beneath, and the peduncles, tomentose. (Dec. Prod., i. p. 634.) Flowers small and white. Berries small, brownish green, watery and acid, but eatable. This plant produces a great quantity of clusters of small black grapes, of an austere taste; but they would, doubtless, make a good red wine. When it grows luxuriantly, as it generally does on the higher woody lands of Jamaica, it is so full of juice, that a piece of a shoot, about 3 ft. long, will yield near a pint of clear tasteless water, which has saved the lives of many persons who have wandered long in the woods without any other refreshment of a liquid sort. For this reason, the plant is called, in Jamaica, water withe. According to Sloane, the fruit is red or deep purple, the size of currants, and agreeably acid, as well as astringent. (Don's Mill., i. p. 711.) Introduced in 1800, but seldom to be met with. Not in the London Horticultural Society's Garden, nor in the collection of Messrs. Loddiges. App. i. Other hardy or half-hardy Species of Vitis. Dr. Wallich has enumerated upwards of fifty species of Vitis, natives of India. Of these V. Wallichi Dec., a native of Nepal, was introduced in 1822, and treated as a stove climber; but it will probably be found half-hardy. V. glabrata Roth is a native of the East Indies, introduced in 1819. It resembles in foliage V. vulpina, and is considered half-hardy. V. indica L. (fig. 145.) was introduced in 1692, and is generally treated as a stove climber; but, being deciduous, if its wood could be ripened in sufficient time, it might stand our winters against a conservative wall. The same may be said of V. ce'sia Hort. Trans., a native of Sierra Leone, introduced in 1822. There are numerous other Indian and some Japan species, which remain to be introduced. There are also some species natives of South America, described by Humboldt, of which very little is known; but four of them, which are described in Don's Miller, are considered to be hardy. Of North American species and varieties no fewer than 130 have been described by Professor Rafinesque in his Medical Flora, already quoted, and in his Monograph of American Vines. (See Gard. Mag., vol. viii. p. 248.) GENUS II. 145 AMPELO'PSIS Michx. THE AMPELOPSIS. Lin. Syst. Pentandria Identification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 1. p. 159.; Dec Prod., 1. p. 632.; Don's Mill., 1. p. 694. Synonymes. tis sp., and Cissus sp. Derivation. Ampelos, a vine, and opsis, resemblance; similarity in the habits of the species. Gen. Char., &c. Calyx almost entire. Petals 5, falling off separately. Stigma capitate. Ovary not immersed in a disk, including 2-4 ovules. (Kunth, Nov. Gen. Am., 5. p. 222., quoted in Dec. Prod., i. p. 632.)—A genus intermediate between Cissus and Vitis. (Dec. Prod., i. p. 632.) The species are found in North America, in the north of Africa, in China, and in the Himalaya. They are all climbing shrubs, mostly deciduous, of the easiest propagation and culture: some of them, as the A. hederàcea, are very ornamental. 1. A. CORDATA Michx. The cordate-leaved Ampelopsis. Identification. Michx. Bor. Amer., 1. p. 159.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 633.; Don's Mill., 1. p. 694. Synonymes. Cissus Ampelopsis Pers. Syn., 1. p. 142.; Vitis indivisa Willd. Baum., 538. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves heart-shaped, acute, toothed, indistinctly 3-lobed; the nerves villous beneath. Racemes doubly bifid. (Dec. Prod., i. p. 633.) Found in North America, from Pennsylvania to Carolina, among hedges, and by the sides of rivers. The flowers are reddish, and produced in May and June; and the berries are of a pale red colour. Introduced in 1803, but rare in British collections. 2. A. HEDERA CEA Michx. The Ivy-like Ampelopsis, or Five-leaved Ivy. Identification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 1. p. 160.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 633.; Don's Mill, 1. p. 64. Synonymes. Hédera quinquefolia Linn. Spec., 292.; Vitis quinquefolia Lam. Ill., No. 2815; Cissus hederacea Ph. Fl. Amer. Sept., 1. p. 170.; Cissus quinquefolia Hort. Par.; Vitis hederacea Willd. Spec., p. 1182.; Ampelópsis quinquefolia Hook. Fl. Bor. Amer., 1. 114.; Vigne Vierge, Fr.; Jungfern Reben, or wilder, Wein, Ger. Engravings. Cornut. Canad., t. 100.; E. of Pl., 2868.; and our fig.146. 5 leaflets, that are stalked, oblong, toothed cents. 13. A. (H.) HIRSUTA Donn (Hort. Cant.). 146 The hairy-leaved Ampelopsis. Don's Mill., 1. p. 694. Identification. Donn Hort. Cant.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 633.; Spec. Char., &c. Leaves pubescent on both surfaces. A native of the Alleghany Mountains, introduced in 1806, and, in our opinion, likely to be only a variety of A. hederacea 4. A. BIPINNATA Michx. The bipinnate-leaved Ampelopsis. Identification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 1. p. 160.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 633.; Don's Mill., 1. p. 694. Synonymes. Vitis arborea Willd. Spec., 1. p. 1183.; Cissus stans Pers. Syn. 1. p. 185., Ph. F. Amer. Sept., 1. p. 170. Engraving. Pluk. Mant., p. 412. fig. 2. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves bipinnate, smooth; leaflets cut in a lobed manner. Racemes pedunculate, almost doubly bifid. Berries globose and creamcoloured. (Dec. Prod., i. p. 633.) A deciduous shrub, with slender stems, but scarcely a climber; a native of Virginia and Carolina, in shady woods. It was introduced in 1700; and, being much admired for the beauty of its foliage, is not uncommon in collections. Plants, in the London nurseries, cost ls. 6d. each; at Bollwyller,?; at New York, 50 cents. App. i. Anticipated hardy Species of Ampelopsis. 4. botrya Dec. is a native of the eastern coast of Africa, with cordate leaves, reddish flowers, and berries black and eatable. It is described by Loureiro, but has not yet been introduced. A. heterophylla Blume, Vitis javánica Spreng., a native of Java, has palmate leaves, and is considered as likely to endure our winters in the open air. 4. capreolata G. Don, Vitis capreolata D. Don, is a native of Nepal, and resembles A. lederacea in every particular, except that it is one half smaller. Mr. Royle has given a figure of this plant (Illus., i. 26.), and observes that he considers it the same as the Vitis hederacea of Dr. Wallich. The genera Vitis, Ampelópsis, and Cissus are so mixed together in the older botanical works, that there may probably be some of the above names that belong to Vitis or Cissus, and some names under tis and Cissus which belong to Ampelopsis. CI'SSUS L. THE CISSUS. Lin. Syst. Tetrándria Monogynia. Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 147.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 627.; Don's Mill., 1. p. 689. Derivation. Kissos is the Greek name of the ivy, which these plants in some manner resemble. Berry Gen. Char., &c. Calyx almost entire. Petals 4, falling off separately. Ovary 4-celled. 1-4-seeded. (Dec. Prod., i. p. 630.) Climbing plants, chiefly ligneous, with simple, trifoliate, or palmate leaves, and cymes or corymbs of small flowers, greenish, yellow, and sometimes purplish. Above 70 ligneous species are described in Don's Miller, a few of which are green-house plants, and already introduced into British gardens. 1. C. orientalis Lam., figured in Lam. Ill., t. 84. fig. 2., is a native of the Levant, and, according to Sweet's Hortus Britannicus, was introduced in 1818. It is a green-house climber; and, being considered tolerably hardy, it might be tried against a conservative wall. 2. C. quinàta Ait., a native of the Cape of Good Hope, introduced in 1790, has palmate leaves, and is treated as a green-house plant. 3. C. antarctica Vent. Choix, t. 21., and our fig. 147, is a native of New Holland, whence it was introduced in 1790, and is commonly called the kangaroo vine. It has large, cordate, serrated, smoothish leaves, and but seldom, if ever, flowers in our green-houses. It is, probably, as hardy as other New Holland shrubs. 4. C. capensis Willd. is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, introduced in 1792. C. vitiginea, (fig. 148.), C. quinquefolia (fig. 149.), and, probably, other species now kept in our green-houses, and some even in our stoves, might, probably, prove half-hardy, if judiciously treated. CHAP. XXVII. OF THE HALF-HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER GERANIA CEÆ. WE introduce this order chiefly for the sake of recommending a trial of some of the hardier varieties of the common pelargonium; the roots of which, at least, will live through the winter at the bottom of a wall, if the soil be kept quite dry during that season, and covered with straw. The 150 151 152 following sorts may, perhaps, be chosen for a trial, in preference to some others :- P. Barringtoni cucullatum (fig. 150.), macranthon, megalánthon, calamistràtum, quercifolium, peltàtum, zonale (fig. 151.), Bentinckiànum, inquinans (fig. 152.). CHAP. XXVIII. OF THE HALF-HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER 154 Meliánthus major L. (Bot. Reg., t. 45., and our fig. 153.) is a well-known suffruticose green-house plant, admired for the beauty of its glaucous leaves, and the sharp and remarkable notching of its leaflets. It has stood out in many situations in the neighbourhood of London, at the base of a wall, protected only during the most severe weather. It has even flowered in the open air in some situations. In the Oxford Botanic Garden, this plant has stood out for many years at the base of a south wall, and also at the base of an east wall, and has flowered in both situations, the last time in 1834. In Devonshire, at Kingsbridge, in the garden of the Moult, it has stood out for many years as a bush; and, in November, 1885, was between 10 ft. and 12 ft. high. Zygophyllum sessilifolium L. (figured in Bot. Mag., t. 2184. and our fig. 154.), a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and Z. Morgsana L., also from the Cape, both green-house plants, which have been upwards of a century in this country, and which are interesting for their peculiar foliage and yellow flowers, may, with other ligneous Cape species, deserve a trial in favourable situations against a conservative wall. CHAP. XXIX. OF THE HARDY AND HALF-HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER RUTA CEÆ. In this order there are two genera, Rùta and Aplophyllum, which contain some undershrubs, hardy or half-hardy. They are thus contradistinguished: Ovary RUTA L. Calyx 4- parted. Stamens 8. Styles 4, connected. almost stalked. Capsule 4-lobed, 4-celled. (Don's Mill., i. p. 775.) Leaves compoundly divided. APLOPHYLLUM Andr. Juss. Calyx 5-parted. Stamens 10. Styles 5, connected. Capsule 5-lobed, 5-celled. (Don's Mill., i. p. 775.) Leaves undivided. GENUS I. RUTA L. THE RUE. Lin. Syst. Octándria Monogynia. Identification. Tourn. Inst., t. 133.; Lin. Gen., 523.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 709.; Don's Mill., 1. p. 778. Synonymes. Rue, Fr.; Raute, Ger. Derivation. According to De Theis, incapable of explanation; but the same in all the most ancient languages; namely, ruz in Runic; rude, rata, ruta, or rutu, in Anglo-Saxon; rutiza in Sclavonian; ruta in Italian and Latin; ruda in Spanish; rute in Greek; said to be from ruo, to flow, in allusion to some expelling qualities of the plants. 1. R. GRAVE OLENS L. The heavy-scented, or common, Rue. Identification. Lin. Spec., 548.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 710.; Don's Mill., 1. p. 778. 155 Engravings. Du Ham. Arb., 2. t. 61.; Woodv. Med. Bot., t. 37.; Pluk. Icon., t. 332; E. of Pl., 5886.; and our fig. 155. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves supra-decompound; the lobes oblong, the terminal one obovate. Petals entire or toothed. (Dec. Prod., i. p. 710.) A beautiful evergreen undershrub, native of the south of Europe, in sterile places, and cultivated in British gardens from time immemorial. It flowers from June to September, and ripens seeds. Geography, History, &c. The rue may be found in a wild state in the south of France, in Spain, and in the north of Italy. We have gathered it, growing along with Psoralea bituminosa, on the rocks about Nice, and along the coast near Genoa. The rue was first recorded by Turner in 1562; but, from its reputed medicinal qualities, and its use in religious ceremonies, it was probably introduced into England by the monks, many centuries before. 66 Properties and Uses. "The rue and its allies," Professor Burnet observes, are bitter stimulating plants, with a strong but rather unpleasant smell, and a hot bitter taste. R. gravèolens is, indeed, so acrid, that the bruised leaves will excoriate the lips and nostrils, and inflame the skin, if applied as a cataplasm. Rue was much esteemed in ancient medicine: Hippocrates commends it: for many ages it was considered a preventive of contagion, and called the herb of grace; and, in later times, Boerhaave observes that the greatest commendations he can bestow upon it fall short of its merits. What medicine,' says he, can be more efficacious for promoting perspiration for the cure of hysteric passion, and of epilepsies, and for expelling poison?' But, notwithstanding all these praises, which are truly questionable, rue is now seldom employed, except in the form of tea, by village doctresses." (Burnet's Outlines of Botany, vol. 2. p. 882.) Notwithstanding these observations of Professor Burnet, the medicinal properties of the rue have been spoken of in terms of respect by Lewis, Woodville, Thomson, and other authors; and the following is a summary of their observations. The internal use of the rue is unsafe in large quantities; but eaten with bread and butter, as it very commonly is in France and Germany, a considerable dose may be taken without injury. In Britain, it is given to children as a vermifuge; and, mixed with butter, to poultry, as a remedy for the roup, &c. It is also given to dogs as a cure for the distemper, and is considered by the country people generally as an excellent "cleanser of the blood." By distillation with water, an essential oil is obtained from it; and by infusion in alcohol, a tincture which is warm, pungent, acrid, and penetrating. A conserve, made by beating the fresh leaves with fine sugar, is the most commodious form for using the herb in substance: the extract is given in doses of from 10 to 15 grains. To labouring men, if used with discretion, it might prove a condiment to their food, in the same way as garlic does in France, Spain, and Italy, and onions in most parts of Europe. Poetical and legendary Allusions. Rue, as it is observed in Martyn's Miller, was anciently named herb grace, or the herb of grace; and it is to this day called ave grace in Sussex, in allusion, doubtless, to Ave Maria, gratia plena; and it is remarkable that Mary, in Hebrew, means bitter. Warburton says that rue had its name," herb of grace," from its having been used in exorcisms. Ophelia, in Shakspeare's Hamlet, says to the Queen, " There's rue for you, and here's some for me; we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays." Herb of grace |