secre TCAD OTES 
~ ———— SSS = i 
se rE UES EnEnD nnn SEER! 
(44 WINTER BERRY. 
WINTER BERRY,—botanically Prinos. A 
genus of white-flowered, ornamental shrubs, of 
the buckthorn tribe. One tropical evergreen 
species, and ten hardy species—four of them ever- 
green and the other six deciduous—have been 
introduced to Britain from America; they vary 
in height from 18 inches to 6 or 7 feet; and all 
love a light soil and are propagated by layering. 
The whorled winter-berry, Prinos verticillatus, 
is a native of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and other 
parts of the United States, and was introduced 
to Britain in 1736. It is one of the tallest spe- 
cies, and deciduous. Its branches are numerous, 
and feather it down to the ground, and are cov- 
ered with a brownish-coloured bark; its leaves 
are alternate, and stand on slender footstalks, and 
are lanceolate, serrated lengthwise, pretty large, 
and of a strong green colour; its flowers come 
out in ones and twos at the joints of the branches, 
and appear in July and August, but make no 
show; and its fruit are purple-coloured berries, 
and remain on the trees throughout the winter, 
and have a fine appearance. When this plant is 
raised from seeds, they must be sown in beds of 
fine sandy earth soon after they are ripe; and as 
few will come up till the second spring, the beds 
must be kept ina clean and dressed state through- 
out the intervening summer: and the plantlets 
must remain in the beds till the second March 
after they appear above the ground, and must 
then be transplanted at very small distances into 
a nursery plot, and kept there till fit for their 
final situation. 
The smooth winter-berry, Prinos glaber, is a 
native of Canada, and was introdueed to Britain in 
1759. It is an evergreen, and somewhat resem- 
bles an alaternus. Its branches are numerous, 
and come out from the lowest as well as highest 
parts of the stem, and give the plant a very bushy 
habit ; its leaves are alternate, oblong-lanceolate, 
acute, serrated, and of a strong green colour; its 
flowers come out in twos and threes on a foot- 
stalk from the wings of the leaves, and bloom in 
July and August; and its berries have a red or 
purple colour, and continue throughout the win- 
ter. The raising of this species from seed is more 
operose than even that of the preceding; for it 
requires all the same care, with the addition that 
each plantlet needs to be set in a pot and kept 
for a series of winters under special shelter, and 
finally put down in a protected situation. 
WINTER CHERRY. See Curerry (WINTER). 
WINTER-CHICK WEED. See Winrrr-Green. 
WINTER-CRESS,—botanically Barbarea. A 
genus of yellow-flowered, evergreen herbaceous 
plants, of the cruciferous order.—The common 
winter-cress, or bitter winter-cress, or yellow 
rocket, Barbarea vulgaris, called by Linneeus Liry- 
simum barbarea, grows wild among rubbish, and 
on waste grounds, and about hedges, in many 
parts of Britain; and it has some claim, though 
but a slight one, to a place in the kitchen garden 
asa salad plant. Its root is tapering and rather 
ce 
WINTER-GREEN. 
woody; its stem is strong, angular, furrowed, 
leafy, either simple or branched, and from 15 to 
24 inches high; its lower leaves are lyrate, with 
a roundish terminal lobe; its upper leaves are 
obovate, dentated, strongly ribbed, quite smooth, 
and of a fine texture; its flowers grow in round- 
headed corymbose clusters, and have a bright yel- 
low colour, and bloom from May till August; and 
its pods are quadrangular and about an inch in 
length. The herbage is nauseously bitter and 
somewhat mucilaginous. A variety with a pro- 
fusion of exceedingly double flowers, which bloom 
in long succession, and pass from yellow to dirty 
white as they turn old, is common in flower gar- 
dens.—The early winter-cress, or Belleisle cress, 
Barbarea precox, called by Linneus Erysimum 
preecox, grows wild on the banks of brooks and 
ditches, and on watery grassy spots, in various 
parts of England. Its root is biennial or in only 
the lowest sense perennial; its stem or stems are 
erect, smooth, somewhat branched, of a violet 
hue at the bottom, and commonly from 10 to 20 
inches high ; its lower leaves are lyrate ; its upper 
leaves are deeply pinnatifid, and have linear, 
oblong, entire segments; its flowers are fewer, 
smaller, and paler than those of the common spe- 
cies, and bloom from April till October; and its 
pods are thrice as long as those of the common 
species, smooth, and exactly square. This spe- 
cies has a better claim than the common one toa 
place in the kitchen garden, and may be eaten in 
the same manner as water-cress ; and very much 
resembles that plant in flavour, but is rather 
more pungent.—Three hardy exotic species have 
been introduced from Tauria, Iberia, and the Le- 
vant; but they possess little interest. 
WINTER-GREEN,—botanically 7rientalis. A 
small genus of hardy, curious, perennial-rooted, 
annual - stemmed, white - flowered, herbaceous 
plants, of the primrose family. The European 
species, or the winter-chickweed, 77ientalis ewro- 
‘ped, is an indigen of the moist woods, mountain 
pastures, and turfy heaths of Britain. Its root 
is slightly tuberous; its stem is solitary, erect, 
somewhat cylindrical, almost naked except at the 
top, and commonly from 3 to 8 inches high; its 
leaves are smooth, and form a tuft at the top of 
the stem; its flowers are very handsome, and 
bloom in May and June; and its seeds are dotted, 
and have snow-white reticulated tunics of an ap- 
pearance like lace. The American species resem- 
bles the European, and was introduced to Britain 
in 1816. Both love a soil of sandy peat, and are 
propagated by radical division. 
WINTER-GREEN, — botanically Pyrola. A 
genus of small, ornamental, evergreen, herba- 
ceous plants, of the heath family. They take 
their botanical name from the similarity of their 
leaves to those of the pear-tree, and their popu- 
lar one from the habit of remaining beautifully 
green throughout the winter. All are very hand- 
some, and at the same time rather difficult to 
cultivate. They love a soil of sandy peat, and 
