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reached that substance, the point of the radicle swells out like the extremity of the sucker of a house-fly, or, according to the comparison of Du Hamel, like the mouth-piece of a hunting-horn. The extremity of the radicle having fixed itself to the bark, if more than one have proceeded from a single seed, the embryos all separate from it; and each, putting out leaves at its upper extremity, becomes a separate plant. In the case of the seeds which germinated on the bark of trees in our garden at Bayswater, the embryos had not separated from the seed on Aug. 15th, the day on which we correct this proof. When the mistletoe germinates on the upper side of a branch, the shoots bend upwards; but, if they are placed on the under side, they descend: when they are placed on the side of a perpendicular trunk they proceed horizontally, spreading, of course, with the growth of the plant, so as ultimately to form a hemispherical bush. The roots of the mistletoe, which penetrate the bark, extend themselves between the inner bark and the soft wood, where the sap is most abundant, sometimes sending_up suckers at a distance from the point where the root entered; and hence Professor Henslow concludes that the mistletoe is propagated in the bark or young wood of the trees in which it is parasitically established, in the same manner as those terrestial plants which, like the potato, possess rhizomata or underground stems, or suckers, from the surface of which young plants are developed at intervals. The roots of the mistletoe, as the tree on which it grows advances in growth, become embedded in the solid wood; and hence has arisen the opinion of some, formed from sections of a branch on which the mistletoe had grown for many years, that it not only roots into the bark, but into the wood. This, however, would be contrary to the wise economy of nature, since it could serve no useful purpose to the plant. The effect of the mistletoe upon the tree on which it grows is injurious to the particular branch to which it is attached; and more particularly to the part of it which extends beyond the point from which the mistletoe protrudes. This is easily accounted for, from both the ascending and returning sap being in a great part absorbed by the roots of the parasite, and prevented from circulating properly. As it does not appear that any part of the sap returned by the leaves of the mistletoe enters into the general circulation of the tree, it is easy to conceive that a certain number of plants growing on any branch would, after they had so far injured that branch as to prevent it from putting out leaves at its extremities, occasion its death, as well as their own speedy destruction. Hence, in orchards, the mistletoe is always removed as soon as it appears. The injury which it does is much greater than that effected by other plants which grow on the bark of trees; such as lichens, mosses, ferns, &c.; which, though commonly called parasites, are, in botanical language, epiphytes; that is, inhabiting trees but not living on their substance. The nutriment which supports epiphytes is derived from the decay of the outer bark, or from the atmosphere. Two experiments remain to be made with the mistletoe: the first is, whether it may be propagated by inserting cuttings in the live bark, in the manner of buds or grafts; and the second, whether a plant of mistletoe would keep alive the tree on which it grows, after that tree was prevented from producing either leaves or shoots.

The propagation of the mistletoe in British nurseries has scarcely been attempted but nothing could be easier on thorns or crab apples, planted in pots for the conveniency of removal. Perhaps, if it were propagated on shoots of the poplar or willow, truncheons of these trees with young plants of mistletoe on them might be taken off, and planted as cuttings, without injuring the parasite.

App. i. Other Species of Viscum.

As already observed, many species of Viscum are described by botanists. Several species, Roylc observes, are found in Bengal and Silhet, in mountainous situations; and V. verticilliflòrum Royle, at Mussouree, on the oak. V. elongatum Dec. is found in the Peninsula, and on the hills of the central range of the Himalayas.

GENUS II.

AU'CUBA Thunb. THE AUCUBA. Lin. Syst. Diœ`cia Tetrándria. Identification. Thunb. Fl. Jap., p. 4. ; Dec. Prod., 4. p. 274.; Don's Mill., 3. p. 433. Synonymes. Aukuba Kæmpf.“ Ámon., 5. p. 775.; Eùbasis Salisb Prod., p. 68.

Description, &c. An evergreen shrub or tree; a native of Japan. Branches dichotomous or verticillate, in the manner of those of Loránthus and Viscum. The male blossom unknown. Only the female state of this plant is in British gardens.

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Identification. Thunb. Fl. Jap., p. 64.; Dec. Prod., 4. p. 274.; Don's Mill., 3. 433. Synonymes. Eùbasis dichotomus Salisb. Prod., p. 68.; spotted-leaved Laurel, Japan Laurel. Engravings. Banks; Icon. Kæmpf., t. 6.; Thunb. Icon. Fl. Jap., t. 12. and 13.; Bot. Mag., t. 1197. Spec. Char., &c. Native of Japan, where it is common both in a wild and cultivated state, producing its red berries in March. The aucuba, in British gardens, is a well-known laurel-like evergreen shrub, having the leaves mottled with yellow; but in Japan the leaves are said, by Thunberg, to be sometimes green. According to Kæmpfer, it forms, in its native country, a tree, with the fruit a red oblong drupe, like a laurel berry, with a white sweetish pulp; and a kernel with a bitter taste. It was introduced in 1783, and, at first, treated like a stove plant, as was customary, in those days, with plants from Japan and China; it was afterwards found to stand in the green-house, and, in a short time, in the open air. It is now considered as hardy as, or hardier than, the common laurel; and, what is a very valuable property in England, it will endure coal smoke better than almost any other evergreen. It is readily propagated by cuttings; and grows freely in any soil tolerably dry, advancing steadily by shoots of from 9 in. to 1 ft. long every season.

App. I. Loranthaceae not introduced.

L. europa us. (Lin. Sp., 1672.; Jacq. Fl. Austr., t. 30.; Dec. Prod., 4. p. 671.; Don's Mill., S. p. 409.; Schkuhr Handb., t. 94.; Plenck Icon., t. 248.) The European Loranthus. Plant gla brous, much branched. Branches terete. Leaves opposite, petiolate, oval-oblong, obtuse, some. what attenuated at the base. Racemes terminal, simple. Flowers diœcious, of 6 petals. Anthers adnate in the male flowers. (Don's Mill., iii. p. 409.) A parasitical shrub, with the habit of Viscum álbum, and, like it, having greenish flowers, and yellowish berries. It is a native of Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Upper Siberia, where it grows on the oak, the sweet chestnut, and other trees, as the mistletoe does in England. It has not yet been introduced into Britain, though it might easily be so, by procuring a box of the berries from Vienna, and treating them as directed for those of the mistletoe, p. 1023.

L. odoratus Wall. is a native of Nepal, with leaves from 4-6 in. long, and many-flowered spikes, of small, white, very sweet-scented flowers.

L. Lambertianus Schultes is a native of Nepal, with the habit of L. europæ'us; and is, probably, the same species.

Various other species are described by botanists as natives of different parts of Asia. Royle remarks that the genus Loránthus "is found in considerable numbers on trees, in every part of the plains of India; not less than 90 being found in that country, in the Malayan peninsula; though L. bicolor is the most common species. Some few ascend the mountains; and several occur in Nepal. Of these, L. pulverulentus and L. vestitus are found as high as Mussouree; and L. ligústrinus and L. cordifolius lower down on the mountain side." (Royle Illust., p. 235.)

CHAP. LXIII.

OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS Of the ordeR CAPRIFOLIA'ceæ. THIS order includes several genera of hardy ligneous plants, chiefly shrubs. They are commonly arranged in two sections, Sambùcea and Lonicèreæ ; and the following distinctive characters of the section and genera, taken from Don's Miller, will give an idea of the characteristics of the order:

Sect. I. SAMBU CEE Humb. et Kth.

Sect. Char. Corolla monopetalous, regular, rotate, with 5 segments only connected a little at the base; rarely tubular. Style wanting. Stigmas 3, sessile. SAMBUCUS Tourn. Limb of calyx 5-cleft. Corolla rotate, urceolate. Berry roundish, pulpy, 1-celled, 3-4-seeded, hardly crowned.

VIBURNUM L. Limb of calyx 5-cleft, permanent. Corolla rotate, subcampanulate, and tubular. Berry ovate or globose, 1-seeded from abortion; crowned by the calycine teeth.

Sect. II. LONICE`REE Brown.

Sect. Char. Corolla monopetalous, more or less tubular, usually irregular. Style filiform, crowned by three distinct, or concrete, stigmas. DIERVILLA Tourn. Calyx bibracteate at the base, with an oblong tube, and a 5-parted limb. Corolla funnel-shaped, 3-cleft. Stigma capitate. Capsule oblong, not crowned, 1-celled, many-seeded. Seeds minute.

LONICERA Desf. Tube of calyx 5-toothed. Corolla tubular, funnel-shaped, or campanulate, with a 5-parted, usually irregular, limb. Stigma capitate. Berry 3-celled. Cells few-seeded.

LEYCESTE RIA Wall. Calyx with an ovate tube, and a 5-parted irregular limb, ciliated with glands. Corolla funnel-shaped, with the tube gibbous at the base, and the limb 5-parted and campanulate. Stigma capitate. Berry roundish, 5-celled, crowned by the calyx. Cells many-seeded. SYMPHORICA'RPOS G. Don. (Symphòria Pers.) Calyx with a globose tube, and a small 4-5-toothed limb. Corolla funnel-shaped, with an almost regular 4-5-lobed limb. Stigma semiglobose. Berry crowned by the calyx, 4-celled, two of them empty, and the other two containing 1 seed each. (Don's Mill., iii. p. 436.)

Sect. I. SAMBU`CEÆ.
GENUS I.

SAMBUCUS Tourn. THE ELDER. Lin. Syst. Pentandria Trigýnia. Identification. Tourn. Inst., 376.; Lin. Gen., No. 372.; Gærtn. Fruct., t. 27.; Lam. Ill., t. 211. ; Schkuhr Handb., t. 83.; Dec. Prod., 4. p. 321.; Don's Mill., 3. p. 436.

Synonyme. Phyteùma Lour. Coch., p. 138., but not of Lin.

Derivation. From sambuke, which the Latins have changed to sambuca, a musical instrument, which is believed to have been made of elder wood.

segments, permanent. Stamens 5, about the Anthers roundish, heart

Gen. Char., &c. Calyx small, divided into 5 deep Corolla rotate, urceolar, 5-lobed. Lobes obtuse. length of the corolla. Filaments awl-shaped. shaped. Style none. Stigmas 3, obtuse. Berry globular, pulpy, of 1 cell, containing 3-5 seeds, which are convex on the outside, and angular inside. (Don's Mill., iii. p. 436.) — Low deciduous trees, natives of Europe and North America; ornamental for their compound leaves, and large terminal cymes of flowers; which are succeeded by purplish, red, white, or green berries, having cathartic properties, and from which a wine is made. All the species are of easy culture, in good soil, rather moist and loamy; and they are all readily propagated by cuttings.

A. Leaves pinnate. Flowers cymose or corymbose.

1. S. NIGRA L. The common, or black-fruited, Elder. Identification. Lin. Sp., 385. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 457., Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836.

Synonymes. Bourtry, or Bour Tree, Arntree, Scotch; Sureau, Fr.; Hollander, Ger. ; Sambuco, Ital; Sauco, and Sabuco, Span.; Flaeder, Swed.; Hylde, Dan.

Engravings. N. Du Ham., 1. t. 55.; Heyne Term. Bot., t. 32. f. 2.; Engl. Bot., t. 476.; Woodv. Med. Bot., t. 78.; Fl. Dan., t. 545.; our fig. 773.; and the plate of this species in Vol. II.

Spec. Char., &c. Arboreous. Leaves pinnate. Leaflets usually 5, smooth, deep green, ovate or oblong-oval, acuminated; the lower leaves sometimes trifoliolate. Cymes with 5 main branches. Branches, after a year's growth, clothed with smooth grey bark, and filled with a light spongy pith. Flowers cream-coloured, with a sweet but faint smell. Berries globular, purplish black. Stalks reddish. (Don's Mill., iii. p. 437.) A low tree, in a wild state, growing from 20 ft. to 30 ft. high, and flowering in June. A native of Europe, and part of Asia, in hedges, coppices, and woods; and plentiful in Britain, in like situations, but probably not truly indigenous. The varieties are rare, except in gardens.

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Varieties.

S. n. 2 viréscens Dec. Prod., iv. p. 322.; S. viréscens Desf. Arbr. Fr.i. p. 348.-Fruit yellowish green.

S. n. 3 leucocárpa. Fruit white.

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S. n. 4 laciniata; S. laciniata Mill. Dict., No. 2.; (Lob. Icon., 2. t. 164. f. 2.; and our fig. 774.) the Parsley-leaved Elder; has the leaflets cut into fine segments.

S. n. 5 rotundifolia.-Leaves trifoliolate. Leaflets petiolate, roundish, serrated. Corymbs few-flowered. Cultivated in the Chelsea Garden.

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S. n. 6 monstròsa, S. monstròsa Hort., has the branches striped. Flowers of from 5-15 parts; and with from 5-15 stamens. Stigmas 5-12. Berries irregular.

* S. n. 7 fòlis argenteis (fig. 775.) has the leaves variegated with white, and forms a striking and lively-looking plant in a shrubbery.

* S. n. 8 fòlus luteis, has the leaves slightly variegated with yellow. Description, Geography, &c. The common elder forms a small tree, remarkable for its vigorous growth when young, and its stationary character after it has attained 20 or 30 years' growth, and as many feet high. Its ample cymes of cream-coloured flowers make a fine show in June, and its purplish black berries in September. It is observed by Sir J. E. Smith, that "our uncertain summer is established by the time the elder is in full flower; and entirely gone when its berries are ripe.' It is a native of Europe, the north of Africa, and the colder parts of Asia, but not of America; and it is chiefly near human habitations. Dr. Walker, in 1780, thinks it is not indigenous in Scotland, and even that it had not been long introduced there; because he knew no instances of very old trees. It is common in all parts of England, in the neighbourhood of houses and gardens; and also in the woods of the temperate and southern parts of Russia. It is frequent in Greece,

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and was formerly much employed in medicine there, as the space it occupies in the works of Theophrastus bears ample testimony. It has been known in England from the earliest period of our medicinal history, and has formed here, till lately, a rich source for medicaments to apothecaries and rustic practitioners. It still holds a conspicuous place in the European materia medica.

Properties and Uses. Medicinally, the berries make a useful and agreeable rob, of a slightly purgative quality, and very good for catarrhs, sore throats, &c. The inner bark is more actively cathartic, and is thought beneficial, in rustic ointments and cataplasms, for burns. The dried flowers serve for fomentations, and make a fragrant but debilitating tea, useful in acute inflammations, from the copious perspiration that it is sure to excite, but not to be taken habitually. An infusion of the leaves proves fatal to the various insects which thrive on blighted or delicate plants; although there is a species of aphis that feeds on the elder. Cattle will not eat these leaves; and the mole is driven away by their scent. It was formerly supposed that if turnips, cabbages, fruit trees, or corn, were whipped with branches of the elder tree, no insect would touch them. The flowers are considered, in many country places, injurious to turkeys, and the berries to poultry in general. The smell is said to be injurious to human beings, and Evelyn mentions a tradition, "that a certain house in Spain, being seated among elder trees, diseased and killed almost all the inhabitants, which, when at last they were grubbed up, became a wholesome place." The varieties with black berries are best for medical use. A wine is made of them, with spices and sugar, which is generally taken warm; and they are said frequently to enter into the composition of a less innocent beverage-artificial, or adulterated, port. (Eng. Flor., ii. p. 110.) Elder rob is composed of the ripe fruit boiled with sugar, and is considered an excellent aperient for children; but an infusion of the leaves and young leaf buds is too strong a cathartic to be given, except in cases of great emergency. Besides the wine, or rather syrup, which is made from the juice of the ripe fruit, boiled with sugar and different kinds of spices, a wine is made from the flowers, which strongly resembles, in scent and flavour, that made of the Frontignan grapes. Elder flower water is used to give a flavour to some articles of confectionery, and is also considered excellent as a cooling lotion for the skin. The ancients used the fruit of the elder, in common with that of the mulberry, to paint the statue of Jupiter red, on the celebration of the fête of that god. They also employed the berries to dye the hair of their heads black; and Pliny says that the leaves, when boiled, are as wholesome to be eaten as those of other potherbs. The wood of the elder, when it becomes old, is very hard and adhesive, of a fine yellow, and susceptible of a high polish. In a dry state, it weighs 42 lb. 3 oz. to the cubic foot. It is employed by tanners, mathematical instrument makers, and comb-makers; and, generally, as a substitute for the box and the dogwood. The shoots, being large, and chiefly occupied by pith, are much employed by children in making tubes to serve as popguns, miniature muskets, and cannons; and for flutes, pipes, &c., a use to which they have been applied from time immemorial; "more shrill pipes and louder trumpets," Pliny informs us, being made of the shoots of the elder, than of those of any other tree. The pith, being very light, Miss Kent tells us, is formed into balls for electrical experiments. (Syl. Sketches, p. 125.) The bark is used in some parts of Scotland for dyeing tartans. Butchers' skewers and shoemakers' pegs are made of the wood, which splits readily longitudinally when fresh cut. The young shoots, when of three or four years' growth, are much employed in France, as props for vines and other plants, and are found to be of very considerable duration. The plant, both in Britain and on the Continent, is sometimes used for forming hedges, and also as a nurse plant for plantations exposed to the sea breeze. In the latter capacity, it has the great advantage of growing rapidly the first five or six years, and afterwards of being easily choked by the trees it has nursed up.

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