REN 



[ 772] 



RET 



It. panicula'ta (panicled). l. White. June. 

 New Holland. 1823. 



pulche'lla (pretty). 1. White, June, New 



Holland. 1823. 



REQUIE'NIA. (Named after M. Re- 

 quien, a French botanist. Nat. ord., 

 Leguminous Plants [Fabaceffi]. Linn., 

 \Q-Monadelphia 6-Decandria. Allied to 

 Psoralia.) 



Stove evergreen shrubs with yellow flowers. 

 Cuttings of half- ripened stubby shoots, in sand, 

 under a bell-glass, in heat ; sandy loam, fibry 

 peat, and dried leaf-mould. Winter temp., 

 50 to 60 ; summer, 60 to 80. 

 R. obcorda'ta (reversed-heart-teawed). 1, July. 

 Senegal. 1825. 



sphasrospe'rma (round-seeded). 1. April. 



Cape of Good Hope. 1816. 



RESE'DA. Mignonette. (From resedo, 

 to calm ; supposed virtue for external 

 bruises. Nat. ord., Weldworts [Reseda- 

 cese]. Jjinn., \\~Dodecandria 3-Tri- 

 yynia.} 



All by seeds ; the half-shrubby kinds also by 

 cuttings; seeds must be sown at different 

 times, according as the bloom is wanted. The 

 beginning and middle of May is early enough 

 to sow in the open border. Though treated as 

 annuals, most of the mignonettes may be treated 

 as under-shrubs, or perennials, if they are pre- 

 vented seeding freely, and kept from frost in 

 winter. We have seen the common mignonette 

 that had been kept in a pot about eight years, 

 and flowered freely every season. See Migno- 

 nette. 



R. Chine'nsis (China). 2. Yellow, green. June. 

 China. 1819- 



odora'ta (scented-Mignonette'). 1. Green, 



red. August. Italy. 1752. 



tfrute'scens (shrubby). 2. August. 

 Egypt. 1752. 



trunca'ta (abrupt-ended- Jeaved). l. Yel- 



low. June. Natolia. 1836. 



RESERVE GARDEN. See Nursery. 



REST. That period when a plant is 

 not growing. 



REST-HARROW. Ono'nis. 



RESURRECTION PLANT. Anasta'tica. 



RETANI'LLA. (The Peruvian name. 

 Nat. ord., JRhamnads [Rhamnacese]. 

 Linn., 5-Pentandria \-Monoyynia. Al- 

 lied to Colletia.) 



Evergreen shrubs. Cuttings of young shoots, 

 in sand, under a glass, in summer ; sandy loam 

 and fibry peat. The species from Peru requires 

 a warm greenhouse, and that from Chili the 

 protection of a cold pit in winter, or a very shel- 

 tered situation out-of-doors, or against a wall. 

 R. Ephe'dra (Ephedra-like). 3. Cream. Chili. 

 1823. 



obcorda'ta (reversed-heart-leaved). 2. Yel- 



low. Peru. 1822. 



RETARDING requires as much skill as 



forcing, for as the latter requires the 

 application of all that is suitable to the 

 promotion of a plant's rapid healthy 

 growth, so retarding requires the with- 

 holding from it of those contingencies. 

 Thus to retard growth, the lowest tem- 

 perature, and the least degree of light 

 compatible with healthy growth, must 

 be secured ; and to this end plants for 

 succession are often placed on the 

 north side of a wall. See Screens. 



Then again, as in the case of rasp- 

 berries and strawberries, plants are 

 often cut down in the spring, compel- 

 ling them to form fresh foliage and 

 stems, and thus be productive in the 

 autumn instead of the summer. 



The vegetation of many bulbs may 

 be prevented by merely keeping them 

 dry, and, indeed, the withholding the 

 usual supply of Avater, giving it only in 

 diminished quantities, is necessary in 

 all retarding treatment. To secure the 

 entire resting of bulbs, and of such 

 plants as will bear so low a tempera- 

 ture, the atmosphere of the ice-house 

 is effectual ; and to this end it should 

 have a few shelves for the support of 

 boxes or flower-pots. Banks of earth 

 ranging east and Avest, and facing the 

 north at a very acute angle, are very 

 useful in retarding the early advance 

 to seed in hot weather, of spinach, let- 

 tuces, &c. Espaliers ranging similarly, 

 and shaded during the Avhole of March 

 and the two following months, will 

 blossom later and more unfailingly 

 than trees more exposed to the sun in 

 spring. Similar exclusion of heat and 

 light retards the ripening of picked 

 fruit, and if the air be excluded from 

 them, or its oxygen withdrawn, fruit 

 Avill remain unripened for weeks. To 

 effect this, put a paste formed of lime, 

 sulphate of iron, and Avater, at the bot- 

 tom of a Avide-mouthed glass-bottle, 

 then a layer of large pebbles to keep 

 the fruit from the paste, then fill the 

 bottle with peaches, apricots, or plums, 

 gathered a few days before they are 

 ripe, cork the bottle tight, and cover 

 the cork Avith melted resin. They have 

 been thus kept for a month, and sum- 

 mer apples and pears for three months. 

 They ripen when again exposed to the 

 air. 



