335 
TEE COTTAGE GARDENER AND 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, September G, 1859. 
AMELLUS. 
A'at. ord., Asteracete. Linn. Syngenesia-superflua. 
Generic Character. — Involucre hemispherical, imbricated. 
Receptacle paleaceous. Pappus simple ; of the ray paleaceous; 
of the disk setaceous. Florets of the ray undivided. 
Ahellus spinuloses (spiny). Plant hoary; leaves bi-pinnatifid, 
cut-toothed, segments linear, rigid, mucronale; heads lateral 
and terminal, clustered. 2 ft. Yellow. August. Missouri. 
A. vii.LOSus (long-haired). Plant very villous; leaves sessile, 
oblong, acuminate, entire; heads axillary, on short stalks. 1 ft. 
August. Missouri. 
Two recently-introduced handsome plants, with showy yellow 
flowers. They require a rather strong loamy soil. 
Propagated by cuttings of the hard stems, taken off in May 
and planted in sand in a shady place till rooted, then transplanted 
singly where they are to bloom. 
ANTHYLLIS.— Kidney Vetch. 
JYal. ord., Fafyacece. Linn. Monadelphia Decanclria. 
Generic Character. —• Calyx ventricose, five-toothed,persistent. 
Vexillum larger than other petals. Filaments dilated at top. 
Legumes stalked, bidden by the calyx, one to three-seeded. 
Anthyllis Geeardii (Gerard’s). Plant herbaceous, diffuse; 
leaves pinnate, glabrous, leaflets five to niue, oblong-linear, 
mucronate; heads fifteen to twenty-flowered. 1 ft. White. 
J uly. Provence. 
A. Montana (mountain). Plant herbaceous, tufted; leaves 
pinnate, and^like the branches, white from villi, leaflets fifteen 
to nineteen, oval-obloug ; heads solitary, on long peduncles. 
1 ft. Purple. July S. of Europe. 
A.-- alba (white mountain). 1 ft. White. July. 
S. of Europe. 
A. onobeychoides (St. Foix-like). Plant herbaceous, rather 
erect; leaves pinnate, smoothish, leaflets seven to eleven, linear; 
heads ten to twelve-flowered. 1 ft. Yellow. July. Spain. 
A. polycephala (many-headed). Plant herbaceous, procum¬ 
bent ; leaves pinnate, and, like the branches, villous, leaflets 
twenty-three to thirty-five, oval-oblong, equal; heads numerous, 
sessile, distant, alternate. 1 ft. Yellow. July. Barbary. 
A. polypiiylla (many-leaved). Plant herbaceous, erect; leaves 
pinnate, villous, leaflets eleven to fifteen, lower ones oblong, 
upper ones linear, terminal one larger ; heads aggregate. 1 ft. 
Yellow. July. S. of Europe. 
A. yulneraeia (Woundwort). Plant herbaceous, rather erect; 
leaves pinnate, with five or more unequal leaflets, the lower ones 
smallest, and the terminal one much the largest; heads twin. 
1 ft. Yellow. July. Britain. 
A.- albiploea (white-flowered). 1 ft. White. July. 
Britain. 
A.- HIBSCTISSIMA (hairiest). 6 in. July. Red. 
Europe. 
A.- kttbea (red-flowered). 1 ft. Red. July. Britain. 
A. TVebbiana (Webb’s). Plant erect, white from villi; leaves 
pinnate, leaflets seven to eleven, oval-acute, terminal one largest; 
heads sub-compound, bracteate; bracts cuneate, roundish, 
hardly multifid ; calyx sub-cylindrical. 1 ft. Pale rose. July. 
Teneriffe. 
A genus of rather showy pea-blossomed hardy perennials. The 
British species are not common. They require a light, dry soil. 
Propagated by cuttings and divisions of the plant. 
Cuttings. —Several species have only a single tap root, hence 
they cannot be divided. Take cuttings of these (short side-shoots 
are the best), in April, plant in sand in a shady place, and, when 
rooted, transplant them in freshened soil, where they are to flower. 
Division. —Take up the plants in March, divide them into 
moderate-sized pieces with roots to each, plant them immediately 
in either a fresh place, or in renewed soil, where they are to grow 
permanently. They will thrive in the same spot longer than 
most other plants. T. Appleby. 
(To be continued.) 
THE SCIENCE OF GARDENING. 
(Continued from page 324.) 
THE STEM AND BRANCHES. 
Although every member of the vegetable form, from the 
minutest root to the most fragile spray, has its epidermis, 
cellular integument, bark, woody fibre, and medullary matter, 
yet as these are most apparent in the stem and branches, they 
can be commented upon most readily in this chapter, devot ed to 
the consideration of those vegetable members. 
The .first of these, the epidermis, is analogous to the human 
cuticle, or scarf skin, being the external envelope of the whole 
surface. It is commonly transparent and smooth, sometimes 
hairy ; in other instances hard and rugged, occasionally so 
abounding with silica, or flint, as to he employed as a polisher 
for wood, and even brass. In every instance it is a network of 
fibres, the meshes of which arc filled with a fine membrane. The 
epidermis appears to be designed as a preservative from the in¬ 
jurious effects of the atmosphere, to regulate the quantity of 
gaseous matter and moisture respired, and as a shield from the 
attacks of animals, &c. It is certainly devoid of sensation. The 
texture of the membrane between the meshes varies much in 
different species of plants. In very succulent plants it is so 
contrived that it readily allows the absorption of moisture, but 
prevents perspiration. Such plants are, consequently, well 
qualified to inhabit hot climates and dry soils. Neither is it at all 
impossible that it possesses the quality of allowing the passage 
of some gases, and rejecting others, as the bladder of animals 
permits water to pass through its texture, but is impervious to 
alcohol. In old trees it cracks, and in many cases becomes oblite¬ 
rated, tire dead layers of bark performing its offices. Its growth is 
slower than that of other parts, and its powers of expansion, 
though great, occasionally cannot equal the rapid enlargement of 
the parts it encloses and defends. This is very frequently the case 
with the stem and branches.of the Cherry ; the tree is then said 
by gardeners to be hide-bound, and is relieved by making longi¬ 
tudinal incisions. It is still more apparent in the fruit of the 
Cherry and Plum: when rain falls abundantly during their state 
of ripeness, then’ pulp swells so rapidly, that in an hour or two 
the epidermis of every ripe drupe upon a tree will be cracked. 
Gardeners are very prone to scrape with no gentle hand the 
bark of their fruit trees ; whereas every care should be taken not 
to wound its surface unnecessarily, and never to reduce its thick¬ 
ness until all danger of severe frosts is passed. 
The epidermis regulates the evaporation from a plant, and 
preserves it in some degree from the detrimental sudden changes of 
temperature to which our climate is liable. The Birch (Belulus 
alba), has more films of epidermis than any other European tree; 
and it ascends to greater heights in the Alps, and approaches 
nearer to the frozen zone than other trees of the same climates. 
It is quite certain that stems and branches can imbibe nourish¬ 
ment through their epidermis. If a branch be cut off, and a 
wetted towel be wrapped round the bark, yet without touching 
either the cut end or the leaves, that branch will retain its 
foliage verdant much longer than another branch similarly cut 
off, but not enfolded by a wetted towel. So all gardeners know, 
that enclosing the stems of newly-transplanted large trees with 
moss or hay-bands, and keeping these moist, is an efficient mode 
of enabling them to bear the removal. A branch, or a whole 
tree, may be killed by painting over its entire epidermis with gas 
tar. Showing either that the admission and emission of gases 
and moisture being prevented, or that creosote or other poisonous 
matter is absorbed from the tar, death is the consequence. 
We could give many similar results of experience, but will 
only add further that Mr. Hales states, as the result of many ex¬ 
periments, “ that the air enters very slowly at the back (bark?) 
of young shoots and branches, but much more freely through old 
bark ; and in different kinds of trees it has very different degrees 
of more or less free entrance .”—(Vegetable Statics, i., 160.) 
Knowing these facts, and knowing also the benefit a tree derives 
from keeping its epidermis freed from lichens, we have never 
doubted that its e’ean and healthy state is of as much importance 
to a plant as is a clean and healthy skin to an animal. 
Some pbytologists, however, have viewed the epidermis in a 
light altogether different, and have regarded it as being the effect 
of mere accident or position,—that is, as being nothing more 
than a scurf formed on the exterior of the pulpy perenchyma, 
and indurated by the action of the air. This was the opinion of 
Grew and Malpighi, which, though it does not seem to have met 
with any very general reception, has been revived of late years 
by M. Mirbel, who, professing to be dissatisfied with the analogy 
that has generally been thought to exist between the epidermis 
of the animal and the vegetable, contends that the latter is 
nothing more than the indurated surface of the parenchyma, from 
w'hich it differs only in such circumstances as are occasioned by 
position. If it is more or less transparent,—if it is tougher or 
firmer in its texture than the parenchyma or any of its parts, it 
