505 



HLfye &xcx$uvy af 230tany. 



[fran 



but it was found rather tender for our 

 severe winters, and it does not succeed in 

 the climate of Paris, but in the south-west 

 of France it thrives admirably. It was in- 

 troduced to Marseilles from Chili, in 1712, 

 by Frezier, a French officer of marine ar- 

 tillery. Five plants were all that survived 

 the voyage; but in 1857 about 450 acres 

 were occupied with this sort alone in the 

 neighbourhood of Brest, where the mild- 

 ness of the winters and moisture of the 

 air are favourable to its growth. It was 

 cultivated in this country by Philip Miller 

 in 1727 ; afterwards it appears to havebeen 

 lost, till reintroduced by the Horticultural 

 Society. Though not itself adapted for our 

 climate, very beneficial results have fol- 

 lowed its reintroduction, for, by crossing, 

 a very large variety called Wilmot's Superb 

 was raised ; and though this had too much 

 of the tenderness of its parent, yet, by 

 repeated crossing, others less tender and 

 of better quality have been obtained, and 

 among them that so extensively grown and 

 so well known by the name of the British 

 Queen, one of our most valuable sorts. 



Formerly strawberries were chiefly 

 carried to the London market by women 



! in head-load baskets. These women came 

 mostly from "Wales and Shropshire, and 

 returned after the fruit-gathering season 



j was over. They often made two journeys 

 from Isleworth or Twickenham to London, 

 thus walking between thirty and forty 

 miles daily, with heavy loads on their heads 

 for half that distance. Such labour is now 

 almost entirely done away with, and spring 

 vans are employed for the conveyance of 

 strawberries to the markets. [ft. T.] 



FRAGILARIA. A genus of Diatomacece 

 in which the frustules adhere intimately 

 j to each other, so as to form long ribbon- 

 like threads which are narrower at one end 

 than the other, probably from the rupture 

 of the thread in the centre. F. hiemalis is 

 very common in little pools and runlets in 

 early spring, and is always a pleasing mi- 

 croscopic object. [M. J. B.] 



FRAGON. (Ft.) Buscus. 



FRAISIER. (Ft.) Fragaria. — A CHAS- 

 SIS. Fragaria minor. — BRESLINGE. 

 Fragaria collina. — BUTSSON. Fragaria, 

 efflagellis. — D'ANGLETERRE. Fraga- 

 ria minor. — DE LTNDE. Fragaria in- 

 dica, sometimes called Duchesnea fraga- 

 rioides. — DES BOIS. Fragaria sylves- 

 tris. — DE TOTJS LES MOIS. Fragaria 

 semperflorens. — FRESSANT. Fragaria 

 hortensis. — STERILE. Potentilla Fra- 

 gariastrum. — DE VERSAILLES. Fra- 

 garia monophylla. 



FRAMBOISIER. (Fr.) Bubus Idceus. 

 — DU CANADA. Bubus odoratus. 



FRANCISCEA. A genus of Brazilian 

 shrub3, included among the Scrophula- 

 riacta?, and closely allied to Brunfelsia, 

 from which it differs in the tube of the 

 corolla being curved and dilated at its 

 summit. There are several species in cul- 

 tivation as stove plants, most of them 



| having very" showy salver-shaped purple 

 flowers. The root of F. uni flora, and, to a 

 less extent, the leaves, are used in Brazil 

 in syphilitic complaints : hence the plant 

 is called by the Portuguese Vegetable Mer- 

 cury. It is bitter, purgative, emetic, and 

 is poisonous in large doses. [M. T. M.j 



FRANCISIA. A genus of Chamcelaucia- 

 cew, having a calyx with five short teeth, 

 the tube of which is cylindrico-pentagonal 

 and partially united with the ovary; a 

 corolla of five suborbiculate converging 

 petals inserted in the throat of the calyx ; 

 twenty stamens, those opposite the petals 

 trifid, themiddlelobesbeingantheriferous, 

 and those alternate with the petals simple ; 

 and a filiform style with a hooked stigma. 

 It is a slightly branched shrub, with 

 crowded linear triquetrous leaves full of 

 pellucid dots, and terminal clustered flow- 

 ers. Native of New South Wales. [R. HJ 



FRANCO ACEiE. (.Francoads.) A natural 

 order of calycifloral dicotyledons belonging 

 to Lindley's erical alliance of hypogynous 

 Exogens. Stemless herbs, with lobed or 

 pinnate exstipulate leaves, and scape-like 

 stalks bearing racemes of flowers ; the 

 calyx four-cleft ; petals four, persistent for 

 a long time ; stamens about sixteen, at- 

 tached to the lower part of the calyx, the 

 alternate ones abortive. Ovary free, four- 

 celled ; ovules numerous ; no style ; stigma 

 four-lobed. Fruit a four-valved capsule ; 

 seeds numerous, with a minute embryo and 

 fleshy albumen. They are natives of Chili. 

 Their qualities are astringent and slightly 

 sedative. There are two genera, Francoa 

 and Tetilla; and five species. [J. H. B.] 



FRANCOA. A genus of perennial Chi- 

 lian herbs, typical of the Francoacew, hav- 

 ing lyrately pinnatifld leaves which are 

 nearly all radical, and flowers in simple 

 or branched racemes, the pedicels bearing 

 single flowers, and having a persistent 

 bract at the base. The calyx is four-parted, 

 the petals four, the stamens eight fertile al- 

 ternating with eight sterile, and the ovary 

 free, four-celled, with numerous ovules. 

 There are four or five species. Their juice 

 is said to be sedative, and the roots of some 

 are used for dying black. [J. H. B.] 



FRANGIPANE. Plumieria rubra. 



FRANGIPANIER. (Fr.) Plumieria. 



FRANKENIACE^J. (Frankeniads.) A 

 natural order of thalamifloral dicotyledons 

 belonging to Lindley's violal alliance of hy- 

 pogynous Exogens. Herbs or undershrubs 

 with branching stems, and opposite exsti- 

 pulate leaves with a sheathing base. Flow- 

 ers sessile, imbedded in the leaves ; sepals 

 four to five, united in a furrowed tube, per- 

 sistent ; petals alternate with sepals, often 

 with scaly appendages ; stamens four to 

 five or twice these numbers, the anthers 

 roundish, versatile, opening lengthwise. 

 Ovary superior, with a slender cleft style, 

 and numerous anatropal ovules attached 

 to parietal placentas. Fruit a one-celled 

 capsule, enclosed by the calyx ; seeds very 



