HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



145 



NEL 



have always held it in sacred regard. That char- 

 acter has not, however, limited it to merely or- 

 namental purposes, for the rcots are not only 

 served up in summer with ice, but they are also 

 laid up with salt and vinegar for the winter. 

 The leaves are covered with a fine microscopic 

 down, which, by retaining a film of air over the 

 upper surface, prevents it from being wetted 

 when water is poured on it, the water rolling 

 off in drops; this has a very pretty appearance, 

 the drops of water looking like drops of mol- 

 ten silver. The Hindoos have a proverb founded 

 on this peculiarity of the leaves, to the effect 

 that the good and virtuous man is not enslaved 

 by passion nor polluted by vice ; for though he 

 may be immersed in the waters of temptation, 

 yet, like a lotus leaf, he will rise uninjured by 

 them. N. luteum ( Yellow Nelumbo or Water Chin- 

 quapin) is a very beautiful species, with yellow 

 flowers from six to ten inches in diameter, com- 

 mon in the Western and Southern States. It 

 has been introduced into the Delaware near 

 Philadelphia, and also in some parts of New 

 Jersey and Connecticut. It may be grown in a 

 large tub, or in a tank, in the same manner in 

 which the white Pond Lily is often grown. 

 Nelumbo. See Nelumbium. 



Nem.atanth.u8. From nema, a thread, and anthos, 

 a flower; in allusion to the pendant, thread-like 

 peduncles on which the flowers are suspended. 

 Linn. Didynamia-Angiospermia. Nat. Ord. Ges- 

 neracecK. 



A genus of green-house evergreen trailing 

 plants, with large scarlet flowers, singly, in the 

 axils of the leaves. It requires a warm, humid 

 atmosphere, in which it is a rapid grower. It 

 is a native of Brazil. Introduced in 1841. 

 Nemesia. Name of a plant in Dioscorides. 

 Linn. Didynamia-Anyiospermia. Nat. Ord. Scro- 

 phnlariaceai. 



A small genus of low-growing annuals from 

 the Cape of Good Hope. They have opposite or 

 whorled leaves, and terminal racemes of white 

 and purplish tinted flowers. They are of but 

 little interest. 



Nemophila. From nemos, a grove, and phileo, to 

 love; the plants delight in a shady situation. 

 Linn. Petandrla-Monoijynia. Nat. Ord. Hydrophyl- 

 lacece. 



A small genus of very beautiful hardy annuals 

 from California. N. insignis is a beautiful bor- 

 der plant, with lovely blue flowers. It should 

 be grown in a moist, partly shaded situation. 

 The seed should be sown very early in spring. 

 The Nemophilas make fine pot plants for flow- 

 ering in the green-house in winter; and for this 

 purpose the seed should be sown early in the 

 fall, and the plants kept rather cool in winter. 

 Neottia. From neottia, a bird's-nest; referring to 

 the interlacing of the numerous roots. Linn. 

 (j-yn'in'li'ln-Miin'iiidria. Nat. Ord. OrchidacecK. 



A genus of hardy and green-house terrestrial 

 Orchids, of but little interest and rarely culti- 

 vated. 



Neottopteris. From neottia, a bird's nest, and 

 pteris, a fern; founded on the Bird's Nest or 

 Spleenwort Fern. Linn. Cryptogainia-Filices. 

 Nat. Ord. Polj/podiacece* 



A genus of rather interesting Ferns, from New 

 Zealand and the East Indies, rarely seen under 

 cultivation. 



.Nepenthes. Pitcher Plant. From nepenthes, 

 grief-assuaging; its supposed medicinal quality. 

 Linn. Diwcia-Monadelplda. Nat. Ord. Xepentha- 



NEP 



Among the many curious forms which abound 

 in the vegetable kingdom, perhaps few arrest 

 more general attention than do the members of 

 this genus. The extraordinary appendage to 

 the apex of each leaf has obtained for it the ap- 

 propriate appellation of the Pitcher Plant. Con- 

 nected with the point of the leaf, by means of a 

 long, pendant, strap-like ligament, hangs a hol- 

 low tube, sometimes of the color and consistence 

 of the leaf, shaped much in the manner of some 

 antique vase, which will hold from half a pint to 

 near a quart of water, and extending over the 

 mouth of which is what may be readily likened 

 to a lid, the whole hanging loosely by the strap 

 before mentioned, and appear only as though 

 provided by a beneficent Providence to catch 

 and preserve the dews of heaven for the supply 

 of the animal population of the sultry clime 

 from which it is obtained. In cultivation, the 

 species require very similar treatment to what 

 is usual for East Indian Orchids. They are of 

 an upright, slender habit, requiring some sup- 

 port to their flexile branches ; and for this pur- 

 pose light iron rods should be fixed to the pot 

 or basket in which they are grown, and circular 

 hoops afford the easiest means of fastening the 

 leaves and pitchers in their respective places. 

 Leaf mould, with an equal quantity of decaying 

 Sphagnum moss, appears the most proper me- 

 dium for their roots, and with a damp atmos- 

 phere of about 80 in summer they grow vigor- 

 ously. The necessary reduction of heat and 

 moisture in winter must be observed with these 

 as with all other plants. The most common of 

 the species is N. distillatoria, but a recent intro- 

 duction (N. ampullacea ) is one of the finest, its 

 pitchers being nearly twice the size of those of 

 the first named. N. Loddiyes'd is also a new ar.d 

 very fine species. N. Rajflesiana, of late intro- 

 duction, is another very curious and handsome 

 species. Like many others, it has two kinds of 

 pitchers, those on the lower leaves being blad- 

 der-shaped, with two fringed wings in front, 

 about four inches long by two wide, and beauti- 

 fully spotted with rich brown ; while those on 

 the upper leaves are less beautifully colored, a 

 good deal longer, and funnel-shaped, narrowing 

 gradually to the base, where they gracefully 

 curve upward. Quite a number of remarkably 

 beautiful hybrids have been introduced within 

 a few years from seeds. The genus is distrib- 

 uted throughout Borneo, Sumatra, and the ad- 

 jacent islands of the Indian Archipelago. In- 

 crease is had by separating the offsets produced 

 near the base of the stems of the old plants; these 

 should b3 taken off and potted at once, in the 

 manner of mature specimens, and if allowed the 

 warmest part of the house, or a brisk bottom 

 heat, soon establish themselves. To believers 

 in the Darwinian theory of insect-eating plants, 

 the Pitcher Plants offer a good argument. In 

 nearly all the varieties a fluid is found at the 

 bottom of the "pitchers" that seems to attract, 

 and at the same time poison, ants that flock to 

 it in immense numbers, sometimes a thousand 

 being found in a single " pitcher." Mr. William 

 Smith, Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens, 

 Washington, D. C., holds to the belief that the 

 fluid intoxicates the insects. First introduced 

 in 1820. 



Nepeta. Catnip, Cat Mint. From Nepet, a town 

 in Tuscany. Linn. Didynamia-Oymnospermia.. 

 Nat. Ord. LamiaceoK. 



An extensive genus of hardy herbaceous 

 plants, properly classed with troublesome 



