MEE 



[ 606 ] 



MES 



M. polifo'liaflo're-a'lbo( white-flowered). White. 



June. Ireland. 

 latifo'lia (broad-leaved). 2. Purple. 



July. 

 longifo'lia (long-leaved). 2. Purple. 



July. 

 na'na (dwarf). . Purple. July. 



Ireland. 

 pa' llida (pale-flowering). 2. Purple. 



July. Britain. 

 toxifoli'a (Yew-leaved). Purple. 



June. Scotland. 



MERCURY (Chenopo'dium lo'mts Hen 

 ri'cus). This perennial plant is known 

 by the various names of Angular-leaved 

 Goosefoot, English Mercury or Allgood, 

 Good Henry, Good King Henry, and 

 Wild Spinach. In many parts of Lin- 

 colnshire, as about Boston, it is culti- 

 vated to use as spinach ; the young 

 shoots are also peeled, boiled, and 

 eaten as asparagus. Sow the seed in 

 March but in October is better in a 

 well-manured bed, prepared as for as- 

 paragus ; in the middle of September 

 plant the seedlings, during rainy 

 weather, in a similar bed in rows, a 

 foot apart each way. Hoe .frequently, 

 and use the shoots or tops as required. 

 Dress the beds with manure the same 

 as for asparagus ; they will continue in 

 production many years. 



This must not be mistaken for Mer- 

 ciirialis, or Mercury, one of our common 

 hedge weeds, for this is poisonous. Mer- 

 curlalis is a Dioecious plant, and belongs 

 to the Nat. ord., Spurgeworts ; but the 

 Chenopodium belongs to the Nat. ord. 

 Chenopods, and to the Linneean class 

 and order Pentandria Monogynia. 

 MEKENDE'BA. 



This should have been added to Bulbocodium. 

 M. Caucn'sica (Caucasian). . Purple. Au- 

 gust. Caucasus. 1823. 



MERODON NARCISSI. Narcissus Fly. 

 The bulbs of the daffodil and of other 

 species of the narcissus frequently re- 

 fuse to vegetate ; and the usual cause 

 is, that their interiors have been eaten 

 by the grub of this two-winged fly. 

 This disappointment may be avoided 

 if these bulbs are examined before 

 being planted. 



In the month of November, says Mr. 

 Curtis, one or two large roundish holes 

 are sometimes found on the outsides of 

 the bulbs of the daffodil and narcissus. 

 The bulbs are more or less decayed 



within, where a maggot will generally 

 be found, which by feeding in the 

 heart during the summer and autumn 

 months, has been the sole author of 

 the mischief. This larva is somewhat 

 like the flesh-maggot, and not unlike a 

 bot, only that it is not jagged with 

 spines, and instead of being whitish, 

 its natural colour, is changed to brown 

 by its living amongst the slimy matter 

 which has been discharged from its 

 own body, causing the gradual rotting 

 of the bulb. Towards the end of No- 

 vember the maggot is transformed into 

 a pupa, to accomplish which it eats its 

 way out of the bulb near the roots, and 

 buries itself in the surrounding earth. 

 The pupse are dull brown, egg-shaped, 

 rough, and strongly wrinkled. In this 

 state they remain until the following 

 spring, when the flies issue from them. 

 Their eggs are then deposited, but 

 upon what part of the plant they are 

 laid, has not been observed, but pro- 

 bably upon the bulb near the base of 

 the leaves. April seems to be the 

 month when most of the flies hatch ; 

 and they have been compared to small 

 humble-bees, from the disposition of 

 the colours, which are, for the most 

 part, yellow, orange, and black, but 

 they certainly bear a greater resem- 

 blance to some of the bot-flies ; from 

 bees they are readily distinguished by 

 having only two wings, the horns and 

 proboscis are totally different, and they 

 have no stings. 



MESEMBRYA'NTHEMUM. Fig-Marigold. 

 (From mesembria, mid-day, and anthe- 

 mon, a flower ; referring to the flowers 

 opening better on sunny days. Nat. 

 ord., Ficoids [Mesembryaceee]. Linn., 

 1 2-Iscosandria Q-Di-pentagynia.) 



Greenhouse succulent plants, from the Cape 

 of Good Hope, except when otherwise men- 

 tioned. All by seeds, and most of them by 

 cuttings, dried at the base, before inserting 

 them m sandy soil, peat, loam, lime-rubbish, 

 and old cow-dung, well drained. Winter temp., 

 38 to 45. Well suited for window plants, 

 and rough rockwork, out-of-doors, in summer. 

 Seeds should be sown in a hotbed, and plants 

 gradually hardened off before planting out. 



GREENHOUSE ANNUALS.' 

 M. cadu'cum (deciduous). 1. Pink. July. 1774. 

 calendula 1 ceum (Marigold-^owercrf). 4- Yel- 

 low. August. 1819- 

 -T Cajifo'rmcvm ( Calif ornian). Purple. Sep- 



tenber. California, 1847. 



