several other species 

 of a poisonous quality. 



It belongs to the class and order of Cryptoga- 

 mia Fungi. 



The characters of which arc: that the pi/nts, 

 or cap, has gills underneath ; that the gills differ 

 in substance from the rest of the plant, being 

 composed of two laminae; and that the seeds are 

 in the gills. 



The species arc very numerous, but there is 

 only one that is proper for cultivation in the 

 garden. This is the A. campestris, Common 

 Bed-gillcd Mushroom, or Champignon. 



It has the gills loose, in contact but not 

 united with the stem, very thick set, some forked 

 next the stem, some next the edge of the cap, 

 some at both ends, and generally in that case 

 excluding the intermediate smaller gills. The 

 colour pink, changing to that of liver. The cap 

 is white, changing to brown when old, and be- 

 coming scurfy, fleshy, regularly convex, but flat 

 with age, and liquefying in decay. The flesh 



