NARCISSUS. 



190 



>*EMESIA. 



the nails should be small and round- 

 headed, and strips of leather or black 

 tape are preferable to list. Leather 

 is sometimes preferred to list, even 

 for fruit-trees, because it does not 

 harbour insects ; but it is too expen- 

 sive to be used on a large scale. In 

 nailing ornamental shrubs the branches 

 should not be kept so close to the 

 ■wall as fruit-trees, as half their beauty 

 would be lost if they were deprived of 

 their loose shoots. All that is re- 

 quired is to train the trunk and main 

 blanches. 



Nandina. — BerberidecB. — A green- 

 house shrub ; a native of China ; with 

 white flowers, disposed in elegant 

 racemes. It should be grown in 

 loam and peat ; and it is propagated 

 by cuttings of the ripe wood, the 

 leaves of which must not be shortened, 

 and which must be struck in sand 

 under a bell-glass. 



Napoleon's Weeping Willow. — 

 This willow differs from the common 

 kind in several respects, and it is 

 probably the male variety of Salix 

 Babylonica, of which only the female 

 was formerly known in England. It 

 is of much slower growth than the 

 common kind, and therefore much bet- 

 ter adapted for planting in a shrubbery. 



Narcissus. — Amaryllidacece. — 

 The genus Narcissus is a very exten- 

 sive one, embracing, as it does, the 

 Jonquils, the Polyanthus Narcissus, 

 the little Hoop Petticoat, the Poet's 

 Narcissus, and the Daffodils, besides 

 numerous others. The late Mr. 

 Haworth paid great attention to this 

 genus, and divided it into thirteen 

 new genera, none of which, however, 

 have been adopted by other botanists, 

 though their names have been pre- 

 served in the sections into which the 

 genus Narcissus is now divided. All 

 the Narcissi are quite hardy, and will 

 grow in any common garden soil ; and 

 they are all increased by off-sets. 

 They may be left in the ground ee- 



I veral years without sustaining any 

 injury ; the only care necessary in 

 their culture being not to shorten 

 or cut off the leaves after the plant 

 has flowered, but to leave them on 

 till they wither naturally, as their 

 assistance is necessary to mature the 

 new bulb, which forms every year in 

 the place of the old one. It is the 

 more necessary to attend to this, as 

 many gardeners, from a mistaken idea 

 of neatness, cut off the leaves of the 

 Narcissi as soon as the flowers have 

 faded, and in this way first enfeeble, 

 and finally kill the plants. 



Nasturtium. See Trop^olum. 



Navelwort. See Cotyledon. 



Neck of a plant. The collar, col- 

 let, neck, or vital knot, is the point 

 of junction from which spring the 

 ascending stem and branches, aud the 

 descending roots. This point has been 

 called the heart of the plant, because 

 any injury done to it causes instant 

 death. 



Nelu'mbium. — Nymphacece. — 

 The Indian Lotus, or Sacred Bean of 

 India. A stove aquatic, generally with 

 white or pale pink flowers ; rather diffi- 

 cult to flower in this country, as it 

 requires great heat, aud abundance of 

 room ; the seeds also, which are sent 

 over from India, only rarely vegetate. 

 The seeds should be sown in rich 

 loamy soil in the bottom of a large 

 tub, which should be kept full of 

 water while the plants are growing, 

 but which may be allowed to become 

 dry when the flowers have faded. 

 The plants are increased by dividing 

 the root, or by seeds. There are two 

 West Indian Nelumbiums; one of 

 which has pale blue, and the other 

 pale yellow flowers. It must be ob- 

 served, that the Nelumbium or Indian 

 Water Lily differs essentially from the 

 Egyptian Water Lily or Lotus of the 

 Nile, which flowers freely in a stove 

 aquarium. See Nymphia. 



Nemesia. — Scrophularinece. — 



