DATU^RA. 



80 DECAYING LEAVES. 



the latter of Asia Minor. They both 

 require the same culture as the Me- 

 zereon, and the common Spurge 

 Laurel thrives under the drip of trees, 

 where few other plants will live. The 

 dwarf Daphnes are generally some- 

 what tender, with pink fragrant 

 flowers ; and D. odora, the Chinese 

 Daphne, is a very fragrant and beau- 

 tiful greenhouse shrub. 



Datu'ra. — Solanacece. — Strong- 

 growing, large-leaved plants, gene- 

 rally with showy flowers. Most of 

 the kinds are annuals ; the best- 

 known of which are the common 

 Thorn - Apple, D. Stramonium, 

 now naturalised in England ; D. 

 Metel, a dwarf species, common in 

 gardens ; D. ceratocdulon, a magni- 

 ficent plant, and D. Tdlula, the 

 purple-flowered Thorn- Apple. They 

 should all be raised on a hotbed, and 

 planted out in May. The splendid 

 half-shrubby plant, with large, white, 

 tube-shaped fragrant flowers, formerly 

 called Datura arborea, is now 

 called Brugmdnsia suaveolens. 

 This splendid plant may be grown in 

 a large tub in the greenhouse, in 

 heath mould, during the winter ; and 

 in May, a pit may be prepared for it 

 about a foot wider in diameter than 

 its tub. This pit should be partially 

 filled with very rotten manure and 

 decayed leaves, and the Datura, being 

 turned out of its tub, and its decayed 

 roots pared off, may be put into the 

 rich compost prepared for it, when it 

 will grow most vigorously. A plant 

 treated in this manner in 1835, 

 expanded 1050 flowers from the 

 middle of May to the middle of 

 September. About the last week in 

 that month the plant was taken up 

 out of the ground in which it had 

 been growing, its roots and its branches 

 were cut in, and it was again placed 

 in a tub, to be kept in the greenhouse 

 till the following spring. It must be 

 observed., that the pit prepared for the 



Datura must be in soil which is either 

 naturally dry, from being of a gravelly 

 or sandy nature, or which has been 

 well drained ; or that the bottom of 

 the pit be filled with broken bricks ; 

 in order that the plant must be well 

 and frequently watered while it is 

 growing. Probably if its roots and 

 collar were well protected, it might 

 be left in the open air without injury 

 during winter. 



Davie sia. — Leguminosce. — Aus- 

 tralian shrubs, with orange-yellow 

 coloured pea-flowers ; which should 

 be grown in a greenhouse, in well- 

 drained pots, and in a soil composed 

 of equal parts of sandy loam and 

 peat. The pots will require to be 

 often watered, but should have no 

 saucers ; as the roots are easily wi- 

 thered by drought, or rotted by ex- 

 cess of moisture, The species are 

 propagated by cuttings, struck in sand 

 under a bell-glass, but without bot- 

 tom-heat. 



Day Lily. — See Hemerocallis. 

 Dead Leaves. — Few persons are 

 aware of the great value of dead 

 leaves to a florist ; but the fact is, that 

 when decayed, leaves form the best 

 of all manures for flowering plants. 

 In this state they are called leaf- 

 mould, or vegetable mould ; and 

 under one of these names they will 

 be found continually referred to, in 

 all books treating of the culture of 

 flowers. To prepare this vegetable- 

 mould, the dead leaves should be 

 swept up in November, and laid in a 

 heap in the reserve-ground; the heap 

 should be occasionally turned over, 

 say perhaps once a month, and in about 

 a year, or at any rate by the end of 

 the second spring, the mould will be 

 fit for use. 



Deadly Nightshade. — Atropa 

 Belladonna, a plant of no beauty, 

 and a deadly poison. 



Decaying Leaves. — Many trees 

 and shrubs are very ornamental from 



