MIC 



M I L 



leafed pcrianthium, sixtcen-pniltd : segment* 

 lanceolate, iiiiequal, the altcniatc ones reversed : 

 the eorulla one-pcialled, wheel-shaped, eight- 

 parted, larger than the calyx : segments linear- 

 lanceolate, spreading very much, revohUe at 

 the tip: nectary eight-valved, staminit'erous : 

 the stamina have eight awl-shaped, permanent 

 filaments : anthers linear, very long, pressed 

 close to the sivle : the pistiilum is an interior, 

 turbinate germ: style columnar, permanent: 

 stigma eight-parted : segments awl-shaped, re- 

 volute : the pericarpium is a turbinate capsule, 

 truncated, eight-celled, valveless: cells rhomb- 

 ed : the seeds very numerous, small, oblong, 

 inserted into the receptacles. 



The species is M. campanii oides, Rough- 

 leaved Miehauxia. 



It is a handsome biennial plant: the stem 

 simple, panicled when in flower, upright, her- 

 baceous, rough-haired, green, two feet high, 

 the thickness of the little finger, milky, as are 

 also the branches, peduncles and calyxes : the 

 branches alternate, axillary, flowering alll over, 

 spreading, reclining at the end : the root- 

 leaves are petloled, cordate ; the next pe- 

 tioled and runcinate : the stem-leaves half- 

 embracing, lanceolate, acute, widening into 

 ears at the base, irregularly gashed, serrate, 

 nerved, wrinkled, rough- haired, rigid, waved, 

 ascending at the sides, purple at the edge, four 

 in.ches long, an inch and a half wide: the flow- 

 ers are in a panicle, peduncled, braeted, hang- 

 ing down, white, four inches in diameter: some 

 slightly tinged with purple on the outside. It 

 \\as found in the Levant. 



Culture. — It may be raised from seed procur- 

 ed from its native situation and sown in the 

 early spring season, in pots plunged in a hot- 

 bed, or on a moderate hot-bed. When the 

 plants have attained a little growth they should 

 be removed into separate pots and be re-plunged 

 in the hot-bed. It must afterwards be mana- 

 ged as tender green-house plants. 



It aflords variety in collections of this sort. 



MICHELIA, a genus containing a plant of 

 the tree or shrub kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Poli/andria 

 Polygyria, and ranks in the natural prder of 

 Coaduiiuta;. 



The characters are: that the calyx is a threc- 

 Icaved pcrianthium: leaflets petal-form, oblong, 

 concave, deciduous : the corolla has fifteen pe- 

 tals, lanceolate ; the outer ones larger : the 

 stamina have very many awl-shaped filaments, 

 very short : anthers erect, acute : the pistiilum 

 has numerous germs, imbricate in a long spike: 

 styles none : stigmas reflex, blunt : the peri- 

 carpium berries (berried capsules) as many. 



globular, one-celled, half-bivalved, dispersed 

 in a raceme : the seeds four, (from two to 

 eight,) convex on one side, angular on the 

 other. 



The species is ISI. Champacn, Champaca or 

 Indian Michelia. 



In its native situation it is a loftv tree, with a 

 trunk as large as a man can compass, covered 

 with a thick ash-colourcd bark, but in this 

 climate it is only the size of a shrub : the leaves 

 are a span or more in length, and four or five 

 inches in width, contracted into an oblong nar- 

 row point, of a hard texture, fiat and smooth, 

 dusky green above, brighter green beneath, on 

 petioles an inch in length : the flowers on the 

 extreme twigs, axillary, on thick, upright pe- 

 duncles an inch and a half in length, and hav- 

 ing a very fragrant smell : the petals narrow, in 

 three rows ; in the outer row eight, three times 

 as broad as those in the middle row, which are 

 also eight; towards the top they are more round 

 and sometimes pointed or cuspcd, but less so 

 than in the middle row: in the inner row they 

 are small, short, very much cusped towards the 

 top, pale yellow : fruit oblong spheroidal, with 

 a thickish rind, first green, then pale whitish 

 yellow, having a very sharp taste, and not vcrv 

 pleasant smell. It is a native of the East 

 Indies. 



Culture. — This plant may be increased by 

 seeds, layers, and cuttings, managed in the 

 same manner as the above sort. 



It affords variety in collections of stove 

 plants. 



MILFOIL. See Achillea. 



MICE, a sort of vermin highly destructive to 

 several sorts of garden crops, such as peas and 

 beans in the early spring, and lettuces, melons 

 and cucimibers in frames in the winter season. 

 When discovered they should be immediately 

 destroyed. SeeVKitMiN. 



MILDEW, a vegetable disease very hurtful to 

 some kinds of plants. It is supposed to proceed 

 from different causes: some consider it as a kind 

 of thick clammy moisture, which falls on, or 

 rather transpires from, the leaves and blossoms 

 of plants, which, by stopping up the pores, 

 prevents perspiration, and hinders their growth. 

 The author of The Philosophy of Gardening- 

 suspects it to be a plant of the fungous kind, 

 which grows without light or change of airj 

 and with its roots penetrates the vessels of the 

 vegetables to which it adheres, which are probablv 

 previously diseased, and thus deprives them of 

 their due nourishment. But what is connnon- 

 ly denominated mildew is an insect which is 

 frequently foimd in vast nun)bers feeding upon 

 the effused moisture. In a treatise upon- this 



