AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



321 



PHO 



the bases of their stalks is used for making 

 ropes and coarse cloth, the stalks themselves 

 for crates, baskets, brooms, walking-sticks, 

 etc., and the wood for building substantial 

 houses; the heart of the young leaves is 

 eaten as a vegetable ; the sap affords an in- 

 toxicating beverage, though to obtain it the 

 tree is destroyed ; and even the hard and 

 apparently useless pits or seeds are ground 

 into food for camels." This tree is very inter- 

 esting to botanists, because it was the first 

 that drew their attention to the sexes of 

 plants. It is a dioecious tree, that is, the 

 male flowers are on one plant and the female, 

 or fruiting ones, on another. The male 

 flowers are considerably larger than the 

 female; and the latter, instead of stamens, 

 have in the centre the rudiments of the 

 Dates, about the size of small Peas. The 

 two distinct sexes of the Date tree appear to 

 have been known from the remotest antiquity, 

 as they are noticed by all the ancients who 

 describe the tree. It is not a little remark- 

 able that there is a difference in the fructifi- 

 cation of the wild Date and the cultivated, 

 though both are pi-ecisely the same species. 

 Wild Dates impregnate themselves, but the 

 cultivated ones do not without the assistance 

 of art. Theophrastus and Pliny mention this 

 fact ; and in every plantation of Dates one 

 part of the labor of the cultivator consists in 

 collecting the flowers of the male Date, climb- 

 ing to the top of the female with them, and 

 dispersing the pollen on the germs of the 

 Dates. So essential is this operation, that 

 though the male and female trees are grown 

 in the same plantation, the crop fails if it be 

 not performed. These trees do not succeed 

 well where the mean temperature falls below 

 80 ; hence, they require the warmest of our 

 hot-houses. Young plants may be grown 

 from the seeds taken from the Dates sold in 

 the fruit stores. 



Pholido'ta. Rattlesnake Orchid. From pholis, 

 a scale, and ous, otos, an ear ; flowers arranged 

 like an ear of wheat, with scaly bracts, as the 

 tail of a rattlesnake. Nat. Ord. Orchidacece. 



A small genus of East Indian epiphytal Or- 

 chids, of easy culture, mainly requiring to be 

 grown on blocks of wood or cork, in a warm, 

 moist house. They must have frequent water- 

 ings when growing. Flowers white, or white 

 and brown, produced in imbricated and two- 

 ranked drooping flower spikes. Propagated 

 by division. 



Pho'rmium. Flax Lily, or New Zealand Flax. 

 Fromphormos, a basket; referring to the use 

 made of the plant in its native country. Nat. 

 Ord. Liliacece. 



P. tenax is a native of New Zealand, where 

 it is extensively used by the natives instead 

 of Flax. This plant is handsome, has stiff, 

 sword-shaped leaves, and orange-colored 

 flowers, produced on strong spikes, alter- 

 nately branched, and growing from ten to fif- 

 teen feet above the leaves, making it an 

 exceedingly handsome and curious plant for 

 green-house culture. P. tenax variegata, more 

 recently introduced, is a very beautiful varie- 

 gated-leaved variety, which makes a magnifi- 

 cent plant for lawn decoration, or for the 

 green-house and conservatory. It requires a 

 light rich soil, and is propagated by division. 

 Introduced in 1798. P. Cookiunum (syn. P. Col- 



PHY 



ensoi), of which there is also a beautifully 

 variegated variety is like the above only 

 neater and smaller in all its parts. Intro- 

 duced in 1868. 



Photi'nia. From photeinos, shining; in refer- 

 ence to the leaves. Nat. Ord. Rosacece. 



P. aerrulata, the Chinese Hawthorn, is a 

 very beautiful evergreen shrub or low tree, 

 formerly called Cratcegus glabra. It, is nearly 

 hardy, but thrives best when trained against 

 a wall in a sheltered situation. The plants 

 are propagated sometimes by cuttings of the 

 ripened wood, but more frequently by graft- 

 ing or inarching on some of the hardy kinds 

 of Cratgegus. P. Japonica, the Japan Medlar, 

 Japan Quinpe, or Loquat (better known in cul- 

 tivation as Eriobotrya Japonica), bears showy 

 white flowers in pendulous racemes, succeeded 

 by large bunches of pale, orange-red, downy, 

 edible fruit. The few species that constitute 

 this genus are natives of northern India, 

 China, and Japan, with one species from Cali- 

 fornia. 



Fhragmi'tes. Reed. From phragmos, a hedge ; 

 forming hedges. Nat. Ord. Graminacece. 



P. communis, the only species, is a tall- 

 growing, reed-like plant, common in the 

 swamps and marshes on the south side of 

 Long Island, and in New Jersey, and extend- 

 ing to Florida. The plumes are gathered in 

 great quantities in the fall, and used with 

 ornamental grasses for dried bouquets and 

 decorations. 



Phry'ma. Lop-seed. A Linnean name of un- 

 known meaning. P. Leptostachys, the only 

 species, grows two to three feet high, with 

 purplish or pale rose-colored flowers. It 

 howers in July, and is common in woods and 

 copses. 



Phyce'lla. A diminutive of phykos, red Alka- 

 net ; alluding to the color of the flowers. Nat. 

 Ord. Amaryllidacece. 



A small genus of half-hardy bulbous plants, 

 from the mountain regions of Mexico and 

 South America. The several species have the 

 same general character, the flowers being red 

 or scarlet, marked with yellow, produced in 

 early summer. They should be planted as 

 early in spring as possible, in light, well- 

 drained soil. After flowering, and as soon as 

 they show signs of ripening, take up and 

 store in the same manner as Hyacinths. They 

 were introduced in 1825, and may be increased 

 by offsets. Now included under Hippeastrum 

 by some botanists. 



Phyge'lius. Cape Fig-wort. From phyga, flight, 

 and helios, the sun ; said to love shade. Nat. 

 Ord. Scrophulariacece. 



N. eapensis, the only species yet introduced, 

 and a close ally of the Pentstemon, grows 

 from eighteen to twenty-four inches high, and 

 produces late in autumn tubular chocolate- 

 crimson flowers in branching panicles. It 

 was introduced in 1850, and may be increased 

 by cuttings or by seeds. 



Phy'lica. From phyllikoa, leafy ; in allusion to 

 the abundant evergreen foliage. Nat. Ord. 

 Rhamnocece. 



Pretty little heath-like plants, natives of 

 the Cape of Good Hope, with narrow leaves, 

 and little terminal heads of fragrant white 

 flowers, which begin to appear in autumn, and 

 continue during winter and early spring. 



