A S C 



A S C 



and as soon as the plants present themselves they 

 should be exposed gradually to the influence of 

 the open air to strengthen their growth, and 

 when sufficiently vigorous, be either pricked out 

 on warm borders, or in the situations where they 

 are to remain. In the former method they must 

 be transplanted the March following into the 

 places where they are to grow. In either mode 

 occasional shade and water must be provided, 

 and in the winter the roots be protected from 

 the action of the frost by being covered with old 

 tan, litter, or mats. These two sorts may also 

 Ik: occasionally increased by planting the oftsets 

 in the early spring. 



They last many years when proper care is 

 taken of them in the winter; but do not bear 

 frequent removing well, or Mower so strongly 

 under such circumstances. 



In the culture of the ninth and three follow- 

 ing sorts the protection of a green-houseis essen- 

 tially necessary in the winter season. 



The ninth and tenth kinds may be increased 

 either by seeds or cuttings. In the first manner 

 the seed should be sown in small pots filled with 

 a light earthy compost, placing them in a hot- 

 bed"; and when the plants have attained a pro- 

 per degree of size and strength they must be 

 pricked out into separate pots, a due degree of 

 shade and water being given till they have 

 stricken fresh root, and afterwards as occasion 

 may require. 



The eleventh, twelfth, and other Cape sorts, 

 may be propagated by sowing the seeds in 

 the latter end of March or beginning of April 

 on a moderate hot-bed, covered with light 

 mould, under glasses, or even sometimes, in 

 the open air; and when the plants are become, 

 sufficiently strong and a few inches in height, 

 they may be placed out into separate small pots 

 filled with light fresh earth, being at first pro- 

 perly shaded and supplied with moisture : after 

 being fully rooted they may be exposed in warm 

 situations in assemblage with other exotic plants 

 i ill the beginning of the autumn, when they must 

 receive the shelter of the green-house. 



The principal attention which is afterwards 



v with plants of this description is, that 



rly potting them as they increase in 



size, and carefully exposing them in the open 



r during the summer months. 



These sons are likewise capable of being 



raised by setting the cuttings of the shoots in 



the latter end or the summer in shady situations, 



and after they have stricken good roots carefully 



removing them into pots, to be managed as the 



seedling 



The thirteenth and following kinds require to 

 ml ly in the stove of the hot-house. 



They may be increased by sowing the seeds in 

 the spring either on a hot-bed, or in pots, and 

 plunging them into the hot-bed; the plants, 

 when sufficiently grown, being in the first 

 mode transplanted into separate pots of good 

 earth, to be, as in the latter method, plunged into 

 the tan-bed in the stove of the hot-house. Plants 

 of the thirteenth species should be annually 

 raised, as they decline in the production of 

 flowers after the first year. 



The first kinds may be employed in the. fronts 

 of the clumps and borders of pleasure- or other 

 gnmnds, where they have a good effect in mix- 

 ture with other plants of similar growth. 



The second sorts afford an agreeable diversity 

 in the green-house during the winter, and in 

 the compartments about the house in the sum- 

 mer season. 



Those of the last description present a pleas- 

 ing variety among other stove plants. 



ASCYRUM, a genus furnishing plants of 

 the perennial shrubby kind. The St. Peter- 

 wort. 



It belongs to the class and order Pohjadelphia 

 Polyandria, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Rotacece. 



The characters of which are : that the calyx is 

 a four-leaved perianthium : the outerleafletsoppo- 

 site, very minute, linear: the inner heart-shaped, 

 large, flat, erect: all permanent. The corolla has 

 four ovate petals ; the outer opposite, very large, 

 the inner less. The stamina consist of numerous 

 filaments, bristle-shaped, slightly united at the 

 base in four parts. The anthers are roundish. 

 The germ oblong. Style scarcely any. Stigma 

 simple. The pericarpium is an oblong capsule, 

 acuminate, one-celled, two-valved, inclosed by 

 the larger leaves of the calyx. The seeds nu- 

 merous, small, roundish, and fixed to the edge 

 of the valves. 



The species cultivated for ornament are, 

 1. A. hypericoides, Shrubby St.John's-wort, like 

 Ascyrum. 2. A. villosum, Hairy St. Peter's- 

 wort. 



The first is an elegant little shrub, seldom 

 rising above three feet in height. It is very full 

 of leaves and branches. The branches are di- 

 chotomous; the tw'igs compressed and ancipital. 

 The leaves opposite,~subsessile, lanceolate, ob- 

 tuse, entire, very finely perforated, and smooth; 

 and at their base are very small 3uids. The 

 flowers terminating, peduncled, solitary, and 

 yellow. Two leaflets oi he. lyx are four times 

 as big as the two others, and inclose them; 

 they are heart-shaped, blunt, and smooth. 

 C irolla cruciform; petals the size of the larger 

 leaves of the calyx, and spreading. The fila- 

 ments are distinct, upright, surrounding the 



