. feet. 
one of the most ornate ligneous climbing plants 
in the world. It somewhat resembles the labur- 
num in its habit of inflorescence,—with the im- 
portant difference that its flowers are delicately 
blue; and it is almost as handsome in its foliage 
as in its bloom, and possesses the most wondrous 
power and prolificity in dispreading its branches 
over trellises and roofs in any style of training 
which fancy can desire. It has already, for some 
years, formed a gorgeous ornament athwart the 
surfaces of greenhouses and warm walls in many 
parts of Britain; and, as it constitutionally pos- 
‘sesses considerable hardiness, and may be ex- 
pected to become still hardier by acclimatation, 
and is very facilely propagable by layering, it 
probably may, in the course of some years, 
supersede the ivy and the honeysuckle and the 
clematis, or at least share with them, in decorat- 
ing the walls of farm-houses, cottages -ornées, 
and entrance-lodges. “It begins to bloom in the 
latter part of May, or about the same time as 
the laburnum; and it usually produces a small 
second crop of flowers, and sometimes even car- 
ries a third crop in August. A plant of it at 
Coughton Court, the seat of Sir Charles Throck- 
morton, Bart., when only of seven years’ growth, 
at the beginning of June, covered 905 feet of 
wall, and was 116 feet in length, and carried 
2,275 blossoms. Its usual height or length in 
ordinary cultivation, however, is only about 15 
It thrives best in a soil of loam and peat 
or of rich mould.—The bundle- flowered species, 
Wistaria floribunda—called by some botanists 
Glycine floribunda, and by others Dolichos poly- 
stachyos—was introduced from China in 1820, 
and has a creeping or trailing habit, and carries 
purple and white flowers, and is in some respects 
a handsomer plant than even Consequa’s. 
WITCH HAZEL. See Hamametis. 
WITHERINGIA. A genus of ornamental exo- 
tic plants, of the nightshade family. Seven 
species have been introduced to Britain, princi- 
pally from South America ; and nine or ten 
more are known. One of the introduced species 
is an annual, one is a tuberous-rooted perennial, 
three are herbaceous evergreens, and two are 
evergreen undershrubs. They vary in height 
from 6 inches to 3 feet; two have respectively 
blue and white flowers, and the rest have yellow 
flowers; most bloom from May till autumn; and 
nearly all love a soil of loamy peat. 
WITHERS. The long upright processes of 
the first few dorsal vertebree of the horse, rising 
above the shoulders, and often forming a consi- 
derable ridge. In consequence of their giving 
attachment to the elastic ligament which sup- 
ports the head, their length and direction in 
a great measure determine the character of the 
horse’s carriage ; and in consequence of their 
being rendered prominent by a proper backward 
direction of the shoulders, they serve as a good 
index of the safe-going character of the horse’s 
action. A considerable or comparatively high 
WOAD. 759 
elevation of the withers is essential in a saddle- 
horse, both for preventing the displacement of 
the saddle, and for maintaining at a maximum 
the pleasantness of the animal’s action. 
WITH-WIND. See Brypwexrp. 
WITHY. The flexible shoot or bough of a 
willow. 
WITSENIA. A genus of ornamental, ever- 
green, herbaceous Cape - of - Good - Hope plants, 
of the iris family. The corymbose species, W. 
corymbosa, was introduced to Britain in 1803; 
and has a height of about 6 inches, and carries 
pale blue flowers from April till September. The 
Moorish or dark - flowered species, W. maura, 
was introduced in 1790, and has a height of about 
4 feet, and blooms from January till September ; 
and, excepting in some trifling resemblance in 
the foliage, it differs so widely from the preced- 
ing that no person but an experienced botanist 
would suspect the two plants to be any way 
nearly related. The flowers of the Moorish pro- 
ceed in pairs from imbricated sheaths at the 
apex of the stem; and they have a yellow limb, 
and a peculiarly long tube, which is green on 
the lower part, and gradually merges into a 
blackish purple at the top. The branched spe- 
cies, W. ramosa, is about a foot high, and has 
pale blue flowers, and blooms from April till 
June, All the three species love a soil of sandy 
peat, and are propagable from cuttings. 
WOAD,—botanically Jsatis. A genus of her- 
baceous plants, of the cruciferous order. The 
pod is flat, elliptical, one-celled, and one-seeded, | 
and has adhesive and somewhat boat-shaped 
valves; the seeds are ovate-oblong; and the co- 
tyledons are flat, incumbent, and seemingly in 
the same direction as the almost obliterated des- 
sepiment of the pod should be. One species grows 
wild in Britain, and is at the same time an agricul- 
tural plant; about a dozen species have been in- 
troduced from other countries, principally South- 
ern Europe and South-western Asia; and a few 
other species are known. All the introduced 
species are hardy and yellow-flowered; one is 
perennial-rooted, and the rest are, in about equal 
proportions, annuals and biennials; two have in- 
dehiscent and comparatively broad pods, girt by a 
broad leafy wing, and the others have subde- 
hiscent and comparatively linear pods, with 
Suberous margin; all are summer-bloomers, and 
have a height of less than 23 feet ; and some have 
a weedy appearance, and the rest only a half or- 
namental character. 
The indigenous species, or dyer’s woad, or woad 
par excellence, /satzs tinctorza, concentrates in it- 
self the main interest of the genus. It occurs in 
a wild state in the corn-fields and field-borders 
of England; but is rare, and has neither the 
smoothness nor the luxuriance which it possesses 
in a cultivated state. The ancient inhabitants of 
the British Islands coloured themselves with a 
blue preparation obtained from it; and therefore 
those in the north were called Picts by their Ro- 
ee 
