re 



Ci)£ &rea£urj) at ISotanj?. 



[aplo 



bushes. In this country it grows freely in 

 common garden soil, and is easily increased 

 by tubers. It requires to be supported like 

 peas. The tubers, though small, are nume- 

 rous, farinaceous, and eatable. [C. A. J.] 



API08PERMUM. A genus of Pistiacece, 

 containing a single species, a native of the 

 marshes of Cuba. The genus has been 

 separated from Pistia, with which it agrees, 

 except that its spadix is continued beyond 

 the whorl of stamens, and its seeds are 

 smooth. [W. C] 



APIUM. A genus of umbelliferous plants 

 consisting of but few species, one of which 

 is the well-known Celery, A. graveoiens; 

 and the other the common Parsley, A. Petro- 

 selinum, which occupies a spot in almost 

 j every garden. 



I The Celery, in its wild state, is found 



I in marshy places and ditches near the sea 



] coast in various parts of England. It is a 



| biennial ; and as grown in its native ditches 



the whole plant has a strong taste and 



smell, and is acrid and dangerous to eat. 



Such, however, are the wonderful changes 



effected by cultivation, that this rank, 



coarse, and more than suspicious plant has 



i by degrees been transformed into the 



sweet/crisp, wholesome, and most agree- 



; able of our cultivated vegetables. In 



Italy and the Levant, where it is much 



grown, but not blanched, the green leaves 



, and stalks are used as an ingredient in 



I soups. In this country they are always 



! blanched and used raw as a salad, or 



i dressed as a dinner vegetable. They are 



, also sometimes made into an agreeable 



: conserve. There are two kinds of Celery ; 



i the red and white-stalked, of both of 



which there are many sub-varieties. The 



i seeds, when bruised and tied into a bag, 



i form an excellent substitute for flavouring 



. soups when Celery cannot be procured. 



Celeriac or turnip-rooted Celery, is a 



I variety of the preceding, obtained by cul- 



I tivation. It is very seldom grown in this 



j country ; but in France, and more especially 



in Germany, it is commonly employed as a 



j vegetable, and is considered hardier than 



■ Celery, and capable of being preserved 



j for use much later in spring. It is excel- 



i lent for soups, in which slices of it are 



used as ingredients, and readily impart 



j their flavour. With the Germans it is also 



a favourite salad: the roots being prepared 



by boiling until a fork will pass readily 



through them, and when cold eaten with 



oil and vinegar. 



Parsley, which is sometimes called Pe- 

 troselinum sativum, is a hardy biennial 

 plant ; and although so common as to be 

 naturalised in some parts of England and 

 Scotland, was originally introduced from 

 Sardinia, of which it is a native, in 1548. 

 It is a well-known seasoning herb, and is 

 in constant demand throughout the year 

 for a variety of culinary purposes, such as 

 sauces, soups, &c, and for garnishing 

 various dishes. Among the ancient Greeks 

 and Romans, Parsley always formed a part 

 of their festive garlands, on account of 

 retaining its colour so long; and Pliny 



states that in his time there was not a 

 salad or sauce presented at table without 

 it. The ancients supposed that its grateful 

 smell absorbed the inebriating fumes of 

 wine, and by that means prevented intoxi- 

 cation ; but however this may be, we 

 believe nothing is more effectual than 

 the eating a leaf or two of Parsley to take 

 off the smell and prevent the after-taste of 

 any dish that has been strongly flavoured 

 with onions. In Cornwall it is much 

 esteemed and largely used in parsley pies, 

 which are peculiar to that part of England. 

 If dried and preserved in bottles from 

 which the air is excluded, it will retain its 

 flavour for a long time, and be found 

 extremely useful for seasoning omelets 

 and similar dishes. The curled-leaved 

 Parsley is always preferred for use as 

 being more ornamental than the common 

 sort, of which it is nothing more than a 

 variety obtained and continued by careful 

 cultivation. 



Hamburgh Parsley, A. Petroselinum var. 

 fusiformis, is a variety of the preceding, 

 and may be used for the same purposes ; 

 but it is chiefly grown for the sake of its 

 long spindle-shaped roots, which are 

 dressed and served at table as a separate 

 dish like those of the parsnip. [W. B. B.] 



APLECTRUM. A genus of melasto- 

 maceous shrubs, from the Moluccas, with 

 opposite, stalked, elliptical-oblong, entire, 

 five-ribbed leaves, and flowers in axillary 

 and terminal panicles, with four petals 

 and eight stamens; fruit, a sub-globose 

 berry. [J. T. S.] 



APLECTRUM hyemale belongs to a dis- 

 tinct race from the foregoing. This plant, 

 which bears in the United States the 

 names of Putty-root and Adam-and-Eve, 

 is a terrestrial orchid, allied to the genus 

 Corallorhiza, and inhabiting woods in rich 

 mould.butrare. It forms tubers an inch in 

 diameter, and scapes a foot high, bearing 

 a few dingy green flowers. Owing to its 

 tubers containing a large quantity of very 

 adhesive mucilage, which is employed in 

 mending broken porcelain, it has gained 

 in the United States the name of Putty- 

 root. The solitary leaf is broad and ribbed, 

 like that of a Veratrum. 



APLOCARTA. A genus of South Ameri- 

 can scrubby shrubs, of the order Nolano- 

 cecR, with fleshy leaves, separated from 

 Nolana on account of the five ovaries 

 being free, and the fruit of five separate 

 nuts. [J. T. S.] 



APLOPHTLLUM. The plants consti- 

 tuting this genus of the rue family (Ru- 

 tacea) are perennials or small shrubs, with j 

 simple, alternate, dotted leaves, no stipules, 

 and bearing yellow or white flowers in pan- 

 icled cymes. They are distinguished from 

 rue (Ruta) by their simple, undivided leaves, 

 whence also they derive their name, as 

 well as by the parts of the flower being ar- 

 ranged in fives, not in fours. They are na- 

 tives of S. Europe, etc. [M. T. M.] 



APLOTAXIS. A genus of the compo- 



