FAMILIAR <rAIiI>i:X I-lOiri'JtS. 



P^ONIA, the Pteony, is uamed iu liouour of Piuou, a physician, -who 

 first used it medicinally to cure Pluto of a wound inflicted by Hercules. The 

 more " familiar " name is Peony, a corruption that has the merit of a musical 

 sound. N.O., Crowfoots, or R(niituciiliier<e. LiNNiBAN : 13, Tohjandria ; 

 2, iyi[/)/iiir/.—The pteony belongs to the helleborus section of the crowfoot 

 family,' its nearest allies being the aconite, delphinium, aquilegia, hellebore, 

 and marsh marigold, or caltlui. The leading characters of the order are 

 conspicuously displayed iu the pojony. The coralline pteony is accounted a 

 British plant, being found wild in several stations. Some grand sjiecies have 

 been introduced to our gardens from Siberia. China, and Japan. The tree 

 paeonies, or "raoutans," are remarkable for the gorgeous flowers they pro- 

 duce and their exceedingly hardy constitution. j). 17. 



DAFFODIL.— See under "Narcissus."' jj. 21. 



HELI ANTHEMUM, from I>e/>'j$, the sun, and (nithenio)/, a flower. 

 N.O., C).st(/eefi\ or Rock-roses. Linn^ean : 13, Foh/((//firi/t ; 1, Moifor/i/t/ia. — 

 A family of herbs and shrubs, often with gummy branches and a resinous 

 juice. The flowers are hermaphrodite, fugaceous, three or five divided, the 

 fruit a globular capsule. The chief home of the cistus family is the southern, 

 shore of the Mediterranean and the warmer parts of Europe ; there are few 

 in America or Asia. The gum cistus [Cisli/.s ladianfrrd) is a well-known 

 garden shrub ; this aud other species supply the resinous substance known in 

 commerce as labdanum, an inflammable substance used in the manufacture 

 of torches, also as a cosmetic, aud occasionally as a stimulant in cases of 

 catarrh and dysenterj'. jy. "25. 



ACHIMENES, from rhe'unaiiio, sensitive to cold, iu allusion to the 

 tender constitution of this tribe of plants. N.O., Getii/rracciv. Lixn.ean : 

 1-i, I>idijHa)iiu( ; 2, Aiigiospennia. — A remarkable group of soft- textured, 

 fleshy herbs or shrubs, occasionally climbing or creeping, but mostly compact 

 in growth and springing from scaly tubers or fleshy root-stocks. The leaves 

 are wrinkled or corrugated, the flowers showy and comxu-ising all colours, the 

 calyx live-parted, the corolla five-parted, irregular tubular, the stamens two 

 or four, the fifth, needed to establish symmetry with the lobes of calyx and 

 corolla, being traceable in a rudimentary state. These herbs come near to 

 the bignoniads and the broom -ra2:)es, but have no proper alliance with them. 

 Tliey are mostly tropical ; though widel}' scattered, comparatively few are 

 of any importance in the arts. p. 29. 



SYRINGA, or PHILADELPHUS. The first name is from 

 Si/rinx, the name of a nj^mph who was changed into a reed. The second 

 name was apialied by the Greeks to a tree that is now unknown. N.O., 

 I'hila(J"Jiiliiicf.c, or Mock Oranges. LiNX-iiiiX : 10, Vfciiinlrui : 2, D'ujijiita. 

 — The jihiladelphus is allied to the saxifrages and the roses much more 

 closely than to the lilacs, as explained in the text. Hydrangea, Deutzia, and 

 Philadelphus are genera that combine certain common characters, but the 

 last named has sweet-scented flow^ers, which are unknown in the other two. 

 They appear to be limited to the northern hemisphere and to prefer the 

 temperate climes, but they do not range far uortliward, although in the 

 English garden they are all hardy, or nearly so. The most fragrant of the 

 genus under consideration is the mock orange {I'^ii la dr //)///( f: miw/ari/ts), a 

 good tiling enough in a mixed shrubbery, but a second-rate subject considered 

 as a flowexiug tree. The finest species for a good position in the garden is 

 rjiih(h-lp]nis fiurduiiunia^ or\g\\m\[y io\n\(\. by the celebrated Douglas on the 

 banks of the Columbia river, and through him introduced to cultivation by 

 the Horticultural Society, ;_,. 33. 



