AND GENEEAL HORTICULTURE. 



261 



MUL 



in pots or on benches ; Moss mulching is also 

 used for this and other purposes. 



Mullein. See Verbascum. 



Multifid. Divided half-way into many parts or 

 segments. 



Munti'iigia. Named after Abraham Munting, 

 Professor of Botany at Groeningen, 1626- 

 1683. Nat. Ord. Liliacetz. 



M. Calabura, the only described species, 

 is a handsome small evergreen shrub, with 

 white flowers resembling those of the Bramble. 

 An infusion of its leaves is used as tea in 

 Caraccas, whence it was introduced in 1690. 



Mura'ltia. Named after John Von Muralt, a 

 Swiss botanist, 1645-1733. Nat. Ord. Poly- 

 galacece. 



A genus of about fifty species of green-house 

 much-branched shrubs, natives of South Africa. 

 M. Heisteria, the species best known to culti- 

 vation, has small, purple* axillary flowers, 

 and, under good treatment, is almost per- 

 petually in bloom. It was introduced in 1787, 

 and is propagated by cuttings of the young 

 wood. 



Muricate. Covered with short, sharp points, 

 as in Panicum muricatum. 



Mu'rraya. Named after Professor Murray, 

 editor of Linnceus's works. Nat. Ord. Ruta- 

 cecB. 



A small genus of hot-house evergreen trees 

 from India, Java, and China, producing showy 

 white flowers, which are very fragrant. 



Murucu'ja. The name of the species in Brazil. 

 Nat. Ord. Passifloracece. 



A small genus of green-house climbers, with 

 showy scarlet or purple flowers. The genus 

 was formerly included in Passiflora, and 

 should in all respects be treated the same. 

 Natives of Brazil. 



Mu'sa. Banana or Plan tain. Named in honor 

 of Antonius Musa, the physician of Augustus. 

 Nat. Ord. SdtaminecB. 



The representative species of this interest- 

 ing and useful genus are M. paradiaiaca, the 

 Plantain, and M. sapientum, the Banana. The 

 latter has its stems marked with purple spots, 

 and its fruits are shorter and rounder than 

 those of the Plantain, and are red and yellow 

 in color, but otherwise the two plants are lit- 

 tle different one from the other. The fruit of 

 the Plantain is smaller and angular, and yel- 

 low in color. " They have been cultivated 

 from the most remote times in tropical cli- 

 mates, in sub-tropical Asia, America, Africa, 

 and the islands of the Atlantic and Pacific 

 Oceans, for the sake of their fruits, which they 

 produce in enormous quantities, with very 

 little attention. There are several varieties, 

 the fruits of which differ in color and taste. 

 The starch in the unripe fruit becomes con- 

 verted, as it ripens, into mucilage and sugar. 

 They are highly nutritious, and serve as the 

 staple food of a large number of the human 

 race. Though less nutritious than wheat or 

 potatoes, yet the space occupied by their cul- 

 ture and the care required are so very much 

 less, that Humboldt has calculated the pro- 

 duce of Bananas compared to that of Wheat 

 as 133 to 1, and to that of Potatoes as 44 to 1. 

 Plantain meal is obtained by powdering the 

 dried fruit. It is very nutritious, as it con- 

 tains not only starch, but proteine or flesh- 



MUS 



forming material. The fruits of the Plantain 

 are stated by chemists to be most nearly allied 

 in composition and nutritive qualities to the 

 Potato, and the Plantain meal to Rice. The 

 natives in many parts of India live almost 

 entirely on Plantains, and the stems, laden 

 with fruit, are made use of at wedding fes- 

 tivities, in token of plenty." The Banana is 

 not known in an uncultivated state. The 

 Avildest tribes in South America, who depend 

 upon this fruit for subsistence, propagate the 

 plant by suckers. Eight or nine months after 

 the sucker has been planted, the Banana 

 begins to form its clusters, and the fruit is 

 ready for picking in two or three months 

 thereafter. When the stalk is cut, the fruit 

 of which has ripened, a sprout is put forth, 

 which again bears fruit in three months. The 

 whole labor of cultivation that is required for 

 a plantation of Bananas, is to cut the stalks 

 laden with ripe fruit, and to give the plants a 

 slight nourishment once or twice a year by 

 digging round the roots. The yield per acre, 

 with the little or no care bestowed, is between 

 .fifty and sixty tons of ripe fruit. The Banana 

 is often cultivated in the green-house. M. 

 Cavendishii is the best for this purpose ; it is 

 a dwarf species, from China, rarely growing 

 more than six feet high, and is exceedingly 

 ornamental. In a warm house it ripens its 

 fruit to perfection, and the flavor is far 

 superior to that which is found in our markets, 

 which is picked quite green, and ripened in 

 holds of vessels or in fruit stores. M. superba 

 and M. Ensete have foliage of magnificent pro- 

 portions, and are often^rown on the lawn as 

 ornamental plants. M. coccinea, a native of 

 Cochin China, has spathes of a bright scarlet 

 color, tipped with yellow, and is a very orna- 

 mental plant in a stove or Avarm green-house. 



Musca'ri. Grape Hyacinth. From moschoa, 

 musk; the smell of the flowers. Nat. Ord. 

 Liliacece. 



A small genus of bulbous plants, with small 

 white or blue globular flowers, in racemes, at 

 the end of a simple stalk. They only require 

 planting where they can remain many years 

 without being disturbed. Though natives of 

 middle Europe and the Mediterranean region, 

 they have become naturalized in many parts 

 of the United States. On the east end of Long 

 Island some fields are literally blue with the 

 flowers in early spring. From their peculiar 

 fragrance, the plant is often called "Baby's 

 Breath." 



Musci. An important tribe of Cryptogams, 

 comprising the true Mosses. 



Mushroom. Agaricus campestris. The great 

 interest now being taken in Mushroom culture 

 in the United States has induced us to treat 

 the subject as fully as the limits of our space 

 will permit. Mushrooms may be grown 

 either in a house specially erected for the pur- 

 pose, in cellars, out-houses, sheds, under 

 green-house stages, tables, or, as in France 

 and other parts of the world, in caves or other 

 subterranean places, as light is not necessary 

 to their growth. There is a peculiar interest 

 in Mushroom culture to the amateur or begin- 

 ner, from the fact that, while in all other culti- 

 vated plants we have something tangible to 

 start with either plants, seeds, or roots 

 we have neither, here, as far as the naked eye 

 can see ; for the white mouldy substance 



