BOX THORNS OR TEA-TREES 419 



N. LONGIFLOEA (long-flowered). Stem 2 to 3 feet high. Leaves 

 lance-shaped. Flowers lateral, white, afterwards purple or green; 

 August. Annual. Introduced from Buenos Ayres, 1832. 



N. SUAVEOLENS (swect-scented). Stem slightly branched, 1 to 2 feet 

 high. Leaves oval-lance-shaped, wavy. Flowers fragrant, white, with 

 cylindrical tube; in loose panicles; June to September. Greenhouse 

 herbaceous perennial. Introduced from Australia, 1800. 



N. Tabacum (the native Cuban name for a cigar). Stem, clammy, 

 with glandular down, 4 feet high. Leaves oblong-lance-shaped, downy, 

 viscid. Flowers rosy,in many-flowered, short racemes ; June to September. 

 Herbaceous biennial or perennial. There is a form called fruticosa, with 

 shrubby base and nan-ower leaves. 



N. TOMENTOSA (hairy). The giant of the genus. Stem stout, 12 

 to 20 feet high, branched near the top. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, 3 feet 

 by 2 feet ; bright green. Grown for the sake of its enormous leaves. 

 Introduced from Brazil in 1888. Known in gardens as K colossea. 

 Probably perennial. 



Nicotianas deserve to be more widely grown as flower- 

 ing plants than is the present practice. Seeds should be 

 sown in February or March, and the pans placed in a warm house. As 

 soon as large enough the seedlings are pricked out into other pans, in 

 rich light soil, kept moist and grown on quickly, shifting them as 

 necessary into pots. In genial weather, early in June, they may be 

 planted outside. They should be tied to neat stakes as they grow, and 

 the soil around should be encircled with a ring of fresh soot, to keep off 

 slugs, which are fond of the succulent stems. They make admirable pot- 

 plants for the greenhouse and conservatory. N. alba is very desirable 

 for planting in borders beside paths where one strolls at eventide. The 

 fi-osh flowers open early in the evening and become deliciously fragrant 

 to attract moths. iV^. tomentosa (colossea) is a stately plant for Sub- 

 tropical bedding. 



BOX THOENS OR TEA-TREES 



Natural Order Solan ACEiE. Genus Lycium 



Lycium (Greek, Lukion, from Lycia, in Asia Minor). A genus of about 

 seventy species of more or less hardy climbing or trailing shrubs or small 

 trees, often spiny, with simple leaves and small funnel-shaped, five-lobed 

 flowers. Fruit— a succulent berry enclosed in the cup-like calyx. They 



