W A C 



W A L 



WACHEKDORFIA, a genus furnishing 

 plants of the exotic flowering perennial 

 kind, for the green-house. 



It belongs to the class and order Trlandiia 

 !Mnnog7/7iia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 J^yisatce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a two- 

 valvcd spathe : the corolla six-petalled, une- 

 qual : petals oblong, the three upper ones more 

 erect, three lower spreading; nectary of two 

 bristles at the inner sides of the upper petal : the 

 stamina has three filiform filaments, declined, 

 shorter than the corolla : anthers incumbent : 

 the pistilhun is a superiorgerm, roumlish, three- 

 cornered : stvle filiform, declined : stigma sim- 

 ple : the periearpium is a snbovate capsule, 

 three-sided, obtuse, three-celled, three-valved : 

 seeds solitary, rough-haired. 



The species cultivated are: I. If. lln/rsiflora. 

 Simple-stalked Wachcndorfia : 2. JJ. pan'ieu- 

 lata, Panicled Wachcndorfia: 3. JV. hirsuta, 

 Hairy Wachcndorfia. 



The first has a thick tuberous root, reed-like, 

 of a deep-red colour, sending out many perpen- 

 dicular fibres of the same colour, and spreading 

 into several ofisets : the leaves, which rise im- 

 mediately from the root, are large, with five 

 plaited folds ; the biggest are two feet long, and 

 three inches broad, of a deep green-colour : the 

 flower-stalk rises from the centre of the heads 

 between the leaves to the height of three or four 

 feet, with leaves of the same form with those 

 below, but narrower, and ranged alternately, 

 embracinc; the stalk half round with their base : 

 the flowers when young arc enclosed in sheaths, 

 which, after some time, open and make way 

 for the flowers to come out ; then they wither 

 and dry, but remain upon the stalk like those of 

 the vellow Asphodel : they form a loose spike, 

 and there are several upon one common pedun- 

 cle, which open one after the other : the upper 

 flowers stand almost upright, but the lower nod ; 

 they are hairy and of a saffron colour on the 

 outside, but smooth and yellow within. It is a 

 native of the Cape. 



The second species, when in flower, is a foot 

 hisjh : the root perennial, a little creeping, fur- 

 nished with oblong cylindrical and nearly per- 

 pendicular tubercles : the leaves radical, two- 

 ranked, sessile, cquitant, vertical, spreading, 

 dilated on the inner side at the base, channelled. 



linear-lanceolate, pointed, entire, nerved, bright 

 green, very like those of the first, but only one- 

 third of the size, dying soon aftir the plant has 

 done flowering, and not appearing again for 

 some months: the stalk erect, cylindrical, bear- 

 ing one or two small leaves, branched, many- 

 flowered : general fiower-stalks alternate, spread- 

 ing, racemose, bearing from three to five 

 flowers, cylindrical, downy : partial ones short, 

 downy, all directed upwards, smgle-flowered. 

 It is a native of the Cape. 



The third seems chiefly to diflcr from the 

 second in having hairy leaves, a more slender 

 and taller stem, reddish-brown, and not gieen 

 as in it ; its branches more divaricate, the two 

 upper lateral petals more contiguous, and its 

 flowers when closed form a slenderer and more 

 compact column : the incumbent anthers seem 

 also to be shorter and rounder: the root-leaves 

 oblong, lanceolate, three or four, about three or 

 four inches high: the stem about three times 

 their length : the segments traversed longitudi- 

 nally on the outside by a brown hairy fillet ; 

 outer u[)per one wholly brown and pubescent 

 outwards : the flowers scentless, opening in 

 succession, closing towards evening: they ex- 

 pand in the month of July. It is a native of 

 the Cape. 



Culture. — ^These plants may be increased by 

 offsets, taken from the heads of the roots, in 

 the beginning of autumn, planting them in pots 

 filled with soft loamy earth, mixed with a little 

 sea sand, and when the season proves dry, pla- 

 cing them so as to have only the morning sun, 

 until the ofl"sets have taken new roots, when 

 they must be placed in a sheltered situation, of 

 as to have the full sun. On the approach so 

 frosts, they should he placed in frames, and 

 managed as plants of the tender kind. 



The second sort is very iiTi patient of cold, 

 and seldom flowers in this climate. 



They produce variety among other potted 

 plants of the green-house kind. 



WALK, a drv firni track in the garden 

 or pleasure ground, which is formed of dif- 

 ferent so^ts of materials : as gravel, sand, &c. ; 

 but where these cannot be procured, it is 

 sometimes laid v^'ith powdered coal, sea-coal 

 ashes, and powdered brick : these are, however, 

 rarely used, when either gravel or sand can be 

 procured. Where sea-coal ashes can be had, 



