A small-growing tree from China, which produces a fruit known as the Wampee. This fruit is a globular berry, with five or fewer compartments filled with juice. It is much esteemed...
A small tree of the Cape of Good Hope and Australia. It bears a globular fruit of the size of a small peach, and is known in Australia as the native peach. It has an edible nut, ca...
A plant known throughout Australia as Captain Cook's tea tree, from the circumstance that, on the first landing of this navigator in that country, he employed a decoction of the le...
The date palm, very extensively grown for its fruit, which affords the principal food for a large portion of the inhabitants of Africa, Asia, and southern Europe, and likewise of t...
This twining shrub yields the pepper of commerce. It is cultivated in the East and West Indies, Java, etc., the Malabar being held in the highest esteem. The fruit when ripe is of...
The pomegranate, a native of northern Africa and western Asia. The fruit is valued in warm countries on account of its delicious cooling and refreshing pulp. Numerous varieties are...
This hardy perennial produces heads ofpretty purple flowers from July to September. It is not particular as to soil, and can easily be increased by division. Height, 1 ft.
See "Sempervivum."
Favourite dwarf shrubs. Any soil suitsthe hardy kinds, but they prefer shade and moisture. These may be increased by seed or division. The greenhouse varieties thrive best in a mix...
In order to protect seeds against birds,insects, and rodents, soak them in water containing 20 or 25 per cent, of mineral oil. Vegetable seeds, such as Haricot Beans and Peas, shou...
This noble wall plant may be abundantly produced, as a longlayer will root at every joint. It will also grow from cuttings of the plant and root. Though of slow growth at first, wh...
A plant of the buckthorn family, known in Jamaica as Chaw-Stick, on account of its thin branches being chewed as an agreeable stomachic. Tooth brushes are made by cutting pieces of...
The flowers of this malvaceous plant contain a quantity of astringent juice, and, when bruised, rapidly turn black or deep purple; they are used by the Chinese ladies for dyeing th...
An East India shrub which produces round fruits about the size of damson plums, of a yellowish color, with reddish or purplish tints. They are extremely acid, and the pulp is emplo...
The West Indian cabbage palm, which sometimes attains the height of 170 feet, with a straight cylindrical trunk. The semicylindrical portions of the leaf-stalk are formed into crad...
This plant yields _Mexican_ sarsaparilla, so called to distinguish it from the many other kinds of this drug. The plant is a climber, similar to the smilax of our woods.
See "Galega."
See "Solidago."
A most beautiful orchid, delighting in atemperature of from 60 to 70 degrees and an abundance of water during summer, but good drainage is essential. The blooms are yellow, spotted...
The readiest way of propagating this useful vegetable is byoff-sets, but it may be raised from seed sown in March or April in rows 1 ft. apart. Thin out the young plants to 6 in. i...
These greenhouse herbaceous plants bloom in May. A rich,light soil suits them. Height, 6 in.
A plant of the family _Piperaceae_, having an aromatic fruit like a berry, with a thick rind. The roots are used medicinally in Brazil.
The center portion of the upper part of the stem of this West Indian palm, including the leaf bud, is eaten either when cooked as a vegetable or pickled, but the tree must be destr...
A plant belonging to the cinchona family, the roots of which are reputed to cure snake bites. They are intensely bitter, and from this circumstance they are called earth-galls by t...
This elegant twining plant is best grown inpots, so that it can more conveniently be taken indoors in the winter. The soil should be light and rich. Cuttings can be taken either in...
A very fine herbaceous plant,bearing bunches of pretty black berries. It requires a rich soil and plenty of room for its widespreading branches. Cuttings will strike under glass, o...
The foliage ofthese half-hardy annuals is very ornamental. The plants like a rich soil. Sow the seed early in spring in a slight heat, harden off gradually, and put out at the end...
Same treatment as "Dianthus."
This well-known and much-admiredevergreen shrub produces masses of white flowers through the winter months, at which season it is especially ornamental. It is generally propagated...
An Indian plant which is supposed to yield the essential oil called Ylang-Ylang, or Alan-gilan. This oil is obtained by distillation from the flowers, and is highly esteemed by per...