A R G 



A R I 



this climate, it is chiefly kepi in the stoves for 

 variety. 



Culture. — The propagation in this tree is ef- 

 fected by sowing the seeds in pots of light good 

 earth as soon as procured from abroad, plunging 

 them in moderate hot-beds of dung or bark in 

 the stove, moderate waterings being given. 

 After the plants are risen a few inches, they 

 should be removed into separate small pots, and 

 replaced in the hot-beds, watering them as ne- 

 cessary. As they advance ingrowth, they must 

 be removed into larger pots. 



It is a plant that deserves a place in the stove, 

 for its singularity and the beauty of its fo- 

 liage. 



A.RGEMONE, a genus comprehending a 

 plant of the annual kind ; The Prickly Poppy. 



It belongs to the class and order Polijundr'ia 

 MwvoggniOj and ranks in the natural order of 

 Rh iv -i i dew. 



The characters of which are : that the calyx- 

 is a three-leaved, roundish perianth : the leaflets 

 roundish with a point, concave and caducous: 

 the corolla consists of six roundish petals, from 

 erect spreading, larger than the calyx : the sta- 

 mina consist of numerous filiform filaments, 

 the length of the calyx : the anthers are oblong 

 and erect : the pistillum is an ovate, live-angled 

 germ : there is no style : the stigma thickish, 

 obtuse, reflex, quinquefid and permanent : the 

 pericarpium is an ovate, tive-angled, one-celled, 

 half-valved capsule : the seeds numerous and 

 very small : the receptacles linear, fastened to 

 the angles of the pericarpium, but not gaping : 

 the half-valved capsule distinguishes this from 

 the Papavcr. 



There is only one species cultivated in the 

 garden: A. Mexicana. 



It is an annual plant, rising to the height of 

 two or three feet, with stems armed with prickles : 

 leaves sinuate or jagged, soft, shining, stem- 

 clasping, the points of the jags ending in sharp 

 yellow spines ; on the upper side there are milky 

 veins, as in Our Lady's Thistle ; on the under, 

 small prickles along the midrib and veins : the 

 flowers are solitary at the ends of the stem and 

 branches : the corolla is yellow, with from four 

 to six petals : the calyx consists of two or three 

 prickly leaves ; the stigma is capitate, small, with 

 five notches : the capsule superior, having rive 

 or six ribs from top to bottom, and between the 

 ribs armed with bristle-shaped spines ; at the top 

 is the flatted stigma: the seeds are very nume- 

 rous, Ejjund, black, rough, with a compressed 

 scar on one side : the valves of the capsule vary 

 in number, as well as the petals, from four to 

 six. It is a native of Mexico, and flowers in 

 July and August. 



Culture. — As this is an annual plant, it may 

 be easily raised by sowing the seeds thinly in 

 spots of light earth in the places where the 

 plants are to remain. As the plants shed their 

 seeds, they mostly continue for several years af- 

 ter thev have been once introduced. 



ARISTOLOCHIA, a genus comprehending 

 various plants of the herbaceous and exotic 

 kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Gynandria 

 Ile.va/idria, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Sarmentaceee, 



The characters are : that it has no calyx : the 

 corolla is monopetalous, tubulous, irregular : 

 the base swelling, subglobular, torulose : the 

 tube oblong, hexagon-cylindric : limb dilated, 

 and extended below into a long tongue : the 

 stamina have no tilaments : the antherse six, 

 fastened at bottom to the stigmas, and four- 

 celled : the pistillum is an oblong, inferior, an- 

 gular germ : style scarcely any : the stigma sub- 

 globular, six-parkd, and concave : the pericar- 

 pium is a large, six-angled, six-celled capsule: 

 the seeds several, depressed and incumbent : the 

 fruit varies in figure, being in some species 

 roundish, in others long. 



The species are numerous ; but those em- 

 ployed for ornament in gardens are chiefly : 1 . A. 

 erecta, Upright Birthwort; 2. A. Sipho, Broad- 

 leaved Birthwort; 3. A. arborescens, Tree Birth- 

 wort; 4. A. sempervirem, Evergreen Birthwort ; 

 5. A. phtoloclua, Ramose-stalked Birthwort. 



The first rises with an upright stalk to the 

 height of three feet : the leaves are long, nar- 

 row, hairy, growing close to the branches, 

 having scarce any foot-stalks : the flowers come 

 out singly from the axils, are near four inches 

 long, of a dark purple colour, and grow erect ; 

 these are succeeded by slender vessels, about 

 one inch long, filled with flat heart-shaped 

 seeds. It is a native of Vera Cruz in New 

 Spain. 



The. second species is a tall twining shrub : the 

 root woody, spasmgly branched, fragrant, hav- 

 ing the smell of camphor : the stems are wrin- 

 kled, gray and fragrant : the branches and twigs 

 alternate, sarmentose, obscurely flexuose, round, 

 even, green, becoming gray : the leaves spread- 

 ing, remote, roundish, sinuate-cordate, acumi- 

 nate or scarcely acute, entire, villose and paler 

 beneath, veined : the nerves prominent on the 

 lower surface, flat, in length, and in breadth six 

 inches : the petioles shorter than the leaves, se- 

 micylindric, grooved above, somewhat villose : 

 peduncles lateral, at the joints below the leaf, 

 pendulous, longer than the petiole, one or two 

 together, one-flowered : the braete embracing 

 the middle of the peduncle, decurrent a little, 

 S 



