HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



175 



PLU 



Middle States are admirably suited to this fruit 

 is sufficiently proved by the almost spontaneous 

 production of such varieties as the Washington, 

 Jefferson, Lawrence's Favorite, etc. ; sorts which 

 equal or surpass in beauty or flavor the most 

 celebrated Plums of France or England." There 

 are several species indigenous to this country, 

 some of which are of fair flavor, and are now be- 

 ing cultivated by some of our nurserymen. 

 Chickasaw Plum, Pnmus Chicasa, is a native of 

 Maryland and south-westward to Texas, where it 

 is known as the Dwarf Texas Plum. Beach 

 Plum, P. maritima. This species is a low, strag- 

 gling tree or shrub, from two to five feet high. 

 The fruit is nearly round, red or purple, and 

 covered with bloom. It is common in sandy 

 places on the sea-coast from Maine to Virginia, 

 and seldom ripens well elsewhere. The Wild 

 Ked or Yellow Phim is P. Americana. This spe- 

 cies grows from ten to twenty feet high, and is 

 common in hedge-rows from Canada to the Gulf 

 of Mexico. The fruit is pleasant-tasted, but has 

 a tough skin. It ripens in July and August. 

 The great difficulty in the cultivation of the finer 

 varieties of Plums is the Curculio, which punc- 

 tures the fruit in the green state, and lays its 

 eggs, which, by the time the fruit is ripe, de- 

 velops to the larvae state, completely destroy- 

 ing the fruit. The only effectual remedy thus 

 far is that so strongly recommended and prac- 

 ticed years ago by Mr. John J. Thomas and Dr. 

 Trimble, and so successfully practiced by Ell- 

 wanger and Barry, in their extensive Plum Or- 

 chard, to spread sheets under the trees and jar 

 the branches so as to shake off the insect. This, 

 to be effective, must be begun just after the fruit 

 has formed , and continued at least once a week 

 for thirty or forty days. 



Plumbago. Leadwort. From plumbum, a dis- 

 order in the eyes, which some species were for- 

 merly said to cure. Linn. Perdandria-Monogynia. 

 Nat. Ord. Plumbaifmacece. 



A genus consisting of green-house evergreens 

 and hardy herbaceous plants, natives of Europe, 

 Asia, and Africa. Three of the species are well 

 worth growing in the green-house. P. C'apensis, 

 with lavender-blue flowers.P. rosea, with rose-col- 

 ored flowers, and P. alba, with white flowers. 

 Each will grow well with ordinary treatment. 

 The former is a valuable plant, as it produces its 

 large panicles of lavender flowers nearly the 

 whole winter. P. Larpentoe has deep azure blue 

 flowers, flowering from September to November, 

 and is perfectly hardy. They are easily propa- 

 gated by cuttings of the roots or shoots and 

 division. Introduced in 1818. 



Poa. Meadow Grass. From port, signifying grass 

 or herbage. Linn. Triandria-Digynia. Nat. Ord. 

 Graminftcece. 



An extensive genus of grasses, containing 

 some that are valuable for hay and pasture. P. 

 pratensis is the well-known Kentucky Blue Grass, 

 introduced from Europe, and now thoroughly 

 naturalized. P. annua is one of the worst weeds 

 of English gardens. 



Pod Fern. See Ellobocarpus. 



Podolepis. From pous, a foot, and lepis, a scale; 

 flower-stalk covered with scales. Linn. Synge- 

 nesia-Superflun. Nat. Ord. Asteracece. 



Very pretty Australian plants. They are all 

 nearly hardy. The perennials are increased by 

 dividing the root, and the annuals (P. gracilix, 

 etc.) by sowing in the green-house or on a hot- 

 bed in February or March, and transplanting in- 

 to the open border in May. 



POI 



Podolobium. From pous, a foot, and lobos, a pod; 

 the seed-pod stands on a foot-stalk within the 

 calyx. Linn. Decandria - Monogynia. Nat. Ord. 

 Fabacece. 



A small genus of New Holland evergreen 

 shrubs, with handsome red and yellow flowers. 

 Ordinary green-house treatment will grow them 

 successfully. They are best grown from seed. 

 Introduced in 1822. 



Podophyllum. Duck's Foot. Abridged from 

 Anapodophyllum, a word signifying a duck's foot; 

 the leaves bear some resemblance to that; whence 

 the English name, Duck's Foot. Linn. Polyan- 

 dria-Monandria. Nat. Ord. Ranunculacece. 



This is a small genus of hardy herbaceous 

 plants, with thick creeping root-stocks, which 

 send up in spring a stem bearing two leaves, 

 with a solitary flower between them. P. peila- 

 tum, a native species, is common in moist, shady 

 woods, and is distinguished by the stamens be- 

 ing double the number of the petals. Its leaves 

 are from five to nine lobed; its flowers large, 

 white, and nodding; and its fruit egg-shaped and 

 yellowish, somewhat resembling a small lemon, 

 and hence sometimes called Wild Lemon, but 

 more generally May Apple, or Mandrake. Its 

 foliage is narcotic and poisonous, but the acid 

 pulp of the fruit is eatable, though of a mawkish 

 flavor. The roots possess active medical proper- 

 ties, highly esteemed by the Eclectic practition- 

 ers. 



Pogogyne. From pogon, a board, and gym, the 

 female organ; the style is bearded. Linn. Didy- 

 namia-Gymnospermia. Nat. Ord. Lamiacea;. 



P. multiflora, the only known species, is a 

 hardy annual. It is a native of California, and 

 was introduced in 1836. The flowers are lilac, 

 and produced in great numbers. It thrives 

 with the simplest garden culture. 



Pogonia. From pogon, a beard ; alluding to the 

 fringed lip of the flowers. Linn. Gynandria- 

 Monandria. Nat. Ord. OrchidacerK. 



A small genus of terrestrial Orchids, common 

 both in temperate and tropical regions. They 

 are small plants, with drooping flowers, on 

 slender pedicels, of a purple or greenish-yellow 

 color. Several of the species are found from 

 New York southward. 



Poinciana. Flower Fence. Named after M. de 

 Poinci, once Governor of the Antilles. Linn. 

 Decandria-Monogynia. Nat. Ord. f'abacece. 



A small genus of very beautiful green-house 

 evergreen shrubs, natives of South America arid 

 the East Indies. P. ptdcherrima, the Barbadoes 

 Flower Fence, is a really beautiful object when 

 well grown, as is also P. regia, the former hav- 

 ing large red and yellow flowers, and the latter 

 rich crimson. They require a strong heat 

 through the growing season to cause them to 

 flower freely. Propagated by seeds or from cut- 

 tings of half-ripened wood. Introduced in 1778. 

 Poinsettia. Named in honor of Joel R. Poinsette, 

 American minister to Mexico, who discovered 

 the plant in Mexico in 1828. Linn. Monoecia- 

 Afonandria. Nat. Ord. Eupfu>rbiacere. 



A small genus of evergreen shrubs from Mex- 

 ico, producing large terminal bracts of fiery 

 scarlet leaves from December until February; 

 they give the plant a most splendid appearance. 

 There is a variety with white bracts, but it is 

 inferior to the species. Poinsettia pnlcherrima 

 plenissima, a new and double variety of recent 

 introduction, is a magnificent plant, remark- 

 able for the distinct character of its floral 

 bracts, the size of the heads in which they are 



