FITTONIA 



rubro-venium. Veitch. Gymnostachijum Verschaffeltii. 

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

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

 10:372. Van Pfiarcei (if. and e. P«4«ei, Hort.). Lvs. 

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

 surface somewhat glaucous. Var. D&veana (F. Ddve- 

 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. 



argyronedra, 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 J*'. Verschaffeltii is due to 

 large, projecting epidermal cells with an apical nucleus. 

 Instead of these characteristic cells, F. argyroneura has 

 small cells and conical hairs, which are partitioned off 

 and have tubercles at the base. 



Robert Shore and W. M. 



FIVE-FINGEK. Potenfilla. 



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

 eral Diric'tor <>( the French East India Co., Governor of 

 Miidagascar and author of a history of Madagascar). 

 Bixi1t:e<e. This genus contain-; a <\mi\ IumIhb and fruit 

 plant called the Bambustan nr ( i.iv.riHir^ Plum. It is 

 a dense-leaved plant with puiiil.' f'niii-. ^rinvn only in 

 S.Calif. The whole order, witli its J'.i i:,ii,ra 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. Eamontchi, 

 L'H^rit., the Governor's Plum, comes from India, 

 Malaya and Madagascar. 



F. Franceschi and W. M. 



FLAME-FLOWEK. Kniphofia a!oi<!es. 



FLAX. As fiber plants are treated only incidentally 

 in this work, the rca.hr is r.firrt-d to certain publica- 

 tions of the Departni.Tit nf A-ii.ulture. Report No. 10 

 of the OfBce of Fiinr lnv,^ii-;iti,.,is contains 80 pages, 

 published in 1898. Farnu-rs' Hull. -tin No. 27, published 

 1895, is a summary in 10 pages. Another summary may 

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

 cult, for ornament, and is therefore described under 

 Linum. 



FLEABANE. Fri,jero,i. 



FLEMlNGIA (John Fleming, Pres. Medical Roard of 

 Bengal; author of "A Catalogue of Indian Medicinal 

 Plants and Drugs "). Leguminbsw. 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: lvs. 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. 



cong^sta, Roxb. Shrub, somewhat erect: Ifts. broadly 

 lanceolated, the side ones2-nerved, middle one 3- nerved': 

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

 India. "Rich, ornamental foliage: fls. purple."— i^'raji- 

 ceschi. 



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

 in S. Fla. It has drooping fascicles of white pink-striped 

 fls. and large vellow bracts: lvs. simple, ovate, acute: 

 plant shrubby. ' 



FLOATING HEART. Limnanthemum. 



FLORICULTURE OSy 



FLORICULTURE. The cultivation of plants for orna- 

 mental purposes is known as Floriculture. The work is 

 limited largely tc. In rliar. ..n , ..r ■ in:ill |.l:i!iK, .in.l is con- 

 fined for the uimm |,;,,i '..■,,.!,,, , :i .'i,,i- glass 

 structures. In tin- ,- i ■ . ' assume 



the work, but tin r r. ,.i -.. i,im;m1 ihat tlicv could 



hardly be call. -i I'-i:- \ :..■ th.. \ .ar iiaiii..i; affairs 



generally wi-r.- i. . i , ■ ;...l liti.in.aTid there 



began to be a iii:.r[;. .1 );,,r. ;,... ,u all liii.-s of business. 

 The eastern states were raiiidly 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 In -t . iti.s in wbieb Flori- 

 culture assumed iraportau.. . Tlii^ \\a- .In.- t.. the fact 



that a great deal of wealtli ha.l : nnnilat.'.l ihere,and 



the people therefore bad tini.' an. I ..i.p..i iunii\ 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 w-..rk, an.l iiianv fine establishments were lo- 

 cated in that vi.iniiv. New York Was behind most of the 

 other .'iii. -. hi] -. h hei-ause the time of her people was 

 very fully ...a.ni.n .1 with business affairs. 



From is.'iO to 1840 much pr..-i. - ,i- »>!.■ in all 

 branches of the work. Rapi.l ii i irreen- 



house construction had been hi" i.i many 



facilities were afforded growers f.n ii. , ^ hm! s eiitilat- 



ing their greenhouses, which iiiateii.ili> auUd in the 

 production of better stock. The change from flues to 

 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 gla 



and the bedding of the glas^s 

 the putty 



the 



porta 



idvance in iri". ' 1 1 



,-S the prinei|.al l-mnis Li.nM 



were camellias, tuberoses., helioti..i,e. 



and for bedding and for ornamental am 



fuchsias, geraniums and bulbs of vario 



By 1860 commercial Floriculture had 



itead of placing 

 fments may ap- 

 \ marked an im- 



. for cut-flowers 

 (Ouvardias, etc., 

 other purposes, 



iid- 



erable importance. The establishments in the 

 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 L'ii\. .m ini|.. ins to the work which was 

 destined to ha • i .i : influence on an important 

 phase of Flori. n in i I ' .[-nient. 



About 18 iO tin ..■ \:i- a I -I..1 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 onjnethods of culture and the 

 construction of houses, and ^ 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 



