HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



13 



AMP 



flower stalk, which rises to the height of two 

 feet. As it expands, the fetor it exhales is over- 

 powering and sickening, and so perfectly re- 

 sembles that of carrion as to induce flies to 

 cover the club of the spadix with their eggs. 

 Propagated by offsets. 



Ampelopsis. Woodbine. From ampelos, a vine, 

 and opsis, resemblance ; in reference to its re- 

 semblance to the Grape vine. Linn. Pentandria- 

 Monoqynia. Nat. Orel. Vitacecv. 



A. hederacea is well known by its common 

 names of Virginia Creeper and Five-leaved Ivy. 

 Its flowers have no beauty, but it is worth culti- 

 vating as an ornamental plant, from the bril- 

 liant scarlet and orange which its leaves assume 

 in autumn, and which look particularly well at 

 that season, when intermingled with those of 

 the common Ivy, from the fine contrast they 

 afford. The plant is of very rapid growth in any 

 kind of soil, and it is propagated by layers or 

 cuttings. The Virginia Creeper is one of our 

 finest indigenous climbers. It grows very rapid- 

 ly, attaches itself firmly to wood or stone build- 

 ings, or to the trunks of old trees, and soon 

 covers these objects with a fine mantle of rich 

 foliage. Nothing can be more admirably adapted 

 than this plant for concealing and disguising 

 the unsightly stone fences which are so com- 

 mon, and so great a deformity in many parts of 

 the country. A. Veltchii is a new variety, more 

 compact in habit, very bright, dark foliage, and ' 

 clings with great tenacity to wood as well as 

 brick or stone walls. It is perfectly hardy, i 

 Propagated by layers, cuttings, or seeds. 



Ampelygonum. The name is in allusion to the 

 grape-like fruit. Linn. Octandria-Trigynia. Nat. 

 Ord. Polygonacece. 



This interesting species from China is one 

 from which the finest quality of indigo is ob- 

 tained. It is an herbaceous perennial, obtained 

 readily from seed. 



Amsonia. In memory of Charles Amson, a cele- 

 brated traveler. Linn. Penlandria-Monogynia. 

 Nat. Ord. Apocynacece. 



A small genus of herbaceous perennial plants, 

 with beautiful blue flowers produced in ter- 

 minal panicled clusters. The several species 

 are natives of the United States. A. TaberncK- 

 montana, one of the more beautiful species, is 

 common on low grounds in the Southern and 

 Western States. 



Amygdalus. From amysso, to lacerate; in refer- 

 ence to the fissured channels in the stone of the 

 fruit; but some suppose from a Hebrew word 

 signifying vigilant, as its early flowers announce 

 the return of spring. Linn. Icosandria-Monogy- 

 nia. Nat. Ord. Rosacece. 



A. nana is the common Flowering Almond of the 

 gardens, of which there are several varieties, the 

 double white and double pink alone being de- 

 sirable. Native of Eussia. Introduced in 1683. 

 Propagated readily by suckers. A. communis 

 bears the sweet, and A. amarus the bitter Al- 

 monds of commerce. They are supposed to be 

 natives of western Asia, and are mentioned in 

 sacred history as among the best fruits of the 

 land of Canaan. The Almond :s plentiful in 

 China, in most eastern countries, and also in 

 Barbary. It is extensively cultivated in Italy, 

 Spain, and the south of France. The several 

 varieties, such as hard, soft, or paper shelled, 

 have all originated from A. communis. 



Anacardium. From ana, like, and kardia, the 

 heart ; in reference to the form of the nut. Linn. 

 Polygamia-Dioecia. Nat. Ord. Anacardiacea ',. 



ANA 



Ornamental evergreen trees, natives of the 

 East and West Indies, remarkable for their 

 beautiful, fragrant flowers, and for their fruit, 

 known as the Cashew-nut. The trees are too 

 large for introduction into the green-house. 

 Anaectochilus. From anoiktos, open, and cheUos, 

 a lip ; the apex spreading. Linn. Gynandria-Mo- 

 nandria. Nat. Ord. OrchvdacecK. 



This admired little plant has small, white, 

 rather inconspicuous flowers, but its want of 

 beauty here is fully compensated for in the rich 

 and lovely markings of the leaves, which are 

 covered with a gold network on a chocolate-col- 

 ored, velvet-like ground. It should be potted in 

 a mixture of leaf mould and moss, and a bell- 

 glass kept continually over it, in the warmest 

 part of the hot-house, in order to assimilate its 



E resent condition with the native one in the 

 ot, humid jungles of the East, from whence 

 it is derived. First introduced in 1836. 



Anagallis. Pimpernel. From anagelao, to laugh; 

 fabled to possess a virtue to remove sadness. 

 Linn. Pentandria-Monoyynia. Nat. Ord. Primu- 

 laceai. 



A genus of pretty dwarf annual and biennial 

 plants. The former have given place to the 

 many seminal improvements of the latter, inso- 

 much as to be rarely met with. They are uni- 

 versal favorites for planting in the beds of the 

 flower garden, where their numerous blue or red 

 flowers, expanded whenever the sun shines, are 

 very effective. They are propagated by seeds 

 or cuttings. When seed is desired, the branch 

 or plant on which it is growing should be taken 

 entire, a little before the autumn frosts begin, 

 and hung up in a dry, sunny place, such as be- 

 fore the windows of a shed, allowing the pods 

 to remain upon it until wanted in the spring for 

 sowing, as it requires a long time to become 

 properly ripened; afterward it vegetates freely 

 if sown in a gentle hot-bed. The garden varie- 

 ties are hybrids. The species under cultivation 

 were introduced from Southern Europe in 1830. 

 A. arvensis, the common Pimpernel, is plenty in 

 waste, sandy places in the United States, having 

 been introduced from Europe and become thor- 

 oughly naturalized. 



Ananassa. Pineapple. From nanas, the Guiana 

 name. Linn. Hexandria-Monogynia. Nat. Ord. 



A. scUiva,ihe common Pineapple, is universally 

 acknowledged to be one of the most delicious fruits 

 in existence. More than three hundred years 

 ago it was described by Jean de Lery, a Hugue- 

 not priest, as being of such excellence that the 

 gods might luxuriate upon it, and that it should 

 only be gathered by the hand of Venus. It is a 

 native of Brazil, and was first introduced into 

 Europe in 1555, having been sent there by An- 

 dre Thevet, a monk, from Peru. The plant is 

 perennial, not unlike the Aloe, but the leaves are 

 much thinner, and of a hard, fibrous texture, 

 with numerous short, sharp spines on the edges. 

 The fruit varies like most other species, there 

 now being nearly fifty varieties in cultivation. 

 Anastatica. From anastatis, resurrection, in ref- 

 erence to its hygrometrical property. Linn. Te- 

 tradynamia. Nat. Ord. Vrucifertr. 



An annual plant, indigenous to the Egyptian 

 deserts, and called the Kose of Jericho. When 

 full grown it contracts its rigid branches into a 

 round ball, and is then tossed about by the 

 wind. When it alights in water, or damp ground, 

 the branches relax and open out, as if its life 

 were renewed; hence its name of Resurrection 



