AMA 



[31] 



AMB 



A.pa'llida (pale-flowered). 2. Flesh. Au- 

 gust . Cape of Good Hope . 1712. 



Ua'nda (charming). 1|. June. Whitish. 

 Cape of Good Hope. 1754. 



These are all that we can arrange in 

 this genus, although we think that Bruns- 

 vigia Josephine and B. grandiftora are 

 true amaryllises, having crossed, or pro- 

 duced fertile seeds, with Amaryllis blanda ; 

 but as they are very distinct in the ap- 

 pearance of their leaves and bulbs, no 

 author but Dr. Herbert has yet ventured 

 to unite them with amaryllis. Without 

 aiming at a reform of our botanical 

 classification, we think it desirable to 

 keep hippeastrum apart from amaryllis, on 

 account of the opposite habit of the bulbs 

 of the two genera, those of amaryllis grow- 

 ing only late in the autumn ; and through 

 the winter in Europe, while those of 

 hippeastrum are under the gardeners' con- 

 trol, and may be managed to grow at dif- 

 ferent periods. Our great aim should be 

 to get crosses between Amaryllis and 



Valotta. Thus reduced, Amaryllis would 

 turn evergreen, or at least produce leaves 

 and flowers simultaneously. All bulbs 

 which flower without their leaves are 

 objectionable. 



AMASO'NIA. (In honour of an Ameri- 

 can traveller, named Amason. Nat. ord., 



Verbenes [Verbenaceae]. Linn. Sys., 14- 

 Didynamia 1-angiospermia). Stove her- 

 baceous perennials. Sandy loam; suckers. 



A. ere? eta (upright). 2. Yellow. September. 



Maranhao. 1823. 

 puni'cea (scarlet). 2. Yellow. September. 



Trinadad. 1825. 



AM ATE' un. As the true qualification of 

 an amateur sometimes is questioned at 

 local horticultural shows, we give our 

 definition. We consider that person is 

 an amateur who has a taste for a pursuit 

 (floriculture, or horticulture, for instance) 

 but who neither follows it as a profession, 

 nor for pecuniary advantage. 



A'MBURY is a disease peculiar to the 

 Cabbage- worts, and is known by the va- 

 rious names of Hanbury, Anbury, and 

 Club Root. Fingers and Toes, a name 

 applied to it in some parts, alludes to 

 the swollen state of the small roots of 

 the affected plants. 



Cabbage plants are frequently infected 

 with ambury in the seed-bed, which 

 infection appears in the form of a gall 



or wart on the stem near the roots. 

 This wart contains a small white mag- 

 it, the larva of a little insect called 

 e weevil. If the gall and its tenant 

 being removed, the plant is placed again 

 in the earth, where it is to remain, 

 unless it is again attacked, the wound 

 usually heals, and the growth is little 

 retarded. On the other hand, if the 

 gall is left undisturbed, the maggot con- 

 tinues to feed upon the alburnum, or 

 young woody part of the stem, until the 

 period arrives for its passing into the 

 other insect form, previously to which 

 it gnaws its way out through the ex- 

 terior bark. The disease is now almost 

 beyond the power of remedies. The 

 gall, increased in size, encircles the 

 whole stem ; the alburnum being so 

 extensively destroyed, prevents the sap 

 ascending, consequently, in dry weather, 

 sufficient moisture is not supplied from 

 the roots to counterbalance the trans- 

 piration of the leaves, and the diseased 

 plant is very discernible among its 

 healthy companions by its pallid hue 

 and flagging foliage. The disease now 

 makes rapid progress, the swelling con- 

 tinues to increase, for the roots continue 

 to afford their juices faster than they can 

 be conveyed away ; moisture and air are 

 admitted to the interior of the excres^ 

 cence, through the perforation made 

 by the maggot ; the wounded vessels 

 ulcerate, putrefaction supervenes, and 

 death concludes the stinted existence 

 of the miserable plant. The tumour 

 usually attains the size of a large hen's 

 egg, has a rugged, ulcered, and even 

 mouldy surface, smelling strong and 

 offensively. The fibrous roots, besides 

 being generally thickened, are distorted 

 and monstrous from swellings which 

 appear throughout their length, appa- 

 rently arising from an effort of nature 

 to form receptacles for the sap. These 

 swellings do not seem to arise im- 

 mediately from the attacks of the 

 weevil. When it attacks the turnip, 

 a large excrescence appears below the 

 bulb, growing to the size of both 

 hands, and, as soon as the winter 

 sets in, or it is, by its own nature, 

 brought to maturity, becoming putrid, 

 and smelling very offensively. The 

 parent weevil is of a dusky black 



