HERBS, TUBERS AND BTJLBS. 329 



bnt if the seeds are inserted just under the hark of the trees the differ- 

 ent genera and species are known to live npon, they wiH usually sprout 

 and grow. The European Mistletoe does not thrive in tliis country ; at 

 least I do not know of any specimens ; but the American species grow 

 abundantly from Ohio, south and westward, on the Button-wood, 

 Poplar, Ash, Honey Locust, etc. 



Jifalvaceee (Mallow Family). — An immense and important order of 

 herbs, shrubs, and trees. Theie are about fifty genera and nearly, or 

 quite, seven hundred species. AH are innocuous mucUaginous plants, 

 with fibrous bark. Gossypium, in economic value, is probably the most 

 important genus, yielding the difflerent species and varieties of cotton. 

 The ligneous species of the best imown genera have been referred to in 

 preceding chapters, and I wUl only mention here a, few of the hardy 

 herbaceous kinds, such as CaUirrhoe (Prairie Mallow), AUhea or Malva 

 alcea (Hollyhock), and the Hibiseus, or Rose Mallow, of various species 

 indigenous to the United States. The Prairie Mallow (CaUirrlwH) ia 

 readily propagated by seed, and dividing the old plants. The Holly- 

 hock, although naturally a biennial, becomes a perennial in cultivation, 

 through propagating it by division, and by cuttings of the young sprouts 

 as they push from the large fieshy roots in spring. The Rose Mallows 

 are not often cultivated, but are worthy of more attention than they 

 have received. New varieties are readily raised from seed sown in a 

 half-shady bed, in the open ground in spring, and these propagated by 

 division or young cuttings. 



MelastomacecB (Melastoma Family). — ^An order of trees, shrubs and 

 herbs. They are most abundant in the tropics, and representatives of 

 several genera are grown in greenhouses. Amongtheseare : Centradenia, 

 CyanophyUum, Bartoloma, Melastoma and Plermna. The most familiar 

 native genus is the Sheaia, half a dozen species of which are found in 

 the Atlantic States, but rarely seen in cultivation. Propagated by seed 

 and cuttings in summer, planted in a close frame or under a hand-glass. 



Mesembryanthemece (Fig Marigold Family). — This family is also 

 known as the Ficoideoe in some of our botanical works, andin others as 

 MmembryoKxm. There are nearly three hundred species in cultivation, 

 mostly of the one genus Mesembryanthemum. They are best known in 

 this country under the popular name of " Ice Plants," They are chiefly 

 low trailing plants, with thick fieshy leaves, and some of the species 

 have large and showy fiowers. They thrive best in a rather light poor 

 sou with more or less lime rubbish intermixed with it. Their propaga- 

 tion is exceedingly simple, as almost any piece of stem or leaf will 

 take root i£ laid on the surface of sand or thrust into it, and then ex- 

 posed to the direct rays of the sun. 



NympheeacecB (Water Lily Family). — A rather small order of 

 aquatic perennial herbs, widely distributed over the globe in fresh- 

 water ponds, and along the borders of rivers and smaller streams. 

 The leaves and flowers of some of the genera, like those of the com- 



