ARBUTUS. 



19 



ARISTOLOCHIA. 



useful in a shrubbery for its hardiness, 

 and for its thriving in any poor gra- 

 velly soil. There is a new species, 

 A. japonica, which is said to be very 

 handsome. 



Arbor vitje. — See Thuja. 



Arboretum. — A collection of trees 

 and shrubs, containing only one or 

 two plants of a kind, arranged together 

 according to some system or method. 

 The most common arrangement is 

 that of the Natural System ; but the 

 plants in an arboretum may be placed 

 together according to the countries of 

 which they are natives ; according to 

 the soil in which they grow; or accord- 

 ing to their sizes and habits, or time 

 of leafing, or flowering. In all small 

 villa residences an arboretum is the 

 most effectual means of procuring a 

 maximum of enjoyment in a mini- 

 mum of space, as far as trees and 

 shrubs are concerned. To render an 

 arboretum useful and interesting, 

 each tree and shrub should be 

 named. 



Arbours. — Seats or resting-places, 

 forming terminations to walks, or 

 fixed in retired parts of shrubberies or 

 pleasure-grounds. In general, every 

 straight walk ought to lead to some 

 object of use, as well as of beauty ; 

 and an arbour is oue of those in most 

 common use. The structure being 

 formed, climbing plants, ligneous or 

 herbaceous, are planted all around it 

 at the base of the trellis work, or 

 frame, against which, as they elimb 

 up, they ought to be tied and trained, 

 so as to spread over the whole arbour. 

 Some of the best plants for this pur- 

 pose are the different species of 

 honeysuckle, roses, and clematis ; and 

 the laburnum, the periploca graca, 

 the maurandias, the wistarias, eccre- 

 mocarpus scabra, lophospermum, rho- 

 dochiton, the Virginian creeper, cobsea 

 scandens, and ivy. 



Arbutus. — Ericaceae. — The 

 Strawberry-tree. Well-known ever- 



green shrubs, of which A. Unedo 

 rubra deserves to be mentioned for 

 the beauty of its flowers ; A. canari- 

 ensis, a greenhouse species, has also 

 very showy flowers ; and A. An- 

 drdchne, which is the tenderest of the 

 open air kinds, is remarkable for the 

 looseness and redness of its bark. All 

 the species are very ornamental, and 

 of free growth ; and they all thrive 

 best in heath mould, or very sandy 

 loam. They are propagated by layers 

 or cuttings. 



Arctotis. — Composites. — Under- 

 shrubs and herbaceous plants, natives 

 of the Cape of Good Hope, and of 

 which one species, A. dspera, has 

 large yellow flowers, and is truly or- 

 namental. It grows freely in loamy 

 soil, and is increased by cuttings 

 planted in sand under a hand-glass. 



Ardisia. — Myrsinece. — A genus 

 of stove shrubs, of which A. lentigi- 

 nbsa is very ornamental for its scar- 

 let fruit. They all grow in loam and 

 peat, and cuttings root freely in sand 

 in a moist heat under a hand-glass. 

 They may also be increased by cut- 

 tings of the root placed in heat. 



Argemone. — Papaveracece. — 

 Prickly-poppy. Highly ornamental 

 hardy annuals and perennials from 

 Mexico, with large flowers like those 

 of the poppy, and of the easiest cul- 

 ture. The plants spreading widely, to 

 look handsome require a good deal 

 of room. 



Aristolochia. — Asarince. — Birth- 

 wort. The aristolochias are mostly 

 climbing plants, requiring the heat of 

 a stove; but A. Sipho, A. tomen- 

 tosa, and A. Arkansa, natives of 

 North America, are hardy enough to 

 endure the open air in Britain, with- 

 out the slightest protection. They 

 are all remarkable for the very sin- 

 gular shape of their flowers, and their 

 disagreeable smell. They should be 

 grown in sandy loam and peat ; and 

 they are propagated by cuttings, 

 c 2 



