February 20.J 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
317 
not far from the City of Lima, which clicl not hear the home¬ 
ward journey, and remain yet to be introduced. We may, 
therefore, look forward with hope to the opening of the 
Panama route for these, and still greater, acquisitions from 
the equatorial Andes. 
Tacsonia manicata has been found in Peru at an elevation 
of 7000 feet above the sea, where a climate occurs not much 
differing from that of our southern coasts. The bracts of 
i this plant are entire, downy, united at their base, and longer 
than the calyx-tube. Leaves , downy beneath, smooth above, 
deeply divided into three saw-edged lobes; leafstalks 
glanded. Stipules , purple, roundish, toothed-crested. It 
has bloomed in the conservatory of A. F. Slade, Esq., at 
Chiselhurst, whose gardener says it requires room, and is 
impatient of much pruning. 
Large-leaved Seaside-Grape (Coccoloba macro- 
phylla).—Botanical Magazine, t. 4686.—Jacquiu, an 
Austrian botanist and voluminous botanical author, is 
the authority for this genus, which he named and 
described in his Stirpium Americanarum Historia, in 
1763. it was founded on the Seaside-Grape of Jamaica, 
Coccoloba uvifera; a tree of large size, from whose grape¬ 
like fruit a kind of kino has been prepared, rivalling in 
astringeuey gum kino itself. The name is derived from 
kokkos, a berry, and lobos, a lobe, alluding to the forma¬ 
tion of the fruit; macrophylla means large-leaved. The 
species of this genus have, eight stamens and three 
styles, which refer them to the eighth class and third 
order of the Linnsean system, 8 -Octandria 3 -Trigynia; 
and in the natural classification of Jussieu, they are 
arranged with Buckwheats (Polygonaceae). The grape, 
or currant-like berries of the Seaside-Grape, are eatable, 
having a sharp pleasant taste; but it was the, succulent 
violet-coloured calyx which enveloped the fruit, that sug¬ 
gested the name of Seaside-Grape. That such gigantic 
trees, as many of the Coccolobas are, should be in close 
affinity with our Persicarias, Docks, Rhubarb, and Sorrel, 
to say nothing of those numerous weeds found in Poly¬ 
gonum itself, is sufficiently curious. They are all apeta- 
lous; that is, having no petals to their flowers. They 
thus, at once, refute the doctrine that plants have any 
office assigned to them by nature, beyond that of adding 
a charm to the “ flowers of the field.” * 
A farinaceous food, for the use of man, is obtained from 
the buckwheat; tarts and tonic medicines from the leaf¬ 
stalks and roots of rhubarb; an agreeable acid from sorrels; 
Polygons;, as astringents, are in repute with practitioners in 
all parts of the world, and even in the inhospitable regions 
of the North Pole they are met with in the genus Oxyria ; 
dyes and dyewoods they also yield, the wood of our Cocco¬ 
loba dyeing red; and Mr. Backhouse tells us that pies and 
puddings are made, in the penal settlements of Australia, 
from the currant-like berries of Muhlenberghia adpressa, or 
the Australian Seaside-Grape, which is the very next genus 
in affinity to the West Indian original plants of that name. 
We may add, that a legion of medicinal attributes are 
ascribed to this large order of no-petalled flowers, in both 
hemispheres. 
Coccoloba macrophylla bloomed, for the first time, in the 
large stove of the Kew Gardens, during 1850. It is believed 
to be a native of South America. The name is not appro¬ 
priate, for the leaves are three-fourths smaller than those 
of C. pubescens. Heightli, twenty to twenty-three feet, 
crowned with a dense club-shaped raceme of the richest 
scarlet flowers, which continue in beauty for two months, 
July and August. Stem, furrowed, erect, almost unbranched, 
leafy from the bottom to top. Leaves, stem-clasping, alter¬ 
nate, dark green, distant from each other, heart-shaped, 
sharp-pointed, wrinkled, and strongly nerved. Raceme, 
cylindrical, two feet long ; stigmas yellow; berries red. May 
be propagated by cuttings, and thrives in a light loam. 
B. J. 
THE ERUIT-GAEEEN. 
FORMATION OF FRUIT AND KITCHEN-GARDENS. 
(Continued from page 304.) 
Selection and Disposal of Fruits. —It will be re¬ 
membered, that we bad previously brought this subject 
to a close, with the exception of the promised fruit lists, 
and their adaptation to the proposed trellises. The 
latter is now the subject in hand, and it is necessary to 
make a few preliminary remarks, in order to pave the 
way to a clear understanding of the subject. 
In the first place, as climates differ so much, and we 
are anxious not to mislead, it may be observed, that we 
think it well to propound a scheme for about the centre 
of England. Those who live much north and south of 
such position, therefore, must learn to make allowances 
in that respect. 
Secondly. The lists are as much condensed as possible, 
scarcely any but well-known and good fruits being in¬ 
cluded; selection, not collection, being the aim. 
Thirdly. The most general names alone are given. 
Synonyms would have trespassed too much on our 
limits. 
Fourthly. A few novelties being introduced, some 
apology may appear necessary. As such, we may urge 
the great respectability of such authorities as Mr. Rivers. 
ABBREVIATIONS. 
(1.) Inclined trellis. (T.) Table trellis. (S.) Saddle trellis. (P.) Per¬ 
pendicular trellis. (Asp.) Aspect on wall. (Slip.) All exterior ground, 
whether the trees he dwarf standards, ordinary standards, or pyramids. 
APPLES, 
1. Ashmeatl’s Kernel; table. November to May. S. 1’. Slip. 
2. Alfriston ; kitchen. November to April. Slip. 
3. Pearson’s Plate ; table. November to April. S. P. 
4. Kerry Pippin ; table. September to October. T. P. Slip. 
5. White Juneatiny; table. July. P. Slip. 
0. Ord apple ; table. February to May. I T. 
* This is not logical. Are not stamens usually essential, though not 
found in ferns '! —Ed. C, G. 
