PALIURUS. 



202 



PARASITES. 



several varieties, thrive ia similar soil, 

 and are propagated by laying down 

 the shoots, cutting behind each bud, 

 and covering them throughout their 

 whole length by an inch or two of 

 sand or sandy soil. Each bud thus 

 treated will throw up a shoot and 

 emit roots, and after a year may be 

 cut off so as to form a distinct plant. 

 The tree peony, as it is called, is 

 quite hardy in the climate of London ; 

 but as the flowers and leaves come 

 out early, they are liable to be in- 

 jured by spring frosts, and it is there- 

 fore desirable to protect them by a 

 horizontal covering a foot or two 

 above the plant, which by reflecting 

 back the heat radiated from the soil 

 keeps up such a temperature as pre- 

 vents the plant from freezing. There 

 are many very handsome varieties of 

 the tree Peony, both double and 

 single, but that which is most es- 

 teemed is the P. moutan papavera- 

 cece, a single variety in which the 

 petals are large and white, with a dark 

 purple mark at the base, A few 

 years ago this variety sold at six 

 guineas a plant, but it may now be 

 obtained from 3s. 6d. to 5s. Both 

 the herbaceous and shrubby peonies 

 seed freely ; and as by fecundating 

 the flowers of one species with those 

 of the others, new varieties may be 

 easily procured, raising seedling peo- 

 nies forms a source of interest for 

 amateurs. 



Palavia Malavacece. — An ele- 

 gant annual plant, generally raised on 

 a hot-bed, and planted out in May ; 

 but which may be sown in the open 

 border in April. 



Paliu v rus. — Rhamnacece. — 

 Christ's Thorn. A curiously bent 

 thorny shrub, with very oddly shaped 

 flat fruit, which has given rise to the 

 French name for the plant of porte- 

 chapeau. It is a native of Asia, and 

 it will grow in any common garden 

 soil. 



Pancratium. — Amaryllidacece. — 

 The Sea Daffodil. Splendid lily- 

 like bulbous-rooted plants, some of 

 which require a stove, and others the 

 greenhouse. They should be grown 

 in light loam and vegetable mould ; 

 and should be allowed a season of 

 rest, by being kept without water 

 when not in a growing state. 



Pansy — See Heartsease. 



Papaver. — PapaveracecB. — The 

 Poppy. Showy annual and perennial 

 plants, which will grow in any com- 

 mon garden soil ; and which being 

 quite hardy, only require the common 

 treatment of their respective kinds. 



Papy v rus. — Cyperacece. — An in- 

 teresting marsh plant, which requires a 

 stove in England, and which is worth 

 growing from its having been the 

 only paper used by the ancients. It 

 should be planted in loam at the bot- 

 tom of a tub or cistern. 



Parasites are plants which root 

 into other plants, and differ from epi- 

 phytes in that circumstance, the latter 

 only growing upon the outside of the 

 branches of trees, and deriving nour- 

 ishment from the decay of the outer 

 bark, and the moisture which it re- 

 tains from its porous corky nature. 

 The only ligneous parasite which is 

 grown in this country is the Miseltoe, 

 which is propagated by bruising the 

 berries, and causing them to adhere to 

 the bark, (see Viscum,) and the chief 

 epiphytes are some of the stove Or- 

 chidaceae. The British herbaceous 

 parasites are Cuscuta epithymum 

 and C. europcea upon clover and hops, 

 and Orobanche major and Lath- 

 rea squamaria on the roots of forest- 

 trees. The hardy epiphytes of Bri- 

 tain are the lichens and mosses, which 

 grow on the bark of old trees, or 

 stunted young trees in moist shady 

 situations, and some species of ferns, 

 such as Polypodium vulgare, which, 

 is often found growing on the bark of 

 old Pollards in the central districts of 



