FITTONIA 



FLORICULTURE 



589 



rubro-venium, Veitch. Gymnostachyum Verschaffeltii, 

 Lemaire). Lvs. ovate, notched at the base, dull green, 

 often yellowish, veined carmine. F.S. 15:1581. I.H. 

 10:372. Var. Pearcei ( F. and G. Pearcei, Hort. ) . Lvs. 

 light, bright green ; veins light, bright carmine ; under 

 surface somewhat glaucous. Var. Daveana (F. Dave- 

 ana, Hort.). Once sold by J. Saul. "Foliage with light 

 center, bordered very dark green." More robust than 

 the type and with veins of stronger red. 



B. Veins white. 



argyroneura, E. Coem. Lvs. dark, shining green. 

 F.S. 16:1664. Gn. 36, p. 527, and 2, p. 319.-The velveti- 

 ness of the upper surface of F. Verschaffeltil is due to 

 large, projecting epidermal cells with an apical nucleus. 

 Instead of these characteristic cells, F. aryyroneura has 

 small cells and conical hairs, which are partitioned off 

 and have tubercles at the base. 



ROBERT SHORE and W. M. 



FIVE-FINGER. Potentate . 



FLACOURTIA (Etienne de Flacourt, 1607-1660, Gen- 

 eral Director of the French East India Co., Governor of 

 Madagascar and author of a history of Madagascar). 

 Bixctcece. This genus contains a spiny hedge and fruit 

 plant called the Rambustan or Governor's Plum. It is 

 a dense-leaved plant with purple fruits, grown only in 

 S. Calif. The whole order, with its 29 genera and 160 

 species, contains no plants of garden value except a few 

 Azaras and Aberia Caffra, another tropical spiny hedge 

 and fruit plant. Lvs. short-stalked, toothed : fls. small, 

 dioecious, in small racemes or glomes ; sepals 4-5, scab- 

 like, ciliated, overlapping; petals none; stamens many; 

 styles 2 to many : ovary 2-5-celled : fr. a berry. In 

 Aberia the sepals scarcely overlap. F. Hamontchi, 

 L'Herit., the Governor's Plum, comes from India, 

 Malaya and Madagascar. 



F. FRANCESCHI and W. M. 



FLAG, Iris. Cat Tail F., Typha. Corn F., Gladiolus. 

 Sweet F., Acorus Calamus. Yellow F., Iris Pseud- 

 acorus. 



FLAME-FLOWER. Kniphofia aloides. 



FLAX. As fiber plants are treated only incidentally 

 in this work, the reader is referred to certain publica- 

 tions of the Department of Agriculture. Report No. 10 

 of the Office of Fiber Investigations contains 80 pages, 

 published in 1898. Farmers' Bulletin No. 27, published 

 1895, is a summary in 16 pages. Another summary may 

 be found in the Year Book for 1897. Flax is occasionally 

 cult, for ornament, and is therefore described under 

 Linum. 



FLAX, False, is Camelina. New Zealand F., PJior- 

 mium tenax. Toad F., Linaria. 



FLEABANE. Erigeron. 



FLEMlNGIA (John Fleming, Pres. Medical Board of 

 Bengal; author of "A Catalogue of Indian Medicinal 

 Plants and Drugs"). Legumindsce. This genus includes 

 two shrubs, cult, only in S. Calif, and S. Fla. Herbs, 

 subshrubs or shrubs of the Old World tropics, erect, 

 prostrate or twining: Ivs. mostly with 3 digitate leaflets, 

 rarely 1 ; stipules none : fls. red or purple and mixed with 

 yellow, in crowded racemes or panicles ; stamens 9 and 

 1: pod short, oblique, swelled, 2-valved: seeds spheri- 

 cal. 



cong6sta, Roxb. Shrub, somewhat erect: If ts. broadly 

 lanceolated, the side ones 2-nerved, middle one 3- nerved: 

 racemes axillary, dense, shorter than the leaf-stalks. 

 India. "Rich, ornamental foliage: fls. purple." Fran- 

 ceschi. 



F. strobilifera, R. Br., has been introduced recently 

 in S. Fla. Ithas drooping fascicles of white pink- striped 

 fls. and large yellow bracts: Ivs. simple, ovate, acute: 

 plant shrubby. 



FLOATING HEART. Limnanthemum. 



FLORA'S PAINT BRUSH is a common name for 



Emilia flammea. 



FLORICULTURE. The cultivation of plants for orna- 

 mental purposes is known as Floriculture. The work is 

 limited largely to herbaceous or small plants, and is con- 

 fined for the most part to greenhouses and other glass 

 structures. In this country Floriculture did not assume 

 much importance until about 1825. Prior to that time a 

 number of firms were devoting considerable attention to 

 the work, but their field was so broad that they could 

 hardly be called florists. After the year named, affairs 

 generally were in a more settled condition, and there 

 began to be a marked increase in all lines of business. 

 The eastern states were rapidly increasing in popula- 

 tion and wealth, especially near Boston, New York, 

 Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, and with this 

 increase came a demand for flowers. 



Philadelphia was one of the first cities in which Flori- 

 culture assumed importance. This was due to the fact 

 that a great deal of wealth had accumulated there, and 

 the people therefore had time and opportunity to culti- 

 vate a love for the beautiful in the shape of flowers. 

 Philadelphia had advantages also due to climate and to the 

 active work of several horticultural societies which were 

 organized early, and did much to extend the interest, 

 already awakened. Boston was also a center for Flori- 

 cultural work, and many fine establishments were lo- 

 cated in that vicinity. New York was behind most of the 

 other cities, largely because the time of her people was 

 very fully occupied with business affairs. 



From 1830 to 1840 much progress was made in all 

 branches of the work. Rapid improvement in green- 

 house construction had been brought about, and many 

 facilities were afforded growers for heating and ventilat- 

 ing their greenhouses, which materially aided in the 

 production of better stock. The change from flues ta 

 hot water was the most important innovation of the pe- 

 riod. About 1850 other improvements which had a 

 marked influence on the industry were made in green- 

 house construction. Chief among these may be men- 

 tioned the abandonment of movable sashes and the sub- 

 stitution of fixed roofs, the use of larger-sized glass, 

 and the bedding of the glass in putty instead of placing 

 the putty on the outside. These improvements may ap- 

 pear trivial at the present time, but they marked an im- 

 portant advance in greenhouse construction. In those 

 early days the principal plants grown for cut-flowers- 

 were camellias, tuberoses, heliotrope, bouvardias, etc., 

 and for bedding and for ornamental and other purposes, 

 fuchsias, geraniums and bulbs of various kinds. 



By 1860 commercial Floriculture had assumed consid- 

 erable importance. The establishments in the main, 

 however, were devoted to many diverse lines of work ; 

 that is, the commercial florists of the time were required, 

 through the demands of the market, to grow not only 

 cut-flowers, but also plants for ornament and for bed- 

 ding. Things went on for the most part in this way 

 until after the civil war, when there began an era of 

 plant-growing, which continued until about 1868 or 1870. 

 At this time plants of all kinds were in demand in pref- 

 erence to cut-flowers, consequently many new establish- 

 ments were started, and these devoted practically all 

 their space to growing ornamental stock. The rose, 

 which had come into general use as early as 1850, was 

 rapidly superseding the camellia. Carnations were also- 

 being grown to a considerable extent, and much atten- 

 tion was devoted to lilies and other bulbous crops, such 

 as hyacinths, tulips, etc. About this time violets began 

 to attract attention, and the introduction of the variety 

 Marie Louise gave an impetus to the work which was 

 destined to have a marked influence on an important 

 phase of Floricultural development. 



About 1870 there was a noted increase in the demand 

 for cut-flowers, and in a short time this business as- 

 sumed important proportions. Soon there was a rush to- 

 change from the growing of plants for ornament and 

 for bedding to the forcing of roses, carnations and other 

 crops for the flowers alone. This demand for cut-flowers 

 had an important bearing on methods of culture and the 

 construction of houses, and it was found necessary in 

 many cases to modify existing methods and to change 

 the construction to suit the demands of the time. 



During the past twenty-five years the demand for cut- 

 flowers has been constantly increasing, and, while the 

 same is true of plants, the demand for flowers has been 



