epilo'bium. 



96 



ERI CA. 



E'phedra. — Gnetacece. — The 

 shrubby Horse-tail, or Sea Grape. 

 Very curious small evergreen shrubs, 

 with jointed branches, and apparently 

 without leaves. They grow best in 

 sea-sand ; and, when pegged down 

 and kept clipped closely, may be made 

 to present the extraordinary appear- 

 ance of green turf stretching to the 

 very brink of the sea, and even co- 

 vered by it at full tide. They are 

 used for this purpose, Du Hamel tells 

 us, in Africa, to cover those dry 

 burning sands, and to give the appear- 

 ance of an English lawn, where not a 

 single blade of grass will grow. The 

 berries are wholesome, and, wheu 

 ripe, taste like mulberries. 



Epide'ndrum. — Orcliidacece. — 

 Parasitic plants, which should be 

 grown in a damp stove or orchide- 

 ous house, on pieces of wood hung 

 up from the rafters for that purpose. 

 The roots must be wrapped in damp 

 moss and tied on the wood, into 

 which they will soon penetrate. These 

 plants may also be grown in baskets, 

 or cocoa-nuts filled with moss, and 

 hung up in the same manner. They 

 require to be grown in the shade, and 

 kept very moist and very hot. 



Epig;e v a. — Ericaceae. — The 

 Ground Laurel. A little creeping 

 plant, with white flowers, suitable 

 for rockwork. It should be grown 

 in sandy peat, and never suffered to 

 become too dry. There is a pink- 

 flowered variety, which was raised 

 by Mr. Milne, nurseryman, Stoke 

 Newington. 



Epilo'bium. — Onagracece. — The 

 French Willow-herb. A tall showy 

 perennial, with, stoloniferous roots, 

 only suited to a shrubbery. It re- 

 quires no care in its culture ; the 

 only difficulty being to prevent its 

 overpowering everything else, when 

 it is once planted in any situation not 

 exceedingly dry. There are several 

 wild species of Epilobium common in 



Britain, one of which is called by the 

 odd name of Codlings-and-Cream. E, 

 alpinus is a pretty little plant for 

 rockwork. 



Epiphy'llum. — Cactacece. — One 

 of the genera formed out of the Lin- 

 nean genus Cactus, by Mr. Haworth, 

 and comprising those Cacti that pro- 

 duce their flowers on their leaves. 

 The genus Epiphyllum is, however, 

 now given up, and the plants in it 

 are called Cereus by botanists. E. 

 (runcatum and E. specidsum, two 

 of the best-known species of this di- 

 vision of Cacti, are, however, still 

 generally called by their original 

 names of Cactus truucatus, and 

 Cactus speciosus. Both species 

 are abundant-flowerers, and require 

 only greenhouse heat. C. truncatus 

 will grow grafted on almost any other 

 species, and it will bear other species 

 grafted on it. For culture, see 

 Cereus. 



Eka'nthus. — Ranunculacece. — 

 The Winter Aconite is a low-growing 

 perennial, which is one of the first 

 flowers to blossom in spring. It is 

 quite hardy, and will grow in any 

 common soil ; and it may be easily 

 increased by offsets from the roots. 



EriVa.-- Ericacece. — The different 

 species of Heaths are among the most 

 beautiful of our greenhouse plants, 

 and are much more easily grown than 

 is generally supposed. The principal 

 cause of so many failures is, first, 

 that Heaths are generally potted much 

 too low, and thus the collar of the 

 plant is frequently rotted ; secondly, 

 that sufficient attention is not paid to 

 watering, as sometimes they are al- 

 lowed to be sodden with moisture, 

 from the pots being improperly drain- 

 ed, and at others kept much too dry, 

 by irregular or imperfect watering ; 

 and, thirdly, that they are often 

 grown on a stone shelf in a green- 

 house, or on a balcony during the 

 summer, when a powerful sun strik- 



