MIR 
MUS 
in the same way, and on the approach 
of winter their large bulbous roots should 
be taken up and stored away in dry sand 
until the following spring, when in April 
they may be forwarded on a moderate 
hot-bed, and again in May be planted 
into the borders of the flower garden. 
The whole of the genus are of one cha¬ 
racter, and may be treated alike. 
MIRBELIA (Smith.) Nat. Ord. Le- 
guminosds. Yery handsome greenhouse 
plants of neat, compact habit, and very 
abundant bloomers. They should be 
grown in well-drained pots of turfy peat 
broken up roughly, with the addition of 
as much sand as will serve to keep the 
soil porous. An airy, shaded situation 
out of doors should be selected for their 
summer standing, and when the sea¬ 
sonal growth is complete, they should 
receive all the sun, that the new wood 
may be properly matured. In winter 
the lightest position in the greenhouse 
should be saved for them, and in the 
following spring their gay red and yellow 
or purple flowers will be produced in 
great profusion. The supply of water 
should be liberal in the hot weather of 
summer, but at other times must be 
carefully administered. M. dilatata, M. 
Baxteri, M. grandiflora , and M. flori- 
bunda should be in every collection. 
MITELLA (Linn.) Nat. Ord. Saxi- 
fragracece. Pretty dwarf herbaceous 
alpines, producing numerous white flow¬ 
ers, well suited for rockwork or similar 
positions; they grow freely in light 
heath soil, and are rapidly increased by 
division. Being natives of elevated dis¬ 
tricts in North America, they are per¬ 
fectly hardy in our climate. 
MOERHINGIA (De Candolle.) 
Nat. Ord. Alsinacees. Another genus of 
like habit and character as the last; the 
two species which compose it are muscosa, 
having light purple flowers, and sedifolia, 
white and scarlet. Sandy peat suits 
them best, and increase is had by divi¬ 
sion of the root. 
MONARDA (Linn.) Nat. Ord. Labi¬ 
ates. Coarse-growing, hardy herbaceous 
plants, with rather showy flowers, suit¬ 
able only for the shrubbery borders. 
They grow in almost any soil or situat ion. 
MONOPSIS (Salisbury.) Nat. Ord. 
Lobeliacees. This little annual deserves 
far more attention than it has hitherto 
received ; it bears a resemblance to the 
well-known Lobelia gracilis, except that 
its flowers are round, the segments being 
equal, instead of bilabiate, as in Lobelia. 
The Monopsis requires the treatment 
usual for the other plant mentioned, 
and in the same situations has a much 
better effect, its flowers being of the 
same colour, but from them form are 
more showy. It is from the Cape of 
Good Hope, and at present is seldom 
seen. 
MORyE A (Linn.) Nat. Ord. Lridacece. 
Interesting Cape bulbs, but very seldom 
seen in flower, which we believe to be 
attributable to the imperfect drying of 
the roots in autumn. It should be borne 
in mind by the cultivators of this class 
of plants, that the majority of them ex¬ 
perience such an intensity of sun heat 
at the close of their growth, that we can 
scarcely form an idea of it, and therefore 
the utmost we can give them will yet be 
considerably short of what they natu¬ 
rally receive. What seems to be the near¬ 
est approach would be obtainable in this 
way: when the growth is terminated, 
let the bulbs be taken up, that all fur¬ 
ther development may be stayed, and 
having a quantity of thoroughly dried 
sand ready, spread it on a board and 
just cover the bulbs with it, then, when¬ 
ever the sun shines, place them in its 
fullest influence, and if continued for a 
month or so, there will be reasonable 
expectations of their blooming in the 
following season. They grow freely in 
sandy peat, and may be kept either in 
pots, or planted into a common frame. 
Yellow, blue, or purple are the prevailing 
colours of the species, as they are of the 
whole order. 
MUSA (Linn.) Nat. Ord. Musaccce. 
Both the Plantain and Banana belong to 
this genus; all the species are magnifi¬ 
cent oriental-looking plants, and, inde¬ 
pendent of their rich fruit, are deserving 
a place wherever space can be afforded, 
unfortunately most of them attain a 
height that precludes their accommoda¬ 
tion in an ordinary house, but one, the 
