FER 
FUC 
perennial kinds should be kept dry and 
dormant through the winter, started in 
a brisk heat in spring, aud through the 
summer may be trained to the roof 
of the stove, or to a trellis fastened to 
the pot in which they are growing. 
FERRARIA (Linn.) Nat. Old. Iri- 
dacece. Bulbous-rooted plants produc¬ 
ing very curious oddly-coloured flowers; 
the plants are of easy culture, growing 
freely in peat and sand; they require to 
be kept dry through the winter, to be 
potted as soon as they evince signs of 
returning action, and to be grown on 
freely with plenty of water, air, and sun¬ 
light ; most of the species succeed in 
the greenhouse, though they should have 
the warmest end. 
FICUS (Linn.) Nat. Ord. Urticacea. 
A genus of trees requiring stove treat¬ 
ment ; it contains several valuable spe¬ 
cies, especially the Indian-rubber tree 
(F. elastica), and the Banyan tree {F. 
religiosa ); the foliage of all of them is 
very imposing, and their culture is ot 
the easiest description, merely requiring 
to be potted in fibrous peat, and to have 
plenty of water in their, growing season. 
F. elastica , if cultivated in a humid at¬ 
mosphere, such as that of an orchidaceous 
house, will emit roots from its stem anc. 
branches, and attach itself to any con¬ 
tiguous object, such as a wall, in the 
manner of an epiphyte. 
FRANKENIA (Linn.) Nat. Order 
Frankeniaceee. Pretty little plants de¬ 
serving much more attention than they 
generally receive; they are well suitec. 
for ornamenting rockwork or for plant¬ 
ing in masses; all of them grow well in 
heath soil: a few of them require to be 
protected from frost, but all are available 
for out-of-door purposes in summer. 
FRITILLARIA (Linn.) Nat. Ord. 
Liliacece. Showy border plants, mostly 
attaining a height of from two to three 
feet, though F. meleagris and its varieties 
are dwarf; this species and one or two 
others like it, have had much attention 
paid them by the continental florists, 
who have succeeded in obtaining many 
beautiful varieties by seed, and now these 
flowers occupy a prominent place in 
their catalogues; they delight in very 
rich soil, frequently dug and well pul¬ 
verized previous to planting. The roots 
may be placed in the ground either in 
autumn or early spring, covering , them 
with about three inches of earth ; in the 
dooming season, should the weather 
wove dry, the ground must be frequently 
well soaked with water, that the growth 
may be sufficiently vigorous, or the 
lowers of the following season will be 
deficient. When the stems begin to 
decay, the roots should be taken up, but 
not dried to any extent, it being far 
^referable to preserve them till the .fol¬ 
lowing planting season in sand or light 
and partially dried earth. 
FU CHSiA (Plumiehoi* Willdenow) 
Nat. Order Onagraces. The position 
which this genus now occupies in gar¬ 
dens of every description fully exempli¬ 
fies the estimation in which it is held, 
and renders eulogy quite unnecessary. 
The name is a compliment to the cele¬ 
brated German botanist Leonard Fuchs, 
author of c Historia Stirpium,’ 1542, 
and some argument has occurred as to the 
proper pronunciation of the term, some 
contending that from the derivation of 
the word the consonants cli should be 
sounded as x, which we must demur to 
as harsh, grating, and destructive of eu¬ 
phony. The history of the introduction 
of the first species to this country is 
pretty well known. Mr. Lee, of the 
Hammersmith Nursery, being directed 
to the humble residence of a sailor’s 
wife in Limehouse, found it there pre¬ 
served as a souvenir of the absent hus¬ 
band who had brought it from “ foreign 
parts.” This Avas in 1788, and the plant, 
F. coccinea , Avas soon after propagated 
and speedily distributed through the 
kingdom. Fuchsias are divisible into 
two classes, requiring separate treatment 
according to the purposes each is best 
suited to. The first is that group which 
may be denominated hardy, being suffi¬ 
ciently robust to withstand our ordinary 
winters in the open ground, and it is 
essential to a successful issue, that where 
these plants are required for such posi¬ 
tions, only those which are of the class 
referred to should be employed; it is 
