588 



FIG 



FITTONIA 



Subsequent sweating and "processing" vary much as 

 with prunes, raisins and other dried fruits. Exceeding 

 care, cleanliness and long experience are all -important in 

 the production of a high-grade article. 



The dried Fig crop of California is large, and increas- 

 ing. In 1886 the total product was but 100,000 pounds. 

 In" the 5 years ending with 1899 it was 14,945,000 pounds, 

 an average of 2,989,000 pounds per annum. White 

 Adriatic, Black Californian and to a small extent White 

 Marseilles were the varieties producing this amount. 



Culture in the eastern states. The culture of the 

 Fig in the northern and middle parts of the United 

 States is extremely interesting, but is essentially dif- 

 ferent from California methods, or even from those pre- 

 vailing in the southern states. The tree is not hardy 

 enough to endure the climate excepting when grown as 

 a bush, and protected in winter, usually by covering it 

 with several inches of soil. In the southern middle 

 states a heavy covering of straw or of evergreen 

 branches is often sufficient. The first crop of fruit is all 

 that can usually be expected in the extreme north ; the 

 second crop sometimes ripens in the middle states. 



South of Virginia, many varieties of Fig are readily 

 grown in the open ground. The experiments of Berck- 

 mans, Massey, Normand, Reasoner and others plainly 

 show that the Fig is well adapted to a large area of the 

 southern states, but chiefly for table use not for drying, 

 which seems to require a less moist summer atmos- 

 phere. The Fig cannot be carried far to market in a 

 fresh state, and therefore its extended cultivation to 

 supply local demands will long be profitable. Even in 

 California the fruit markets are with difficulty kept 

 supplied, and many large towns seldom have fresh Figs 

 on the stands. CHARLES H. SHINN. 



FIG. Adam's F. is Musa paradisiaca. BarbaryF., 

 Opuntia vulgaris. Devil's F., Argemone Mexicana. 

 Hottentot's F., Mesembryanthemum edule. Indian F., 

 Opuntia vulgaris. KegF., Diospyros Kaki. Pharaoh's 

 F., Sycomorus antigtioruw,. 



FIG-MARIGOLD. Mesembryanthemum. 



FILAGO Germanica, the COTTON ROSE, is a cot- 

 tony annual plant somewhat like Leontopodium, which 

 is now and then collected by tourists and dyed like im- 

 mortelles. It was called fferba impia by the old herbal- 

 ists, because a new generation of clustered heads rises 

 out of the parent cluster as if undutifully exalting 

 itself. Fully described in botanies. 



FILBERT. Old World species of Corylus. 

 FILIPENDULA. See Ulmaria. 



FINGER GRASS. Species of Chloris and Panic urn. 

 FIORIN. Agrostis stolonifera and alba. 



FIR should not be used to mean anything outside 

 the genus Abies, but popularly it includes many trees 

 known to nurserymen and others as Picea. Fir is also 

 used loosely and inaccurately to include conifers of 

 other genera. 



FIRE-CRACKER, FLORAL. See Brevoortia. 



FIRE - ON - THE - MOUNTAIN . 



phylla. 



Euphorbia hetero- 



FIRE-PINK. Silene Virginica. 

 FIRE-PLANT is Euphorbia heterophijlla. 



FIRE-WEED. Epilobium angustifoUum and Erech- 

 tites hieracifolia. 



FISH-GRASS. See Cabomba. 



FITTONIA (Elizabeth and Sarah Mary Fitton, authors 

 of "Conversations on Botany," and friends of Robert 

 Brown). Acanthacece. Three species of low-growing 

 Peruvian herbaceous perennials, valued for the brilliant 

 variegation made by red or white venation of their large, 

 heart-shaped Ivs. Fls. borne singly in the axils of the 

 overlapping bracts, which form a peduncled, terminal 



spike; calyx segments linear-bristly; corolla tube slen- 

 der ; lip long, narrow, shortly lobed at the apex. 



Fittonia argyroneura (Fig. 823) and F. Verschaffeltii 

 are among the showiest and most satisfactory of tropical 

 trailing plants that are grown for their foliage. Heat, 

 moisture and shade are the main factors in their cul- 

 ture. They are standard plants in all the finer collec- 

 tions, and require a closer atmosphere than that of the 

 ordinary living room. They are chiefly grown in wide, 

 shallow pans on wire frames filled with moss and peat, 

 some sand, and a little very finelv rotted manure. 



823. Fittonia argyroneura (X%). 



They can be trusted with the most conspicuous position, 

 as they are always on dress parade. They look well on 

 a corner, with the pan tilted up somewhat so that some 

 of the foliage may hang down. It is a good plan to 

 place the pan on a small inverted saucer in a large sau- 

 cer of water chiefly for the sake of a continuous supply 

 of moisture, but also to foil the slugs, which are about 

 the only enemies of these fine plants. A fine, large speci- 

 men can be quickly and easily secured by the use of a 

 number of small plants. As fast as they grow they can 

 be pegged down in their porous rooting medium. If a 

 specimen has to be neglected for a long while it can be 

 quickly renewed by covering with a little soil the bare 

 portions of stem a,nd pegging them down. 



Fittonias are also amongst the finest elements in 

 "pyramids "or mounds along with Philodendrum, Cis- 

 sus discolor, Episcea cupreata, Nephthytis and Selagi- 

 nellas. There is often a bare, unsightly space under 

 the benches that can be transformed into a tangle of 

 tropical creepers by the use of such plants. A board 

 can be placed slanting toward the walks and covered 

 with rotten stumps, chunks of peat, and moss for the 

 plants to run in. The open borders near the walks have 

 hardly good enough drainage. They can also be pegged 

 down in mossy coverings for tubs of palms, as they can 

 stand unlimited watering. On the whole, they are ideal 

 plants for tropical conservatories, and it would be hard 

 to overstate their merits. 



A. Habit erect: height 1% ft. 



gigantea, Linden (Gymnostachyum gigantea,Lort.). 

 Subshrubby, branching : stems reddish violet only be- 

 tween the joints, with 4 ranks of silky, white, erect - 

 hairs : Ivs. opposite, elliptical, not notched at the base, 

 with 2 ranks of hairs, tapering more than in the other 

 species, dark, shining green ; veins carmine-red : fls. 

 pale, with a reddish brown band in the middle of the 

 side and upper lobes, and a dark yellow spot in the mid- 

 dle of the lower lip. R.H. 1869, p. 186. I.H. 16:611. 



AA. Habit trailing : height aboitt 6 in. 



B. Veins red. 



Verschaffeltii, E. Coem. (Fittonia and Eranthenmm 

 rubronervum and rubrovenosum, Hort. Eranthemiun 



