ACACIA. Robinia.

Robinia, commemorates John Robin, botanist to Henry the Fourth, and Louis the Thirteenth, of France. He was found fault with for his selfish love of flowers; the more curious kinds of which, he would rather destroy, than share with his friends.

His son, Vespasian Robin, and De Theis, introduced into the French gardens, from American seeds, that species of Robinia, called Pseudo Acacia, by Tournefort; who, under that name, founds the present genus.

Acacia, is an ancient name, (Gr. axax.) derived from the Greek xx, a point, or axa, to point or sharpen, in reference to its thorny habit.

The Rose Acacia, R. Hispida, or Hairy Robinia, is a native of America, particularly of the mountains of Virginia and Carolina. It is a very ornamental shrub, with copious, large, pink-coloured papilionaceous blossoms, enhanced, like the Moss Rose, by the bristly covering of the stalks and calyx. The leaves pinnate, with an odd leaflet, like the common locust. It has no thorns. There is a taller, and less hisped variety.

The Pseudo Acacia, or common locust, is also a native of North America, from Canada to Carolina: and, in the months of May and June, it is laden with bunches of white sweet-scented flowers, resembling those of the laburnum in size and position. The foliage is of a beautiful light green, consisting of many elliptical, opposite or alternate, stalked leaflets. It is a large and handsome tree, of quick growth; beginning, from the third year, to convert its sap into perfect wood, which is of so fine a grain, and so hard, as to be substituted by turners for the box, in many sorts of light work. The branches are liable to be shivered off by autumnal storms.

There is a very thorny species of Robinia, with yellow flowers, a native of Siberia, as also of Pekin, in China: in the latter place, it is frequently fixed with clay on the tops of walls, to keep off intruders. This R. Spinosa, or Thorny Robinia, is a shrub, much branched, and with long thorns,

gardens, and would be excellent for hedges. The leaflets are oblong, wedge-shaped, hardly an inch in length.

The Oriental Acacia, from which our green-houses are furnished, is of a different class and order from the Robinia, being Polygamia Monacia; or, perhaps, Polyandria Monogynia. Natural order, Lomentacæ, Linn. Leguminosæ, Juss. The flowers have the appearance of small tufts; some of the species very fragrant. The foliage presents great variety in the form of the leaf, and manner of its growth. And some of them have the sensitive properties of the Mimosa.

The Acacia Vera, or Mimosa Nilotica, a tree that grows abundantly on the sandy soil of Egypt and Arabia, furnishes the Gum-Arabic, a pure concrete mucilage, which exudes, spontaneously, in a liquid state, from the trunk and boughs, and hardens by contact with the air, and heat of the sun: incisions are sometimes made through the bark, to assist the transudation of the juice.

The Acacia Arabica, or East-Indian Gum-Arabic tree, besides yielding this wholesome mucilage, is one of the most useful trees in India, for its tough and hard wood, serving many valuable purposes in ship building, &c.: the bark is used for dying, and making ink.

Moore, in his "Light of the Harem," has noticed the Oriental Acacia, in these beautiful lines:

"Our sands are bare, but smiling there
Th' Acacia waves her yellow hair.
Lonely and sweet, nor lov'd the less
For flowering in a wilderness.

A

changed her lover into this plant, or the Anemone, would be difficult to decide,-since the Linnæan system of dividing plants into families, did not exist when the Gods and Goddesses made love upon earth: and previous to the time of the Swedish botanist, the Adonis was considered to be one of the Anemonies, which it greatly resembles, and is of the same class and order.

Flos (L) a flower, a bloom, a blossom.

Look, in the garden, blooms the Flos Adonis,
And memory keeps of him who rashly died,
Thereafter changed by Venus, weeping, to this flower.
Anonymous. Garland of Flora.

Ovid certainly designates the Anemone, as being the subject of this metamorphosis:

"Then on the blood, sweet nectar she bestows,
The scented blood in little bubbles rose:
Little as rainy drops, which fluttering fly,
Borne by the winds along a low'ring sky.
Short time ensu'd, till where the blood was shed,
A flower began to rear its purple head:
Such as on punic apples is reveal'd,
Or in the filmy rind but half conceal'd.

Still here the fate of lovely forms we see,
So sudden fades the sweet Anemone.
The feeble stems, to stormy blasts a prey,
Their sickly beauties droop and pine away.
The winds forbid the flow'rs to flourish long,
Which owe to winds their names in Grecian song."
Eusden's Ovid.

Great quantities of the Adonis Autumnalis are annually carried to the London market, and sold by the name of Red Morocco and Pheasant's Eye. And, in the time of Gerard, (a surgeon, and famous herbalist in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, chief gardener to William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, who was himself a great lover of plants, and had the best collection of any nobleman in the kingdom,) the country people called it "Red Camomile"-the London women, "Rosearubie." It is an annual, flowering from May to October. Its characters are, that the calyx is a fiveleaved perianthium, and the leaflets are obtuse, concave, a little coloured and deciduous; the corolla has from five to fifteen, but most commonly eight,-oblong, obtuse, shining, petals. The stamina consist of very short filaments, and the antheræ are oblong and inflex: the pistulum has numerous germs collected in a head, no styles, and acute reflex stigmas: no pericarpium; an oblong, spiked receptacle: seeds numerous, irregular, angular.

ALMOND. Amygdalus.

Amygdalus, in gardening, applies to the Almond, Peach, and Nectarine trees.

Amygdala, Latin for an Almond tree.
Amygdaline, English, resembling almonds.
Almond, (English) Almendra, (Spanish) Amande,

We presume that Aaron's rod was taken from the Almond tree:

"And behold, the rod of Aaron, for the house of Levi, was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds." (Numbers xvii. 8.)

The common almond, A. Communis, has leaves resembling those of the peach, but the lower serratures are glandular; they proceed from buds both above and below the flowers, and not, as in the peach, from the ends of the shoots above, and not below the flowers. The form of the flowers is not very different, but they usually come out in pairs, and vary more in their colour, from the fine blush of the apple-blossom, to a snowy whiteness. The chief obvious distinction is in the fruit, which is flatter, with a coriaceous, or leather-like covering, instead of the rich pulp of the peach and nectarine, opening spontaneously when the kernel is ripe.

It is a native of Barbary-much cultivated in Italy and the south of France. It is common in China, and most of the eastern countries. According to Miller, the A. Communis is cultivated more for the beauty of its flowers than for its fruit; of which there are two varieties, the sweet and the bitter; which often arise from the fruit of the same tree: the fruit is good while fresh, but will not keep long.

It is the fruit of the A. Dulcis, or Jordan A., which is preferred in commerce. This has a tender shell, and a large sweet kernel. The leaves are broader, shorter, and grow much closer than those of the common sort, and their edges are crenate. The flowers are very small, and of a pale colour, inclining to white. The trees have been often raised from the nut, which is imported.

The A. Pumila, double-flowering dwarf-almond, is a shrub of two or three feet high, smooth branches, and dark purple. Leaves veined-wrinkled, or lanceolated, and double serrated. Flowers, generally two in a bud and sessile. Calyx reddish; petals emarginate, red, longer than the

tube of the calyx: filaments paler; germ and style pubescent at bottom; stipules linear and very deeply serrate. Its native country Africa.

ALTHEA.

Hibiscus Syriacus.

Hibiscus, a name given by Linnæus to designate a genus of the Mallow tribe, which had hitherto received only barbarous, or ill-constructed appellations.

The Greek word 16xos, from which it is derived, is translated "a species of wild or woodland Mallow-Althea."

Althæa-Greek again, from the Gr. λdw, or aλdivæ, to heal, a remedy, from its many excellent qualities. The A. Officinalis, common Marsh Mallow, a perennial plant of about three feet high; the whole herb clothed with a very soft wool or velvet; purple flowers; leaves simple, undivided, angular, and cottony, alternate, serrated: is a native of temperate climes, and has been used medicinally in all countries.

The Hibiscus Syriacus, popularly called Althea frutex, is a native of Syria and Carniola; a hardy shrub in our gardens, growing to the height of a small tree; leaves ovate, somewhat wedge-shaped, three-lobbed, cut, smooth; calyx double, the outer permanent, consisting of about eight leaves, as long as the inner; the blossoms are handsome, rose coloured, with a crimson eye: liable to variations in colour, and sometimes double; scentless. It is, perhaps, the last shrub that comes into leaf with us, and one of the latest flowering.

The fable of Althea and her unfortunate son, being read in my hearing, at the time that the shrub Althea was in bloom, and finding that it had been overlooked in the assemblage of speaking flowers, I determined to introduce it, if possible, and the fate of the poor youth who had lost his life, in consequence of his love for the beautiful nymph Atalanta-his consuming away, as the fatal brand was burned-by the power of association, suggested the emblem of "Consumed by Love."

Aloe L, Greek aλon.

ALOE.

All Aloes are natives of hot climates; the Cape of Good Hope, &c. Some of the species furnish the stimulating bitter medicine of our shops, which is made by boiling the leaves to a suitable consistency, and exposing the decoction to such heat as will evaporate its fluid parts. The Africans make ropes of the leaves, which are not apt to rot in the water; fishing lines, bow strings, &c., and manufacture it into stockings, hammocks, &c.

The tree Aloe, Aloe Dichotoma, growing on the mountains of the Cape of Good Hope, with an erect stem, two fathoms high, and as thick as a man's leg, is hollowed out by the natives to make quivers for their bows. Several of the species are used for hedges. The A. D. has leaves sword-shaped, and serrate; flowers paniculate; corolla monopetalous.

Our green-houses abound with the Aloes of diminutive growth. The flower of the Aloe has no calyx: corolla one

petalled, erect; border spreading and small; nectarious at the bottom; seeds angular; leaves fleshy.

Among the Mahometans, and particularly in Egypt, the Aloe is a kind of symbolic plant, and dedicated to the offices of religion. Pilgrims, on their return from Mecca, suspend it over their doors, as an evidence of their having performed that holy journey. The superstitious imagine that it has the virtue of keeping off evil spirits from their houses. Even the Christians and Jews of Cairo, hang it over their doors for this purpose.

The Aloe was used by the ancients in embalming bodies. Of this Aloes, interpreters understand that to have been which Nicodemus brought to embalm the body of our Saviour. John xix. 39.

there grows

"With solemn adoration down they cast
Their crowns inwove with Amaranth and gold;
Immortal Amaranth, a flower which once
In Paradise, fast by the tree of life,
Began to bloom; but soon, for man's offence,
To Heaven remov'd, where first it grew,
And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life;
And where the river of bliss, through midst Heaven
Rolls o'er Elysian flowers her amber stream;
With these, that never fade, the spirits elect
Bind their resplendent locks, inwreath'd with beams."

The Amaranth has been placed among the funereal flowers. Homer has described the Thessalians as wearing crowns of Amaranth at the funeral of Achilles. Milton, also, in his Lycidas, classes it among the flowers "that sad embroidery wear:"

"Bid Amaranthus all his beauty shed, And daffodillies fill their cups with tears,

To strew the laureate hearse where Lycid lies."

The unfading nature of the flower, we may suppose, the emblem of lasting grief, the immortality of the soul, &c.

The Amaranth has no corolla: the calyx is coloured, five or three-leaved, permanent; the leaflets lanceolate and acute: native of Asia, Africa, and America.

The A. Tricolor, native of the East Indies, is admired on account of the variegated colours of its leaves, resembling, as Gerard tells us, the splendid and beautiful feathers of a parrot, with its stripes of red, yellow, white, green, &c.

There are several American species. The Prince's Feather, A. Hypochondriacus, is a native of Virginia, as are several others. The leaves of most of the species of

Amaranth are used in hot countries as culinary plants, but are not equal to the spinach, which they somewhat resemble. The greater number of species are annuals.

GLOBE AMARANTH.

Gomphrena.

Gomphrena, a name adopted by Linnæus, from Dalechamp, and which is perverted from the Gomphrena of Pliny. Linnæus made it classical, by an allusion to Gomphos, a nail, wedge, or club-applied to the round head of flowers.

The Gomphrena of the ancients, is supposed to be the Amaranthus tricolor, from the description given of it by Pliny. By the transposition of a letter, this name became Gomphrena, in some old writers, in which form it was adopted by Linnæus.

Gomphrena comes under the denomination of Everlasting, or Amaranthus, on account of the permanent nature of their calyx when dried, which retains its original colour and splendour.

The G. Globosa is a native of India-an annual. Calyx coloured; the outer, of three unequal leaves; inner, in five deep segments. Corolla cylindrical, of one petal, the length of the inner calyx; its margin equally five-cleft, spreading, bearing the stamens at its orifice. Filaments five, short, inserted into the orifice of the corolla, betwixt its segments; anthers erect, roundish, closing the mouth of the corolla. Pist. German ovate, pointed, superior; styles short, cohering at their base; stigmas simple, obtuse, scarcely reaching to the stamens. Seed large, roundish, with an oblique point.

The Globe Amaranth offers several varieties-white, purple, speckled with gold, and variegated. They resemble heads of clover, in the form of their flowers.

The late flowering variegated G. A. are called Bachelors' Buttons, in America, according to the Encyclopedia.

AMARYLLIS.

Amaryllis, derived either from the name of a shepherdess, mentioned by Theocritus and Virgil, or from the Greek angga, or auxqvyn, splendour-from μever, to shine, glitter, sparkle, flash-the Lilio-Narcissus of Tournefort.

"Amaryllis Formosissima, most beautiful Amaryllis, hangs its nodding bell obliquely towards the horizon, and as its stem is slender, turns, like a weathercock, from the wind; and thus, very effectually, preserves its inclosed stamens and anthers from the rain and cold-affording an agreeable example of art in the vegetable economy."

See Darwin.

"When Heaven's high vault condensing clouds deform,
Fair Amaryllis flies the incumbent storm;
Seeks, with unsteady step, the shelter'd vale,
And turns her blushing beauties from the gale."

Darwin.

It received the name of Jacobea Lily, because some imagined that they discovered in it, a likeness to the badge

of the order of the knights of the order of St. James, in Spain. R. Encyclopedia.

It is a native of South America. The flowers are produced from the sides of the bulbs, are large, and of a deep red.

The calyx is a spathe, undivided; corolla two lipped, nodding, deeply six-parted, stamens and pistils bent down.

There are many species of the Amaryllis, with various coloured flowers, purple, yellow, &c. The yellow, A. Lutea, a smaller variety, seldom rising more than three or four inches high, is a native of France, &c., very hardy, flowering late, generally in September.

A. Sarniensis, Guernsey Lily, is a splendid species. The number of flowers is commonly from eight to twelve, and the circumference of each about seven inches; the corolla, in its prime, has the colour of a fine gold tissue, wrought on a rose-coloured ground, and when it begins to fade, it is pink: in full sunshine, it seems to be studded with diamonds; but by candle-light, the specks or spangles appear more like fine gold-dust: when the petals are somewhat withered, they assume a deep crimson colour. This beautiful plant is a native of Japan, and has long been naturalized in Guernsey, whence the roots are sent to most parts of Europe.

The general character of Ambrosia, is a common oneleafed calyx; corolla of the male compound, uniform, and hemispherical; (no corolla to the female) the proper, onepetalled, funnel-shaped; the stamina have very small filaments, anthers erect, parallel, and acuminate; pistillum of the length of the stamens, stigma membranous; a common receptacle, scarcely any, naked. Female flowers, below the males, doubled; one-leafed calyx; the pistillum a germ ovate, in the bottom of the calyx; style filiform, of the same length with the calyx, two stigmas; seed single and roundish.

There are five species enumerated: one, a common annual weed of North America, A. Gigantea inodora, growing often eight or ten feet high, spreading out into many branches; the flowers are not more conspicuous than those of hemp. The sort common in gardens has three lobed leaves.

The A. Maratima, rises about two feet, with multifid leaves; which, when handled, emit a strong odour: spikes solitary, hairy and subsessile; native of Cappadocia, Tuscany, and the country of Nice, on sandy shores.

AMERICAN STARWORT

Aster Tradescanti.

Aster, L. from the Greek asre, a star, the flower being radiated.

Botanists have named this species of Aster in compliment to the memory of John Tradescant, one of the fathers of Natural History in England; as well as one of the earliest cultivators of exotic plants in that country. He was appointed chief gardener to king Charles the First. His son, of the same name, visited Virginia, in 1633, and carried back with him several new plants, of which this was

one.

It obtained the more familiar name of Michaelmass Daisy, from its flowering about that season of the year, and the corollas being radiated, and nearly of the size of the common Daisy.

There are two varieties, viz: the dwarf and tall starwort. The common Michaelmass Daisy grows from three to five feet high. The leaves of both are radical, about four inches long, like those of willow; ray varies from white to purple, consisting of many florets. The dwarf variety produces smaller flowers, of a dark purple.

hue.

North America abounds in Asters of every variety of

ANEMONE. (See Note on Adonis.) Anemone, Greek from ανόμους, DVSMOS, the wind, because the flower is supposed not to open except the wind blows on it; or, because it grows in situations much exposed to the wind.

And coy Anemone that ne'er uncloses

Her lips until they're blown on by the wind.

Hor. Smith.

Heathen mythology informs us that Adonis was killed by a wild boar, while engaged in the chase of that furious animal; and that his blood, which was shed upon the ground, was, by Venus, changed into the flower Anemone, which has ever since retained the colour of blood..

By this the boy that by her side lay killed,
Was melted like a vapour from her sight;
And in his blood, that on the ground lay spilled,
A purple flower sprung up chequered with white.

The Anemone has, properly, no calyx; but two or three sets of petals, three in a set, somewhat oblong, which are folded over the stamens and pistils in a singular and beautiful manner. It differs from the Ranunculus, in not having a melliferous pore on the claw of each petal. The stamina have numerous filaments, half the length of the corolla; anthers twin and erect; the pistillum has numerous germs in a head; styles acuminate, and stigmas obtuse; no pericarpium; receptacle globular or oblong, hollowed and dotted; numerous seeds, acuminate, retaining the style. It is said to expand its flower only in fine weather, and to close them on the approach of rain.

Shaks.

* Michaelmass, Michael and Mass. The feast of the archangel Michael, celebrated on the 29th September.

The American Wild Anemone is very delicate and fragile, and soon withers after being cropped.

"Youth, like a thin Anemone, displays His silken leaf, and in a morn decays."

Sir Wm. Jones.