AMPELOPSIS. 



12 



AMYGDALUS. 



sia amelloides, and which is a very 

 pretty little plant, is remarkable from 

 the curious rolling up of its petals. 

 Both species are natives of the Cape, 

 and as they require a light soil, will 

 not grow in clay without the addition 

 of sand. 



American Aloe. — See Agave. 



American Convolvulus. — See Ca- 

 lystegia. 



American Cowslip. — See Dode- 

 catheon. 



Amethystea. — Labiates. — An an- 

 nual plant with blue flowers ; a native 

 of Siberia, of easy culture in any soil 

 or situation, except that it will not 

 bear transplanting, unless when it is 

 in the seed leaf. 



Ammonium. — Composite A kind 



of everlasting flower, with a yellow 

 disk and white ray like a daisy. A 

 native of New South Wale9, where it 

 was found growing in pure sand. It 

 is generally grown from seeds as an 

 annual ; but by taking cuttings from 

 it, it may be kept two or three years. 



Amorpha. — Leguminosce. — Deci- 

 duous shrubs, with pinnate leaves, 

 from North America, varying from 

 two to six feet in height, with showy 

 dark blue and orange flowers in ter- 

 minal spikes. A. Lewisii has flowers 

 of gold and purple of great beauty 

 when examined closely. All the 

 species are of comparatively short 

 duration ; their wood being soft, with 

 a large proportion of pith, and their 

 branches very liable to be broken off 

 by high winds ; in other respects they 

 are of easy culture in sandy soil, and 

 they are readily propagated by cut- 

 tings or layers. Indigo is made from 

 the pulpy part of the leaves of A. 

 indigofera, an East Indian species. 



Ampelopsis, Mx. — Vitacece. — A. 

 hederacea, is well known by its Eng- 

 lish names of Virginian creeper, and 

 five-leaved ivy. Its flowers have no 

 beauty, but it is worth cultivating as 

 an ornamental plant, from the bril- 



liant scarlet which its leaves assume 

 in autumn ; and which look particu- 

 larly well at that season, when inter- 

 mingled with those of the common 

 ivy, from the fine contrast they afford. 

 The plant is of very rapid growth in 

 any common soil, and it is propagated 

 by layers, or cuttings. 



Amphicome\ Royle. — Bignonia- 

 cece. — A very beautiful Nepal peren- 

 nial, with tube-shaped pink flowers. 

 It appears quite hardy, but as it is ne~ 

 cessary to give it a period of complete 

 rest, during which it should have 

 scarcely any water, it is safer to keep 

 it in a greenhouse, at least during 

 winter, allowing it abundance of light. 

 It may be propagated by either seeds 

 or cuttings, though the first are some- 

 times two years before they vegetate, 

 and the cuttings are very difficult to 

 strike. The soil it is grown in should 

 be loam, mixed with a little heath 

 mould, or sand. 



Amygoalus. — Rosacea. — There 

 are two species of Almonds which are 

 highly ornamental, on account of their 

 flowers. A. nana, which does not 

 grow above two feet high, and pro- 

 duces its red flowers in March ; and 

 A. communis, which forms a small 

 deciduous tree, profusely covered with 

 flowers, in March and April, before it 

 expands its leaves. There are several 

 varieties of both species, but the only 

 one which is worth notice, is the large 

 flowered Almond, A. c. macrocarpa, 

 which has much larger flowers than the 

 common kind, though they are much 

 paler. The dwarf almond is propa- 

 gated by suckers, and the other species 

 and varieties by grafting on the com- 

 mon plum. What is generally known 

 in gardens as the double dwarf almond, 

 is now called by botanists, Cerasus, 

 or Prunus japonica. Whenever 

 the tree Almond is planted for its 

 flowers, care should be taken to let it 

 have a back ground of evergreens ; 

 as otherwise, from the flowers being 



