M O L 



MOM 



require it, rcpeatinj the waterings to the whole, 

 till jliey have struck fresh root and begun to 

 grow, when they will not require any turlher 

 culture, except the occa.-ional support of sticks, 

 which is most necessary in the last sort. 



As the setd ripens well, it will frequently pre- 

 vent the trouble of preserving the roots. 



But when these are taken out of the ground 

 in autumn, and laid in dry sand during the 

 winter, secure from frost, and planted again in 

 the spring, thev grow much larger and flower 

 earlier than the seedling plants : or when the 

 roots are covered in winter w ith tanner's bark 

 to keep out the frost, they often remain secure 

 in the borders, where the soil is dry. WTien the 

 roots thus taken out of the ground are planted 

 the following spring in large pots, and plunged 

 into a hot-bed, under a deep frame, they may be 

 brouffht forward, and raised to the height 

 of four or five feet, and flower much earlier in the 

 season. 



In collecting the seeds, care should be taken 

 not to save any from the plants which have plain 

 flowers ; and in order to have variegated flow ers, 

 the plain flowers should be pulled otf from those 

 plants which are intended to stand for seed. 



As the second sort is less hardy than the first 

 and third, unless the plants are brought forward 

 in the spring they seldom flower till ver)- late, 

 and their seeds do not ripen perfectly. 



All the sorts are proper for the principal bor- 

 ders of pleasure-grounds, being ver\- ornamental 

 in their large branchy grow th, as well as in their 

 extensive flowering. 



Tlie root of all the sorts is a strone purgative. 



MOLUCCA BAUM. See Moluccella. 



MOLUCCELLA, a genus containing plants 

 of the herbaceous annual exotic kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Didynamia 

 Gi/mnospermia, and ranks in the natural order 

 of FerticillatcB. 



The characters arc : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianthium, very large, turbmate, gradu- 

 ally finishing in a %-ery wide, bell-shaped, tooih- 

 spmy, incurved, peniianent border : the corolla 

 is one-petalled, ringent, less than the calyx : 

 tube and throat short: upper lip upright, con- 

 cave, entire; lower lip trifid : the middle seg- 

 ment more produced, emarginate • the stamma 

 have four filaments, under the upper lip, of 

 w hich two are shorter : anthers simple : the pis- 

 tillura is a four-parted germ : style the size and 

 situation of the stamens : stigma bifid : there is 

 no pericarpium : fruit turbinate, truncate, in the 

 bottom of the open calyx : the seeds four, con- 

 vex on one side, angular on the other, at top 

 wide and tnmcate. 



The species cultivated are: 1. M. Icevts, 



Smooth ^^o^uccaBaum; 2. M. sp'mosa, Prickly 

 Molucca Baum. 



The first has an annual root : the stem three 

 feet high, spreading out into many branches^ 

 which are smooth, and come out by pairs : 

 the leaves are roundish, deeplv notched on their 

 edges, opposite, on long petioles, smooth, light 

 green on both sides : at the base of the petioles 

 theflowcr^ come out in whorls : immedia'.eiv un- 

 der the calyx also come out two bunches of pretty 

 Ions spines, one on each side, each bunch con- 

 sisting of five or six spines arising from the same 

 point : the corolla is small, and being placed at 

 the bottom of the large calyx is not visible at a 

 distance ; it is white with a cast of purple. 

 It is a native of Syria, flowering in July and 

 August. 



In the second the root is also annual : the 

 stems smooth, purplish, four feet high, branch- 

 ing out in the same manner with the first : the 

 leaves are smaller, on shorter foot-stalks, deeper 

 and more acutely indented on their edges : the 

 calvx not so large, and cut into eight segments, 

 each terminated by an acute spine : the flowers 

 like those of the first sort. It is a native of the 

 Levant, flowering in July and August. 



Culture. — These plants may be increased by 

 sowing the seeds in the early autumn on a mild 

 hot-bed, or in pots plunged into it, and when 

 the plants have attained a little growth be 

 planted in small pots, and placed under a hot-bed 

 frame in winter, where they may have free air 

 in mild weather by taking oflTthe glasses, being 

 carefully covered in frosty weather, keeping them 

 pretty dry, otherwise they are apt to rot. In the 

 spriua: the plants may be turned out of the pot5, 

 with^their earth about their roots, and planted 

 in a warm border, defended from strong winds, 

 eiving them a little water to settle the earth to 

 Their roots; after which they require no other 

 care but to be kept clean from weeds, and be 

 supported with stakes. 



Thev afford ornament and variety in the bor- 

 ders among other tender annuals. 



MOLY. See Allium. 



MOMORDICA, a genus furnishing plants of 

 the annual trailing and perennial kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Monoecia 

 Sijngeiies'ia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Ciicurlhacea. 



Thecharacters are : that in the male flowers the 

 calvx is a one-leafed perianthium, concave, five- 

 cleft: segments lanceolate, spreading: the corolla 

 five-parted, fastened to the calyx, more spread- 

 incr, large, veined, wrinkled : the stamina have 

 three awl-shaped filaments, short: anthers on two 

 filaments bifid, eared at the sides ; on the third 

 simple, one-eared only, consisting of a compreised 



