HENDEESON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



TUB 



Turtle-Head. One of the popular names for 

 CheUme, which see. 



Tussilaeo. Colt's Foot. From lussis, a cough; for 

 curing which the flowers have been employed. 

 Linn. Sunqenes ia- Superflua. Nat. Ord. Asteracca?. 

 Hardy 'and half-hardy perennials, natives of 

 Central Europe. One of the species, T. Farfara, 

 is common in wet places in the Middle and New 

 England States, having become thoroughly nat- 

 uralized. They all grow readily in the garden, 

 and some of them are quite ornamental. Prop- 

 agated by division of the roots, which are in- 

 clined to increase rapidly. 



Twayblade. See Listera. 



Twig Rush. The popular name of the common 

 bog or marsh plant, Cladium mariscoides. 



Twin Flower. A name applied to Linnaxi bore- 

 <dis, which see. 



Twin Leaf. The local name of the genus Jeffer- 

 sonia, which see. The plant is also sometimes 

 called hheumatism Root. 



Tydsea. Derivation not given. Linn. Didynamla- 

 Dlfjynia. Nat. Ord. Qesmracece. 



A genus of beautiful herbaceous plants, na- 

 tives of the mountains of New Grenada. There 

 are at present only four described species, which 



UMB 



are better known under their old name of Achi- 

 menes, the best known being T. picta. ' ' They ore 

 erect, robust herbs, with fine blotched leaves, and 

 axillary, bright-colored flowers. The calyx is con- 

 nate with the ovary, the corolla almost fun- 

 nel-shaped, and five-lobed ; the stamens are in- 

 cluded, the ovary surrounded by five glands, 

 the stigma five-cleft, and the fruit a capsule." 

 The Gesneracece have been much cut up and di- 

 vided of late years, so that one hardly knows 

 where to look for the plant he wants to find. 

 See Achimenes and Gesnera. 



Typha. Cat-Tail Flag. From typhos, a marsh; 

 referring to the habitat of the species. Linn. 

 Moncecia-Triandr'M. Nat. Ord. Typhacece. 



T. latifolia, the common Cat-Tail Flag of our 

 marshes, a native of Europe and the East, has 

 become naturalized in almost all parts of the 

 United States. It is also common in Europe. 

 A species with narrow leaves is more rare. The 

 pollen of Typha is inflammable, like that of Ly- 

 copodium, and is used as a substitute for it. The 

 " Cat-Tail," in the minds of most boys, is closely 

 associated with the "Fourth of July," being 

 largely used by them for "setting off" their 

 fireworks and crackers. 



u. 



TTlex. Furze. Said to be taken from the Celt- 



U ic ac, a point ; in allusion to its prickly 

 branches. Linn. Monadelphia-Decandria. Nat. 

 Ord. Fabacece. 



A genus of very beautiful evergreen shrubs, 

 with yellow flowers, both double and single, 

 indigenous to Great Britain and the South of 

 Europe. They are highly esteemed for hedge 

 plants, and the young tops are cut and fed to 

 cattle and horses ; but their value as a food 

 plant is considerably questioned. None of the 

 species thrives in this country, being too tender 

 for our Northern States, and too impatient of 

 our tropical summers in the South. 



Ulmus. Elm. Supposed to be from the Saxon 

 word dm or vim, a name which is applied, with 

 very slight alterations, to the trees of this genus 

 in all the dialects of the Celtic tongue. Linn. 

 Pentandria-Digynia. Nat. Ord. Ulmacece. 



This genus takes the first rank in the great 

 army of American trees. When asked, ' ' What 

 is the handsomest tree in America?" we unhes- 

 itatingly say, " U. Americana, the American 

 Weeping or White Elm." Of the several species 

 that make up this genus, none in any respect 

 compares with this. U. fulua is the common 

 Red or Slippery Elm.' U. racemosa is tho Corky 

 White Elm. U. alata is the Winged Elm or 

 Whahoo of the South and West. The celebrated 

 English Elm is U. campestris. All the species 

 are propagated from seeds. 



Umbilicus. From umbilicus, the navel; in allu- 

 sion to the concave leaves of some of the species. 

 Linn. Decandria-Tetragynia. Nat. Ord. Crassula- 

 cece. 



A genus of interesting plants, natives of South- 

 ern Europe, the Levant, and tropical Africa, and 

 now usually placed in Cotyledon, which see. In 

 some of the species the radical leaves are rosu- 

 late, or disposed like the petals in the flower of 



a double Rose; others have them alternate on 

 the stalk; in all they are fleshy. The flowers, 

 which are either white or yellow, grow in branch- 

 ed or simple racemes. They grow naturally in 

 dry, stony places, and are used in rock-work, 

 and lately have come into use in England for 

 ' carpet " work and edging. They grow well in 

 pots, and require the same treatment as Echeve- 

 rias and Sewpervivums. Introduced in 1732. 

 Umbrella China Tree. Melto Azedarach. Linn. 

 Didynimia-D;cagynia. Nat. Ord. Meliacece. 



A small genus of tropical trees and shrubs, 

 with alternate pinnate or bipinnate leaves, and 

 flowers borne in panicles. M. Azedarach, com- 

 monly known as the Pride of India, False Syca- 

 more, Holy Tree, Arbre a Chapelet, Bead Tree, 

 Hill Margosa, and in our Southern States also 

 as Umbrella China Tree and China Berry, is, 

 says Dr. Masters, widely diffused over the globe, 

 having been carried to America, Africa, and dif- 

 ferent parts of Southern Europe. It is from 

 thirty to fifty feet high, with bipinnate leaves, 

 and large bunches of fragrant, lilac-colored 

 flowers, which are sucaeeded by a fruit about 

 the size of a Cherry, with an external pulp and 

 a hard nut within. In Southern France and 

 Spain the tree thrives well in the open air, as it 

 does in our Southern States. The Arabic name, 

 Azedarach, implies a poisonous plant, and the 

 fruit is generally considered so. The root is 

 bitter and nauseous, and is used as an anthel- 

 mintic. The tree is supposed to possess febri- 

 fugal properties, and N a decoction of the leaves is 

 used as a remedy for hysterics. From a recent 

 number of the American Agriculturist we make 

 the following extract: "The tree is not hardy 

 north of Virginia, but southward it is a com- 

 mon street tree, and frequent ar6und country 

 places. The ease with which it may be trans- 

 planted and its rapid growth are somewhat off- 



