teas 
VIEUSSEUXIA. 
an inch thick near the calyx, and is studded with 
sharp elastic prickles, about three quarters of an 
inch in length. The calyx is four leaved, each 
upwards of 7 inches in length and 3 in breadth 
at the base; they are thick, white inside, red- 
dish brown, and prickly outside. The diameter 
of the calyx is 12 to 13 inches; on it rests the 
magnificent flower, which, when fully enveloped, 
covers completely the calyx with its hundred 
petals. When it first opens, it is white, with 
pink in the middle, which spreads over the whole 
flower the more it advances in age; and it is 
generally found the next day of a pink colour. 
As if to enhance its beauty, it is sweet-scented. 
Like others of its tribe, it possesses a fleshy disk ; 
and petals and stamens pass gradually into each 
other, and many petaloid leaves may be observed 
which have vestiges of an anther.” 
VICUGNA, or Vicuna. See Anpaca. 
VIEUSSEUXIA. A genus of ornamental, bul- 
bous-rooted, Cape-of-Good-Hope plants, of the 
iris tribe. Eleven species, all about a foot high, 
and most blooming in May and June, have been 
introduced to the greenhouses of Britain. About 
one half have flowers of some shade of red or 
purple; and the rest have them either white, 
cream-coloured, yellow, greenish, or variegated. 
All love a soil of sandy peat; and the majority 
are propagated by radical division. Most were 
formerly comprised in the iris and morza genera. 
VIGNA. A beautiful, twining, yellow-flowered, 
hardy annual plant, of the kidney-bean division 
of the leguminous order. It is a native of North 
America, and has long been known in Britain. 
It attains a height of about 4 feet; and blooms 
in July and August. It constitutes a genus of 
itself, and is specifically called glabra or the 
smooth. 
VILLARSIA. A genus of ornamental aqua- 
tic and marsh plants, of the gentian family. The 
water-lily-like species, Villarsia nymphoides, called 
by Linneus Menyanthes nymphordes, is a floating, 
yellow-flowered perennial, of the rivers of some 
parts of England, somewhat resembling the buck- 
bean, and blooming in June and July. The cor- 
date species, V. cordata, is a hardy, floating, yel- 
low-flowered perennial, introduced in 1820 from 
North America. Four or five other floating 
species, and three or four upright, evergreen, 
marsh species, all more or less tender, and most 
carrying either yellow or white flowers, have 
been introduced to the botanical collections of 
Britain from South America, Southern Africa, 
and Australia. The cordate species is propagat- 
ed from offsets; and all the others from suckers. 
VILLOUS. Covered with soft, close, long, 
loose, hairs, of a silky, woolly, or shaggy appear- 
ance. The epithet is botanical. 
VIMINARIA. A small genus of ornamental. 
yellow-flowered, Australian, evergreen shrubs, of 
| the sophora division of the leguminous order. 
Two species, the stripped and the side-flowering, 
both about 3 feet high, and blooming from June 
Te 
VINE. 
till September, have been introduced to Britain ; 
and they love a soil of sandy peat, and are pro- 
pagated from cuttings. 
VINCA. See PERIWINKLE. 
VINE,—botanically Vitis. A genus of thala- 
miflorous, exotic climbing plants, constituting 
the type of the natural order Ampelidee. This 
order is botanically akin to the geranium and 
the bead-tree families; and, as to the habit of 
very many of its plants, is ill or not at all repre- 
sented by the common grape vine. About 20 
hardy ligneous species, 7 or 8 greenhouse species, 
and nearly 40 hothouse species, at present in the 
gardens and botanical collections of Britain, be- 
long to it, and are distributed among the genera 
vitis, ampelopsis, cissus, and leea. Upwards of 
a dozen of these species are true vines; and about 
as many more unintroduced ones are known. All 
the vines are ornamental; and all likewise pro- 
duce grape-like fruits; but the grapes only of 
Vitis vinifera, are pleasantly esculent, or pro- 
duce good wine-making juice,—those of the 
best of the others having a disagreeable foxy fla- 
vour, which is not removed by cultivation. Three 
of the introduced species are tropical evergreen 
climbers, and the rest are hardy or half-hardy de- 
ciduous climbers. Those from North America 
generally love a soil of sandy peat, and those from 
other’ countries a soil of rich mould; and, ex- 
cepting the wild vine or V. labrusca, all are most 
readily propagated from cuttings. The typal 
species is the subject of our article GRAPE-VINE; 
and two or three of the best known of the other 
species may be noticed here. 
The wild vine, or wild Virginian grape, Vitis 
labrusca, is a native of many parts of North 
America, and was introduced to Britain in 1656. 
Its stems commonly climb to a height of 10 or 
12 feet; its leaves are large, indented, downy 
below, and nearly divided into three lobes, but 
nevertheless of a heart-shaped appearance, and 
very massive and handsome; its flowers come 
out in bunches, like those of the grape vine 
and havea herbaceous colour; and its fruit are 
spherical, black, and rough-flavoured. But a 
variety introduced in 1805, V. Jl. baccis albis, 
has white fruit. If the wild vine be wanted as 
an ornamental climber in the open ground, it 
should be planted among trees or pretty large 
shrubs ; for, by the assistance of its well-holding 
tendrils, it will attain a great height ; and, if the 
shrubs which grow near it be low-growing ones, 
it will entirely overtop them, and, in summer, 
almost conceal them with its foliage. ‘This spe- 
cies is most readily propagated by layering. 
The crumpled or parsley-leaved vine, Vitis 
laciniosa, is a native of Canada, and was intro- 
duced to Britain in 1648. It commonly attains 
.a height of 20 or 25 feet; and it has herbaceous 
coloured flowers, and blooms in June and July. 
Its stem is very thick, and its shoots are strong, 
so that when it is planted for an ornamental out- 
of-door climber, it must be placed in the vicinity 
a] 
