118 



ATROPA 



AURICULA 



ATROPA (after Atropos, that one of the three Fates 

 cut the thread of life). Solanacece,. BELLADONNA. 

 'Calyx with 5 ovate leafy divisions, enlarging in fruit ; 

 corolla bell- shaped or "funnel form. The purple ber- 

 ries are poisonous. The plant is used in medicine. 



Belladdnna, Linn. Plant low, spreading: Ivs. ovate, 

 "entire, pointed: fls. single or in pairs, nodding on lateral 

 peduncles; corolla dull purple. Eu. to India. 



ATTALfiA (attains, magnificent). Palmacece, tribe 

 Cocoinece. Spineless palms, with a single, thickish 

 ringed or scarred caudex: Ivs. arising almost perpen- 

 dicular and the upper part arched, pinnately cut, 

 linear - lanceolate, acuminate, with the margins re- 

 curved at the base; petiole concave above: fls. yellow: 

 fr. rather large. Species 20. Trop. Amer. The leaflets 

 on the lower side of the rachis hang straight down, and 

 those on the upper side point straight up. The Attaleas 

 are unprofitable to grow as commercial decorative 

 plants, because they take too long to make good sized 

 plants from the seedling state. Perfect drainage, and 

 a soil having a mixture of leaf-mold or peat, with a tem- 

 perature ranging from 60 to 80 F., will be found to 

 suit them. Put the seeds about 2 in. deep in a box and 

 sink the box in a warm border out of doors in summer, 

 over with a mulch of moss, and water frequently. 



A. Trunks becoming tall. 



exc61sa, Mart. St. 90-100 ft. high in the wild, 16-20 in. 

 In diam. : Ivs. erect-spreading: pistillate fls. solitary on 

 t;he branches of the spadix: drupe obovate. Braz. . 



funifera, Mart. St. 18-30 ft., 8-13 in. diam., smooth: 

 Ivs. as long as the caudex; petioles with very long hang- 

 ing fibers ; segments broadly linear- acuminate, in clus- 

 ters of 3-5, divaricate : drupe 4 in. long' Braz. 



Cohune, Mart. St. 40-50 ft. : Ivs. erect, pinnate, the 

 dark green pinnae 30-50 and 18 in. or less long; petiole 

 flat above and rounded below: drupe broadly ovate, 

 nearly 3 in. long, with a very short beak. Honduras. 

 Fruit used for soap-making, and exported from Cent. 

 Amer. for that purpose. Used for thatching. 



AA. Without trunks. 



spectabilis, Mart. Stemtess, or with a very short cau- 

 dex: Ivs. 18-21 ft. long, the lower segments 3-4 ft., the 

 Tipper 12-16 in., % in. wide, linear-acuminate. Braz. 



amygdalina, HBK. (A. nucifera, Karst. ). Stemless : 

 Ivs., 5-6 ft. long, crowded, pinnatisect; segments 90-100 

 on each side, ensiform, glabrous above, with hairs along 

 the outer margins beneath, 2-%-2% ft. long, about 1/^in. 

 "wide; petiole with rusty scales beneath. Braz. 



A. Guichire is a trade name: "extremely long-leaved." A. 

 Jlfdripa, Mart. (A. Mariposa, Hort.) See Maximiliana. 



JABED G. SMITH and G. W. OLIVER. 



AUBRIETIA (Claude Aubriet, French natural history 

 painter of last century). Cruciferce. Perennial, more 

 or less evergreen trailers, excellent for rockwork or edg- 

 ings. Prop, by seeds, or by layers or cuttings. The genus 

 is distinguished chiefly by the outer sepals being saccate 

 at base, the shorter filaments toothed, and the valves of 

 ^;he silique convex and not ribbed. Italy to Persia. 



deltoidea, DC. Lvs. oblong-spatulate, deltoid orrhom- 

 "fooid, with 1 or 2 teeth on either side, grayish, narrowed 

 into a very short petiole : fls. in few-fid., lax clusters, 

 the violet or purple petals twice the length of the calyx. 

 Grows 2-12 in. high. Pretty spring bloomer. Hardy 

 in the north. Var. Bougainville!, Hort. Fls. light vio- 

 let : dwarf and compact. Var. Campbell!, Hort. Fls. 

 large, purple : plant large. Var. Eyrei, Hort. Fls. 

 large and long, deep violet. Var. Graeca, Hort. Dwarf 

 nd compact, large-fld. One of the best. Var. Hender- 

 soni, Hort., probably the same as Campbelli. Var. 

 Xeichtlini, Hort. Profuse bloomer, pink fls. Var. 

 'Olympica, Hort. Fls. large, violet, like var. Eyrei. 

 Var. violacea, Hort. One of the largest forms. 



L. H. B. 



AUCUB A (its Japanese name). Corndcece. One ever- 

 green shrub, with glossy, often variegated Ivs., enduring 

 -smoke and dust: fls. small, dioecious, 4-merous, in pani- 

 cles: fr. a 1 -seeded drupe. Hardy S. In the N. states, Au- 



cubas are grown in coolhouses those adapted to azaleas 

 are excellent and they are kept evergreen by keeping 

 them in a pit during winter, or by holding them cool and 

 partially dry in the house. They will stand 5 or 6 de- 

 grees of frost in a pit. From cuttings of half-ripened 

 wood, good specimen plants may be had in 2 or 3 years. 

 Fruiting plants, with their numerous bright scarlet ber- 

 ries, are exceedingly attractive, but as the plant is 

 dioecious, there must be male plants with the female 

 ones. If grown in pots and under glass, the plant must 

 be fertilized by shaking the flowering male plant over 

 the female, or by applying the pollen with a camel's 

 hair pencil. If the male plant flowers earlier, the pollen 

 may be collected and kept dry until the female plant is 

 in flower ; it remains effective for some weeks. In the 

 open, Aucuba grows well in any good, somewhat moist 

 though well-drained soil, in a half-shaded position. In 

 pots, it will thrive in a sandy loam with sufficient drain- 

 age, and requires plenty of water during its growing 

 period. Fruiting plants should not have too large pots. 

 Prop, very easily by half-ripened greenwood cuttings at 

 nearly any time of the year, under glass, and by seeds 

 sown soon after maturity ; the varieties are sometimes 

 grafted on the common form in early spring, under glass. 

 Japonica, Thunb. Shrub, 4-15 ft. : fls. usually ovate, 

 3-8 in. long, remotely and coarsely dentate, acuminate, 

 shining : berries scarlet, rarely white or yellow, usually 

 oblong. From Himal. to Jap. B.M. 5512. I. H. 11:399. 

 Var. Himalaica, Dipp. (A. Himalaica, Hook. & Thorn.). 

 Lvs. ovate-lanceolate, more dentate : panicles more 

 pilose: fr. orange to scarlet. Himal. P. 8.12:1271. I.H. 

 6:197. There are many garden forms, mostly with 

 variegated Ivs., which are more cultivated than the 

 green forms. Handsome variegated varieties are : albo- 

 variegata, aurea, aureo-maculata (Flor. Mag. 10:527. 

 Flor. World 1876:353), tricolor, latimaculata, lim- 

 bata, medio-variegata, picturata, punctata, variegata 

 (B.M. 1197. F.M. 5:277). The following forms have 

 green Ivs. : angustifolia, dentata, macrophylla, ovata, 

 salicifolia, pygmaea. A. crani folia, once offered in 

 Amer. trade, is probably a form of A. Japonica. 



ALFRED RE-HDER. 



AUDIBERTIA (M. Audibert, of Tarascon, Provence). 

 LabiatfK. Perennial, hoary, aromatic herbs from Calif., 

 with rugose, sage-like Ivs. 



grandifldra, Benth. St. villous, glandular, 1-3 ft. 

 high : Ivs. woolly beneath ; lower Ivs. hastate, obtuse, 

 3-8 in. long, coarse ; bracts crowded, conspicuous : fls. 

 1-1% in. long, red or crimson-purple, in dense, showy 

 glomes or clusters. Prized for bees. 



AURICULA (Primula Auricula, Linn.). Fig. 171. A 

 European perennial, sending up short scapes, bearing 

 fls. of many colors. It is one of the most famous of 

 florists' flowers, but it has never received the attention 

 in this country that it has in Europe. Our summers are 

 generally too hot for it. In this country generally treated 

 as a greenhouse plant ; but it is hardy, and in the Old 

 World is grown largely in frames. See Primula. 



Auriculas may be propagated by seed for general pur- 

 poses and for the production of new varieties, but to 

 perpetuate very choice varieties, it is necessary to propa- 

 gate either by offsets or division of the plants. Seed 

 should be sown in shallow pans or 4-inch pots early in 

 March, so that the seedlings will be well developed be- 

 fore very warm weather sets in. The soil used in the 

 seed pans should be very light and sandy, the surface 

 should be made smooth,and the seeds then pressed lightly 

 into the soil, after which a light covering of sand should 

 be given, and the pans placed in a temp, of 60 until they 

 have germinated, which usually takes from three to four 

 weeks ; they should then be removed to a light position, 

 shaded from direct sunlight, in a rather lower tempera- 

 ture, to induce a stocky growth. As soon as the seedlings 

 are large enough to handle conveniently, they should be 

 pricked off into other pans or shallow boxes containing 

 a mixture of three parts leaf -mold and one part sifted 

 loam and clean silver sand. Watering should be care- 

 fully attended to, and everything done to promote active 

 growth, so that, if possible, the plants may be large 

 enough to require a second shift into other boxes, simi- 

 larly prepared, by the end of June. Auricula seedlings 



