20 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



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blooming trees in existence, bearing in Spring 

 large racemes of vermilion-colored flowers 

 diversified with three yellow spots. The 

 Burmanese name of the plant is Thoca, and 

 handfuls of the flowers are offered before the 

 images of Buddha. The tree is to be found 

 in some of the larger English collections ; but 

 requiring so much space it is rarely grown. 

 Ami 'cia. This pretty Leguminous green-house 

 perennial is valuable on account of its flower- 

 ing late in the fall. Flowers yellow splashed 

 with purple, branches and petioles pubescent. 

 Introduced from Mexico in lti26. 



Ammo'bium. From ammos, sand, and Mo, to 

 live ; in reference to tlie sandy soil in which it 

 thrives. Nat. Ord. ComposUce. 



Pretty annuals of hardy character from New 

 Holland, producing white everlastmg flowers. 

 The seed may be sown in the open border, in 

 almost any situation, between the middle of 

 March and the end of May. 



Aimnobro'ina. Prom ammos, sand, and bromoe, 

 food; a name given by Dr. Toirey to a leaf- 

 less plant of parasitic habit, native of Northern 

 Mexico. Tlie plant has the habit of an Oro- 

 banche, the scaly roots being buried in the sand, 

 its roots parasitic on the roots of an unknown 

 plant. Colonel Grey, the original discoverer 

 of this plant met with it in the country of the 

 Papigo Indians, a barren, sandy waste, where 

 rain scarcely ever falls but "where Nature 

 has provided for the sustenance of man, one of 

 the most nutritious and palatable of vege- 

 tables." The plant is roasted upon hot coals, 

 and ground with mesquit beans and resem- 

 bles in taste the sweet potato, " but is far 

 more delicate." 



Ammo'chaiis. A genus of Amaryllidacem, usu- 

 ally included in Brxmavigia. 



Ammo'pliila. Beach Grass. From ammos, sand, 

 and phileo, tolove; in allusion to its native 

 habitat. Nat. Ord. Graminacece. 



A genus of coarse growing, reed-like grasses 

 common on the sea-shores of this country and 

 Europe. A. arv/ndinacRa, Syn. Calamagrostis 

 Arenaria, is the best known species; as an 

 agricultural grass it is of no value, but its 

 value as a natural sand-builder cannot be over- 

 estimated ; many thousand acres of land on 

 various parts of our coast are preserved from 

 being overwhelmed with the drifting sand 

 solely by its agency. It seems to have been 

 provided for this special purpose, having very 

 strong rhizomes, or creeping roots, from 30 

 to 40 feet long, with many small tubers, about 

 the size of peas, which prevent the drifting of 

 the sand from the action of the wind and 

 waves thus forming a barrier against the en- 

 croachments of the ocean. 



In speaking of the importance of this grass 

 in protecting our coasts, Flint, in his book on 

 grasses says, — "The town of Provincetown, 

 once called Cape Cod, where the pilgrims first 

 landed, and its harbor, still called the harbor 

 of Cape Cod, — one of the best and most im- 

 portant in the United States, sufBcii'nt in 

 depth for ships of the largest size, and in ex- 

 tent to anchor three thousand vessels at once, 

 owe their preservation to this grass. To an 

 inhabitant of an inland country, it is difficult 

 to conceive the extent and the violence with 

 which the sands at the extremity of Cape Cod 

 are thrown up from the depths of the sea, and 



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left on the beach in thousands of tons, by every 

 drifting storm. These sand-hills when dried 

 by the sun, are hurled by the winds into the 

 haibor and upon the town. Beach grass is 

 said to have been cultivated here as early as 

 1812. Before that time, when the sand 

 drifted down upon the dwelling-houses — as it 

 did whenever the beach was broken — to save 

 them from burial, the only resort was to 

 wheeling it off with barrows. Thus tons were 

 removed every year from places that are now 

 perfectly secure from the drifting of sand. 

 Indeed, were it not for the window-glass in 

 some of the oldest houses in these localities, 

 you would be ready to deny this statement; 

 but the sand has blown with such force and 

 so long against this glass, as to make it 

 perfectly ground." 



Congress appropriated, between the years 

 of 1826 and 1839, about twenty-eight thousand 

 dollars, which were expended in setting out 

 beach-grass near the village of Provincetown, 

 for the protection of the harbor. Other ap- 

 propriations have since been made, which, to- 

 gether with the efforts of the town committee, 

 whose duty it is to enter any man's enclosure, 

 summer or winter, and set out the grass, if 

 the sand is uncovei'ed and movable. By this 

 means they are now rid of sand-storms, which 

 were once the terror of the place, and the 

 coast appears a fertile meadow. 



Amo'mum. From a, not, and momos, impurity ; 

 in reference to its supposed quality of counter- 

 acting poison. Nat. Ord. Zingiberacece. 



This genus of aromatic herbs furnishes the 

 Grains of Paradise and the Cardamom Seeds, 

 which are aromatic and stimulant. The plants 

 grow readily in the green-house, and are prop- 

 agated by division of the root. Introduced' 

 in 1820 from the East Indies. 



Amo'rpha. False Indigo. From o, not, and 

 morpha, form ; in reference to the irregularity 

 of the flowers. Nat. Ord. LeguminoscE. 



A small genus of large, spreading shrubs, 

 natives of North America. The leaves are 

 compound, resembling the Locust, only the 

 leaflets are finer. The flowers are dark-purple 

 or violet, spangled with yellow, disposed in long 

 panicles on the tops of the branches. A. frvii- 

 cosa is a very ornamental shrub for the 1 iwn, 

 and is readily propagated from suckers, which 

 are produced in abundance. A. canescens is a 

 small-growing species, common in the Western 

 and Southern States. It has received the local 

 name of Lead Plant, on account of the white, 

 hairy down with which it is covered. 



Amo'rphopha'llus. From amorphos, disfigured, 

 andphallos, a mace ; form of spadix. Nat. Ord, 

 Aroidew. 



These plants were formerly in the genus 

 Arum, from which they are distinguished by 

 their spreading spathes. They are natives of 

 India and other parts of tropical Asia, where 

 they are cultivated for the abundance of starch 

 that is found in their root-stocks. Most varie- 

 ties ai'e ornamental plants for the green-house 

 or garden. A. Rivieri, called the Umbrella 

 Plant, is particularly so, having large, solitary 

 decompound leaves three to five feet in diam- 

 eter, on a thick, tall, marbled stem, very orna- 

 mental, either as a solitary plant or in groups 

 on the lawn. After planting, the first appear- 

 ance is the flower stalk, which rises to \h9 



