ACHILLEA. 



3 



ACONITUM. 



situations most suitable for a large 

 plant of Acanthus are near a stone 

 seat on a lawn, at the foot of a block 

 of stone introduced among rock- 

 work, or among clrssical ruins, such as 

 those at Virginia Water, Windsor, &c. 

 In a garden at Hammersmith, a fine 

 effect was produced, some years since, 

 byanoble plant of Acanthus spinosus 

 springing from the base of a shattered 

 pedestal, and half concealing the 

 broken statue that had fallen from it. 



Acarus. — A genus of small insects 

 or mites. A'carus teldrius, the 

 red spider, is one of the most trouble- 

 some of all insects to gardeners, par- 

 ticularly in the bark-stove, as it breeds 

 in the bark. When first hatched 

 this little creature is scarcely percep- 

 tible, as its colour is of a yellowish 

 green, and it spins its web on the 

 under side of the leaves. As it gets 

 older, it becomes of a brownish red. 

 It has eight legs, and belongs to the 

 spider family ; but it is provided with 

 a kind of proboscis or rostrum, with 

 which it sucks the juices of the leaves 

 it lives upon, and soon withers them; 

 thus spoiling both fruit and flowers, 

 as neither can attain perfection unless 

 the sap that nourishes them has been 

 properly elaborated in the leaves. It 

 is very difficult to destroy this insect, 

 as tobacco-smoke and the other 

 remedies generally used against it, 

 appear to have very little effect. 

 Sprinkling with cold water will some- 

 times destroy it ; but as the insect is 

 generally produced by keeping the 

 plants too hot, and not allowing them 

 sufficient air, the best remedy appears 

 to be to set all the hothouse plants 

 in the open ground during the months 

 of July and August, plunging the 

 pots in a bed of dung, decayed leaves, 

 or tan ; and well ventilating and clean- 

 ing the houses while they are empty. 



Achillea. — Composites. — Mil- 

 foil. — The plants belonging to this 

 genus are known under the English 



name of Milfoil. Most of them have 

 no great beauty, but they are of very 

 vigorous growth, and will grow in any 

 soil or situation, bearing either smoke 

 or cold without any visible change. 

 They are also suitable plants for bal- 

 conies or boxes, as they are not easily 

 injured either by too much watering, 

 or by being kept too dry. The most 

 ornamental of the vigorous growing 

 kinds are Achillea tomentbsa, the 

 woolly Milfoil, with yellow flowers, 

 and A. tanacetifblia with red flowers. 

 Of the more delicate species, A. Cla- 

 vennce, the silvery-leaved Milfoil, with 

 large white flowers, is a very pretty 

 little plant for rock-work ; but it is 

 rather difficult to keep, unless it be 

 grown in a dry soil and a shady situa- 

 tion. A. aurea, which scarcely grow? 

 half a foot high, and has lich yellow 

 flowers, which it produces in great 

 profusion, is very suitable for edgings 

 to beds and borders ; as well as for 

 growing in pots and on rock-work* 

 The last species grows freely in any 

 soil that is tolerably dry ; and they 

 are all readily increased by division of 

 the root. — (See Division.) 



Aconi'tum. — Ranunculacea. — 

 Monkshood and Wolfsbane. — Herba- 

 ceous perennials, chiefly natives of 

 Europe, but partly of North America 

 and Japan. They are all hardy in Bri- 

 tish gardens, and they are generally 

 tall-growing handsome plants, produ- 

 cingabundance of dark-blue, purple, or 

 yellow flowers. They will all grow 

 freely in any common garden soil, and 

 are readily increased by division of 

 the root, or by seeds. All the species 

 are more or less poisonous, the poison 

 being strongest in the root. Like all 

 plants which grow with tall erect 

 stems, and produce their flowers in 

 terminal spikes, they are only suitable 

 for growing in borders in large gardens, 

 or for clumps on a lawn. Some of 

 the most common and handsomest 

 species are A. Napellus, the com- 

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