V E R 



V E R 



difficulty and attention. They may be increased 

 by stcds, which should be sown in pots, or on a 

 hot-bed, in the early spring, phinging the pots in 

 the bed. When they ate in a state of grou-ih 

 to remove, ihev should be planted in separate pots 

 and replunged in a fresh hot-bed, shade being 

 given till they have taken new root, when they 

 iiiust have the management of tender plants of 

 the e.xotic kind The annual sorts shoidd be 

 kept in the stove, or a ghi^s case, where there is 

 a bark-bed to plunge iheni ia when too large to 

 be continued under the frames ; and the peren- 

 nial sorts may be placed siinply in such cases, 

 air bein"- admitted in a cautious manner. 



Of these kinds, such as do not aftord good 

 seeds in this climate, may be increased by plant- 

 ing cuttings in the summer months in pots of 

 good montd, placing them in the bark-bed of 

 the stove, where they may be preserved many 

 years. 



The eighth sort may be raised from seeds by 

 sowing them in the autunm, and by parting the 

 roots and planting them out at the same time. 

 They succeed best on a soft loamy soil, and are 

 so hardy as to thrive in the open air. 



The ninth sort may be readily increased by 

 planting cuttings in the spring or autumn in pots 

 of good mould. It should have the protection 

 of the green -house or a glass case. 



They aflbrd variety among other potted plants 

 in the green-house and stove, and some of the 

 hardy sorts occasionally in the open ground. 



VERBESINA, a genus atiording plants of the 

 herbaceous and woody flowering exotic kinds. 



It belongs to the class ant! order Si/ngenesia 

 Polys'imin Sfifiirflua, and ranks in the natural 

 order of Cwiipositce Opf)ositiJ'o//(B. 



The characters of which are : that the calyx 

 is common concave: leaflets oblong, chan- 

 nelled-coneave, erect, commonly equal, in a 

 double row : the corolla compoLind radiate : 

 corollets hermaphrodi'e, many, in the disk : 

 females about five in the ray : proper of the her- 

 maphrodite funnel-form, five-toothed, erect : — 

 female ligulate, trilld and wide or simple and 

 very narrow: the stamina in the hermaphrodites: 

 filaments five, capillary, very short : anthers cy- 

 hndrical, tubular: — the pistillum of the herma- 

 phrodite: germ somewhat oblong: style fili- 

 form, length of the stamens : stigmas two, re- 

 flexed: — in the females, germ somewhat oblong: 

 style filiform, length of the herinajihrodite : 

 stigmas two, reflexed : there is no pericarpium : 

 calyx unchanged : the seeds in the hermaphro- 

 dites solitary, thiekish, angular : pappus of two 

 awl-shaped unequal awns': in the females very 

 like tile others : the receptacle chaify. 



Tlic species cultivated are: 1. F. niatci, Wing- 

 stalked Verbesina; 2. F. Chinensli, Chinese 



Verbcsina; 3. F. iiodiflora. Sessile -flowered 

 Verbesina ; 4. F.fri/ticosa, Shrubby Verbesina-; 

 5. F. giiinntea, Tree Verbesina. 



The first is an herbacecHis plant, with an up- 

 right stem about two feet high, subdivided, 

 round, winged, rough-haired ; the branches al- 

 ternate, ei-'ct, axillary: the leaves oblong, acu- 

 minate, angular-toothed, nerved, somewhat rug- 

 ged, rough-haired : the stem has four wings 

 formed by the leaves running down it : the pe- 

 duncles elongated, terminating, pubescent, with 

 flowers in single heads, of a deep orange-colour. 

 It i:. perennial, and a native of South America, 

 flowering most part of the summer. 



The second species is a shrub with a single, 

 round, subtomentoscstem and undivided branches 

 from the upper axils of the leaves; which are 

 somewhat tomentose, bluntish, petioled: the 

 flowers terminating, solitary, peduncled, and 

 yellow. 



The third has an annual root : the stem her- 

 baceous, branched, a foot high, round, even : 

 the leaves sessile, mostly terminating, cuneate- 

 ovate, acuminate, nerved, hispid: the flowers ses- 

 sile in the axils of the terminating leaves, two or 

 three together, yellow, appearing in July. It is 

 a native of the West Indie.-:. 



The fourth species rises with a shrubby stalk 

 seven or eight feet high: the leaves deeplv ser- 

 rate and cut somewhat like those of the ever- 

 green oak : the flowers are yellow, produced 

 from the side of the stalks, and appear in July. 

 It is a native of the West litdies. 



The fifth has the stem fifteen feet high, and 

 the thickness of a thumb at the lower part, 

 smooth, green, and viscid; it is filled without 

 interruption by a white inodorous pith, as in a 

 rush ; is simple, or at least but very slightly di- 

 vided at top : and the whole stem is aphyllous, 

 the leaves occupying only the upper part and 

 branchlets: they are alternate, foot-stalked, and 

 the largest are about a foot and a half long; they 

 are villose and pinnatiiid, with distant oblong 

 lobes : from the bosoms ot the up'per leaves 

 spring round whitish-villose peduncles, bearing 

 at their tips the flowers, which are slijihtly foot- 

 stalked, and closely heaped together, forming, a 

 kind of panicle : the corollets are white, and the 

 anthers black. It is a native of the West 

 Indies. 



Culture. — These plants may be increased by 

 sowin;i; the seeds upon a moderate hot-bed, or in 

 pots plunged into it, in the early spring inonths, 

 and when the plants are of sufficient growth 

 they should be removed into separate pots, or 

 into a new hot-bed, giving shade till thi'y be- 

 come new-rooted ; afterwards managing them 

 as tender annual plants, beinir careful not t» 

 draw them up weak: about the middle of suiii' 



