roots are formed in the wall, or where shoots can find their way through cracks or crevices. In either case, it must tend to fracture, and ultimately to destroy, the wall; but so slowly, that we can hardly conceive a case where more injury than good would not be done by removing the ivy. Even if the parts of the wall were separated from each other by the introduction of the roots or shoots, the parts partially separated, would be held together by the ivy. Our opinion, therefore, is, that, unless the object is to show the architecture of an ivied ruin, its destruction will be accelerated, rather than retarded, by the removal of ivy. Ivy has been recommended for covering cottages; and not only their walls, but even their roofs. We have no doubt it will protect both, wherever it cannot insinuate its roots or shoots through the wall or roof: but the roof must be steep, otherwise the ivy, when it comes into a flowering, and consequently shrubby, state, must be clipped, in order to present such an imbricated surface of large leaves as shall effectually throw off the rain. In covering cottages with ivy, it must be recollected that it has a tendency, to a certain extent, to encourage insects; but, as very few of these live on the ivy, it is not nearly so injurious in this respect as deciduous-leaved climbers, or other plants or trees trained against a wall. Pliny says that the ivy will break sepulchres of stone, and undermine city walls; but this, as we have already shown, can only be the case where the walls are in a state of incipient decay, and contain crevices sufficient to admit the roots or stems of the plant. Poetical, mythological, and legendary Allusions. The ivy was dedicated by the ancients to Bacchus, whose statues are generally found crowned with a wreath of its leaves; and, as the favourite plant of the god of wine, its praises have been sung by almost all poets, whether ancient or modern. Many reasons are given for the consecration to Bacchus of this plant. Some poets say that it was because the ivy has the effect of dissipating the fumes of wine; others, because it was once his favourite youth Cissus; and others, because it is said that the ivy, if planted in vineyards, will destroy the vines; and that it was thus doing an acceptable service to that plant to tear it up, and wreath it into chaplets and garlands. The most probable, however, seems to be, that the vine is found at Nyssa, the reputed birthplace of Bacchus, and in no other part of India. It is related that, when Alexander's army, after their conquest of Babylon, arrived at this mountain, and found it covered with laurel and ivy, they were so transported with joy (especially when they recognised the latter plant, which is a native of Thebes), that they tore the ivy up by the roots, and, twining it round their heads, burst forth into hymns to Bacchus, and prayers for their native country, Not only Bacchus, who, Pliny tells us, was the first who wore a crown, but Silenus, was crowned with ivy; and the golden-berried kind, before the transformation of Daphne into a laurel, was worn by Apollo, and after him by poets. Pope, however, does not seem to allow this; and he gives the plant expressly to critics : « Immortal Vida, on whose honour'd brow The poet's bays and critic's ivy grow.” The priests of the Greeks presented a wreath of ivy to newly married persons, as a symbol of the closeness of the tie which ought to bind them together; and Ptolemy Philopater, king of Egypt, ordered all the Jews who had abjured their religion to be branded with an ivy leaf. Numerous allusions to this plant occur in Homer, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and nearly all the ancient and modern poets; but few have given more just description of it than Spenser, in the following lines : “ Emongst the rest, the clamb'ring yvie grew, Knitting his wanton arms with grasping hold, « I die The ivy is considered symbolical of friendship, from the closeness of its adherence to the tree on which it has once fixed itself. “ Nothing," says St. Pierre, in his Studies of Nature, “ can separate it from the tree which it has once embraced : it clothes it with its own leaves in that inclement season when its dark boughs are covered with hoarfrost. The faithful companion of its destiny, it falls when the tree is cut down : death itself does not relax its grasp; and it continues to adorn with its verdure the dry trunk that once supported it.” The constancy of the ivy has rendered it a favourite device for seals ; some of the best of which are, a sprig of ivy, with the motto, where I attach myself;” and a fallen tree, still covered with ivy, with the words, “ Even ruin cannot separate us.” Ivy is the badge of the clan Gordon. Soil, Situation, Propagation, &c. We have already observed that the ivy, to attain a large size, requires a good soil ; and, also, that it grows naturally in the shade, and in a northern rather than in a southern exposure. Smoke, there can be no doubt, is injurious to the ivy; but still it endures it better than most evergreens, particularly when it is kept moist at the root. Ivy is propagated by cuttings, planted, in autumn, in a sandy soil, and a shady border; but these must be well rooted before they are put out in the situation where they are finally to remain, or disappointment to the planter will ensue. It is very natural to suppose, that, with a plant rooting so readily as the ivy, it would be quite sufficient to put in a cutting where a plant was wanted; but, nevertheless, it is a fact, that, unless the soil be kept in a uniforın state of moisture, and shaded, like most other evergreens, it will not root readily. The largest plants of ivy which we have heard of in England are at Brockley Hall, in Somersetshire, attached to old trees : one of these plants has the stem 10% in., and the other 114 in. in diameter, at 1 ft. from the ground. In the town of Morpeth, in Northumberland, the front of a cottage is covered with ivy, which proceeds from a single stem, that comes out of a crevice in the rough stone wall by the cottage, at about a foot from the ground. The stem where it comes out is about 4 in. in diameter, but it gradually increases till at the height of 5 ft. it is 64 in. in diameter; and at the height of 9 ft., at the point from which the branches proceed, it is no less that 19{ in. in diameter ! About 40 years ago, this cottage was occupied as a public house, and called the Ivy Tree, so that the plant is, doubless, above half a century old. A view of the cottage, the ivy plant, and the remarkable weeping ash trees, which stand on a bank overhanging it, has been kindly forwarded to us by M. J. F. Sidney, Esq., of Cowpen. (See the article Fraxinus, in a future page.) Plants, in the London nurseries, cost from 6d. to 2s. 6d. each, according to their size; at Bollwyller, from 50 cents to 1 franc; and at New York, from 37} cents to 1 dollar each. Plants of the varieties, and especially of the yellow-fruited, are somewhat dearer. Fifty other species of the ivy are described in Don’s Miller ; but they are chiefly tropical plants, and almost all of them are trees; which, probably, when they come to be farther examined, will be referred to Aràlia, or other genera, CHAP. LX. OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER HAMAMELIDA CEÆ. The characteristics of this order, as far as the hardy species in British gardens are concerned, will be found in the following distinctive characters of the only two hardy genera. HAMAME'lis L. Calyx 4-lobed, furnished with 3—4 scales on the outside. Ovarium ending in 2—3 styles at the apex. Capsule coriaceous, 2-celled ; 1-seeded, opening by 2 elastic valves above. Seed oblong, shining, with a superior hilum. Albumen fleshy. Embryo with a superior radicle, and fat cotyledons. Leaves alternate, ovate, or cuneated, feather-nerved, nearly entire. Flowers nearly sessile, disposed in clusters in the axils of the leaves; girded by a 3-leaved involucre. Petals yellow. (Don's Mill., iii. p. 396., adapted.) – Deciduous shrubs, natives of North America and Asia. FOTHERGI’LLA L. Calyx campanulate, 5—7-toothed. Anthers in the form of a horseshoe. Styles 2. Capsule 2-lobed, 2-celled; cells 2-valved at the apex, l-seeded. Seed bony, pendulous, with a superior hilum. Leaves alternate, obovate, feather-nerved, bistipulate, clothed with soft starry down. Flowers sessile, in terminal ovate spikes, having a solitary bractea under each; those at the base of the spike trifid, and those at its apex nearly entire. Petals white, sweet-scented, sessile.Anthers yellow. (Don's Mill., adapted.)- A low deciduous shrub, a native of North America. GENUS I. P. 333. HAMAMELIS L. THE HAMAMELIS, or Wych HAZEL. Lin. Syst. Tetrándria Digýnia. Identification. Lin. Gen., 169. ; Dec. Prod., 4. p. 268. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 396. ; Lindl. Nat. Syst., Synonyme. Trilôpus Mith. Act. Acad. Nat. Cur., 8 App. Derivation. Hamamélis is a name by which Athenæus speaks of a tree which blossomed at the same time as the apple tree. the word being derived from hama, together with, and mēlis, an apple tree. The modern application seems to be from the Hamamelis having its blossoms accom. panying its fruits (mēla); both being on the tree at the same time. 1 1. H. virgi'nica L. The Virginian Hamamelis, or Wych Hazel. Identification. Dec. Prod., 4. p. 268. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 396. ; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. Synonymes. Hamamelie de Virginie, Fr. ; Virginische Zaubernuss, Ger. Engravings. Mill, ul., t. 10.; N. Du Ham., 7. t. 60.; Bot. Cab., t. 598.; and our figs. 756, 757. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves obovate, acutely toothed, with a small cordate recess at the base. (Don's Mill., iii. p. 396.) A deciduous shrub, a native of North America, from Canada to Florida; found in dry and stony situations, but frequently also near water, and growing to the height of 20 ft. or 30 ft., with a trunk 6 in. or more in diameter. It was introduced in 1736, and flowers from the beginning of October to the end of February. In British gardens, it has been but little cultivated, notwithstanding the singularity of its appearance in autumn and winter; when it is profusely covered with its fine rich yellow flowers, which begin to expand before the leaves of the pre 756 vious summer drop off, and continue on the bush throughout the winter. After the petals drop off in spring, the persistent calyxes remain on till the leaves reappear in April or May. The flowers are either polygamous, diæcious, monecious, or androgynous; and hence the names in some American catalogues, of H. dioica, H. monoica, and H. andrógyna. The American Indians esteem this tree for its medical properties: the bark is sedative and discutient; and it is applied by them to painful tumours and external inflammations. They also apply a poultice of the inner rind to remove inflammations of the eyes. In the neighbourhood of London, it is rarely found above 5 ft. or 6 ft. high; but there is a plant of it in the grounds of Ham House upwards of 15 ft. high, growing in deep sandy soil, not far distant from water, of which fig. 757. is a portrait taken in November, 1835, to a scale of lin. to 12 ft. Owing to its flowering during the winter season, it deserves a place in every collection where there is room. It will grow in any light free soil, kept rather moist; and it is propagated by layers and by seeds; which last, though rarely produced in Bri tain, are frequently sent to this 757 country from America. They ought to be sown immediately on being received, as they are often two years before they come up. Plants, in London, are ]s. 6d. each, and seeds ls. a packet; at Bollwyller, plants are 2 francs each; and at New York, 25 cents. a native of the moun- amore species. crophylla Pursh, has the App. i. Other Species, not yet introduced. H. pérsica Dec. is a native of Persia, of which very little is known; and H. chinensis R. Br. has quite entire, ovate leaves, and is a native of China, near Nankin. GENUS II. p FOTHERGI’LLA L. The FOTHERGILLA. Lin. Syst. Icosandria Digýnia. who introduced many new plants, and cultivated an excellent collection in his grounds, at Ham House, at Stratford-le-bow, in Essex. Description. Deciduous shrubs, of which there is only one species, but several varieties. Natives of North America. e 1. F. ALNIFO'LIA L. The Alder-leaved Fothergilla. Identification. Lin. fil. Supp!., 257. ; Dec. Prod., 4. p. 269.; Don's Mill., 3. p. 397. Synonymes. F. Gardeni Michx. FI. Bor. Amer., 1. p. 313. ; Hamamélis monoica Lin. ex Smith in Rees's Cycl. vol. xvii. and sweet-scented, appear before the leaves; the latter resembling those of the wych hazel. The following four very distinct forms of this species are in the Hackney arboretum : Varieties. F. a. I obtusa Sims Bot. Mag., t. 1341.; F. nàjor Lodd. Bot. Cab., t. 1520.; F. alnifolia Lin. fil. Supp., 257.; and our fig. 759.; has obovate leaves, downy beneath. u F. a. 2 acùta Sims; F. Gárdeni Jacq. Icon. Rar., t. 100.; has narrow leaves, nearly entire, white from down beneath. • F. a. 3 màjor Sims Bot. Mag., t. 1342, and our fig. 758., has leaves ovate-oblong, somewhat cordate at the base, very black and serrated at the apex; when young, tomentose beneath. . 758 . F. a. 4 serótina Sims Bot. Mag., t. 1342., has the and green beneath. 759 or May In British gardens, it thrives best in moist sandy peat. The species is propagated by seeds, which are sometimes ripened in this country, but are generally received from America ; and the varieties by layers. Plants, in the London nurseries, are ls. each, and seeds ls. a packet; at Bollwyller, 2 francs a plant; and at New York, 30 cents a plant, and seeds 30 cents per quart. CHAP. LXI. OF THE HARDY AND HALF-HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER CORNACEÆ. This order includes only two genera of hardy woody plants, the characters of which are as follows: Co'rnus L. Tube of the calyx adhering to the ovarium. Limb small, 4-toothed. Petals 4, oblong, sessile; valvate in æstivation. Stamens 4. Style 1. Pome baccate, marked by the vestiges of the calyx, containing a 2-celled, rarely 3-celled, nut. Seed solitary, pendulous. Albumen fleshy. Radicle of embryo shorter than the cotyledons. (Don's Mill., iii. p. 398.) - Deciduous trees and shrubs, all with opposite leaves, except the first species ; entire, feather-nerved. Flowers sometimes capitate and umbellate, involucrated; sometimes corymbose and panicled, without an involucre. Petals white, rarely yellow. BENTHA'MIA Lindl. Flowers disposed in heads, each head attended by an in volucre, that consists of 4 petal-like parts, and resembles a corolla. Calyx with a minute 4-toothed limb. Petals 4, fleshy, wedge-shaped. Stamens 4. Style 1. Fruit constituted of many pomes grown together ; endocarp in each pome with 2 cells. Seeds solitary and pendulous in each cell. — Trees or shrubs, with leaves opposite. (Lindley in Bot. Reg., t. 1579.) Natives of the Himalayas. Dr. Lindley observes, when giving his reasons for separating this genus from Córnus, “ We do not understand upon what principle this very distinct genus has been combined with Córnus, from which it differs essentially, both in flowers and fruit. Whether or not C. Aórida, which agrees with it in habit, is also a species of Benthàmia, our means do not enable us to determine.” (Bot. Reg., vol. xix. t. 1579.) GENUS I. COʻRNUS L. The Dogwood. Lin. Syst. Tetrándria Monogynia. Identification. Tourn. Inst., 641. t. 410. ; Lin. Gen., No. 149. ; Dec. Prod., 4. p. 271. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 398. |
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