VERBE V NA. 



298 



vibu'rnum. 



was introduced from Buenos Ayres, 

 and it directly became a favourite, 

 though for some years it was kept 

 carefully in the greenhouse, and con- 

 sidered difficult to manage. Since 

 that time, however, numerous other 

 species have been introduced, and as 

 they are found to hybridize freely, 

 innumerable hybrids and varieties 

 have been raised. They are all found 

 to root freely from layers, and to 

 strike as freely from cuttings, and to 

 thrive during summer in the open air. 

 They have thus become general 

 everywhere ; and it is now rare to 

 see a garden or a balcony without 

 them. The kinds principally culti- 

 vated are the following : V. Melin- 

 dres, the common scarlet Verbena, 

 the colour of which is the most bril- 

 liant scarlet. It is, however, the 

 most tender kind of Verbena, and 

 when planted in the open air it is 

 generally killed by the first frost if 

 not protected. It is a prostrate plant, 

 and should be pegged down over the 

 bed it is intended to cover, when it 

 will throw out roots at every joint. 

 Its varieties, V. M. latifolia, and 

 V. M. splendens, which are probably 

 hybrids between V.Melindres and V. 

 Tweediana, are much more hardy 

 than the species, and they are natu- 

 rally more upright-growing, though 

 when pegged down they throw out 

 roots at every joint in the same man- 

 ner. V. Tweediana is an upright- 

 growing plant with crimson flowers, 

 and it is very hardy ; V. incisa is 

 also hardy and upright-growing, but 

 its flowers are of a pale pink and have 

 a faded look. V. Arraniana has an 

 upright habit of growth and purplish 

 crimson u flowers ; but it is very ten- 

 der, and very apt to be attacked by 

 aphides. V. Aubletia and V. Lam- 

 berti are prostrate species and very 

 hardy ; V. Sabinii, another prostrate 

 species, has lilac flowers, and it has a 

 variety with white ones. V. pul- 



chella is also prostrate, and so is V. 

 sulphured, the flowers of which are 

 yellow. V. Neilii, V. teucroides, 

 and V. venosa, are upright-growing. 

 The first has lilac flowers, the second 

 white ones, and the last purple ; the 

 last two are of a very coarse habit of 

 growth. The Lemon-scented plant, 

 Verbena triphylla, is now called 

 Aloysia citriodora. (See Aloysia.) 

 All the Verbenas will grow in any 

 light soil, but they thrive best in 

 sandy peat or heath-mould. 



Vero'nica, — Scrophularinece. — 

 Speedwell. Very pretty perennial 

 and annual plants, generally with blue 

 flowers, natives of Europe, and many 

 of them found wild in Britain. They 

 are all of the easiest culture, as 

 they will grow well in any common 

 garden-soil that is tolerably light, and 

 at the same time moist ; and they 

 are propagated by seeds and division 

 of the root. Many of the kinds are 

 very suitable for rock work. 



Vervain. — See Verbena. 



Vesica^ria . — Cruci ferce. — Herba- 

 ceous plants, mostly with yellow 

 flowers, natives of Europe and Ame- 

 rica, that should be grown in sandy 

 loam, and which are propagated by 

 seeds or division of the root. 



Vetch. — See Vicia. 



Vibu'rnum. — Caprifoliacea. — 

 The Viburnum. Ornamental shrubs, 

 generally with terminal corymbs of 

 white flowers. One of the best known 

 of these, the Laurestinus, V. Tinus, 

 is an evergreen bush, with white 

 flowers that are rose-coloured in the 

 bud, and dark-blue berries, which is 

 very valuable in town-gardens, as it 

 flowers from December till March. 

 It is a native of the south of Europe 

 and the north of Africa. There is a 

 variety with shining leaves and larger 

 cymes of flowers, but it is rather 

 more tender than the common kind. 

 When the Laurestinus is grown near 

 a dwelling-house, care should be 



