AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



335 



PLU 



ers or vegetables, for the past thirty years, 

 and feel convinced that their use for that pur- 

 pose is far better than the spade or digging 

 fork, besides the immense saving in labor. 



Plum. The well-known Prunus domestica, 

 and its varieties, from which the Plums 

 of our gardens have originated, are found 

 throughout Asia and southern Europe. The 

 early history of the cultivated varieties is 

 quite obscure. They were introduced into 

 England from France early in the fifteenth 

 century. Both the French and the English 

 horticulturists have given this fruit con- 

 siderable attention. New York has the credit, 

 however, of having produced the greatest 

 number of excellent varieties. Downing says : 

 "That the soil and climate of the Middle 

 States are admirably suited to this fruit is 

 sufficiently proved by the almost spontaneous 

 production of such varieties as the Washington, 

 Jefferson, Lawrence's Favorite, etc. ; sorts 

 which equal or surpass in beauty or flavor the 

 most celebrated Plumsof France or England." 

 There are several species indigenous to this 

 country, some of which are of fair flavor, and 

 are now being cultivated by some of our 

 nurserymen. Chickasaw Plum, Prunus Chic- 

 asa, is a native of Maryland and southwest- 

 ward to Texas, where it is known as the Dwarf 

 Texas Plum. The Beach Plum, P. mari- 

 tima, is a low, straggling tree or shrub, 

 from two to five feet high. The fruit is nearly 

 round, red or purple, and covered with bloom. 

 It is common in sandy places on the sea-coast 

 from Maine to Virginia, and seldom ripens well 

 elsewhere. The Wild Red or Yellow Plum is 

 P. Americana. This species grows from ten 

 to twenty feet high, and is common in hedge- 

 rows from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The 

 fruit is pleasant tasted, but has a tough skin. 

 It ripens in July and August. The great 

 difficulty in the cultivation of the finer varie- 

 ties of Plum is the Curculio, which punctures 

 the fruit in the green state, and lays its eggs, 

 which, by the time the fruit is ripe, develops 

 to the larvae state, completely destroying the 

 fruit. The only effectual remedy thus far is 

 that so strongly recommended and practiced 

 years ago by Mr. John J. Thomas, and 

 Dr. Trimble, and so successfully practiced 

 by Ellwanger and Barry, in their extensive 

 Plum Orchard to spread sheets under the 

 trees and jar the branches so as to shake off 

 the insect. This, to be effective, must be 

 b<>gun just after the fruit has formed, and 

 continued at least once a week for thirty or 

 forty days. See Curculio. 



Plum. American Wild. Prunus Americana. 



Australian. Cargilla arborea, and C. Aus- 

 tral is. 



Beach. Prunus maritima. 



Californian Wild. Prunus subcordata. 



Canada. Prunus Americana. 



Carolina. Prunua Caroliniana. 



Ceylon. Flacourtia sapida. 



Cherry. Prunus Myrobalana. 



Chicasaw. Prunus Chicasa. 



Cocoa. Chrysobalanus Icaco. 



Damson. Prunus domestica var. damascena. 



Date, American. Diospyros Virginiana. 



Date, Chinese. Diospyrus Kaki. 



Date, European. Diospyrus Lotus. 



Double-flowered, Chinese. Prunus Sinensis 

 fl.pl. 



POA 



E. Indian. Flacourtia cataphracta, and F. 



Ramonchi. 



Gingerbread. Parinarium macrophyllum. 

 Green-gage. Prunus Claudiana. 

 Ground. Astragalus caryocarpus. 

 Hog. Various species of Spondias, etc. 

 Jamaica. Spondias lutea. 

 Japanese. Prunus Sinensis. 

 Mountain. Ximenia Americana. 

 Myrobalan. A variety of Prunus domestica. 

 Myrobella. Prunus Myrobalana. 

 Natal. Arduina grandiflora. 

 Orleans. A variety of Prunus domestica. 

 Pigeon. Coccoloba Floridana. 

 Queensland. The genus Owenia. 

 Sand. Prunus maritima. 

 Sapodilla or Sapotilla. Achras Sapota. 

 Sugar. Malpighiasaccharina. 

 Tamarind. Dialium Indicum. 

 Weeping. Prunus cerasifera. 

 Wild, British. Prunus communis. 

 Wild, of the Cape of Good Hope. Pappea 



Capensis. 



Wild-Goose. An improved variety of Prunus 

 Chicasa. 



Plumbagina'ceae. A natural otder of shrubs 

 or herbaceous plants, found chiefly on the 

 sea-shores or salt marshes in temperate 

 regions. The flowers are blue, violet, pink, 

 yellow or white, and some of the species 

 possess tonic and astringent properties. 

 Eight genera, including Armeria, Statice, and 

 Plumbago, and over two hundred species con- 

 stitute the order. 



Plumba'go. Leadwort. From plumbum, lead. 

 Some species were formerly said to cure Lead 

 disease-. Nat. Ord. Plumbaginacece. 



A genus consisting of green-house ever- 

 greens and hardy herbaceous plants, natives 

 of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Three of the 

 species are well worth growing in the green- 

 house. P. Capensis, with lavender-blue 

 flowers, P. rosea, with rose-colored flowers, 

 and P. alba, with white flowers. Each will 

 grow well with ordinary treatment. The 

 former is a valuable plant, as it produces its 

 large panicles of lavender flowers nearly the 

 whole winter. P. LarpentcB, has deep azure- 

 blue flowers, flowering from August to 

 November, and is perfectly hardy. The name 

 of this species is now given by some as Valo- 

 radia, and by others, Ceratostigma Plumbagin- 

 oides. They were first introduced in 1818, 

 and are easily propagated by cuttings of the 

 roots, or shoots, and by division. 



Plum-bush. Australian. Asrotricha ptero- 

 carpa. 



Plume-Grass. Gynerium argenteum. 



Plume-Nutmeg. Atherosperma moschata. 



Plume-Thistle. The genus Cirsium, and Cnicus; 

 also Carduus lanceolata. 



Plume-Thistle, yellow. Cnicus Acarna. 



Plumose. Feathery, resembling feathers. 



Plumule. The bud of seed ; the youngest bud 

 in a plant ; the bud or growing point of the 

 embiyo. 



Poa. Meadow Grass. From poo, signifying 

 grass or herbage. Nat. Ord. Graminacece. 



An extensive genus of grasses, containing 

 some that are valuable for hay and pasture. 

 P. pratensis is the well-known Kentucky Blue 

 Grass, introduced from Europe, and now 



