ACMADENIA (from akme, a point, and aden, a gland; in allusion to the anthers being terminated by pointed glands). ORD. Rutaceæ. A small genus of beautiful greenhouse shrubs. Flowers terminal, solitary, or few, furnished with imbricate sepal-like bracts; petals five, with long claws, which are bearded on the inside. Leaves imbricate, linear-oblong, or roundish. They thrive best in a mixture of peat and sand, with a little turfy loam; thorough drainage is also necessary. Young cuttings pricked in a pot of very sandy soil, covered with a bell glass, and shaded, will root freely in a cool house.
A. tetragona (four-angled).* fl. white, large, sessile, solitary. June. l. roundish-rhomboidal, with scabrous margins. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Cape of Good Hope, 1798.
ACMENA (from Acmenæ, nymphs of Venus, who had an altar at Olympia). ORD. Myrtaceæ. A small genus of greenhouse evergreen shrubs. Flowers in dense trichotomous cymes, with five small distant petals, and very conspicuous and pretty berries. They grow well in an equal mixture of peat, loam, and sand. Propagated readily by placing half-ripened cuttings in sand, under a glass, without heat.
A. floribunda (many-flowered).* fl. white, in threes, disposed in a terminal panicled thyrse. May to September. l. full of pellucid dots, oval-lanceolate, acuminated at both ends. Berries globose, bright purple. h. 4ft. New Holland, 1790.
A. ovata (ovate-leaved).* A new species, having, according to Mr. W. Bull, ovate leaves, which, along with the stems and petioles, are dark purple, giving the plants, when making new growth, a striking appearance. It has a neat habit.
ACOKANTHERA. See Toxicophlœa.
ACONIOPTERIS. See [Acrostichum.]
ACONITE. See Aconitum.
ACONITE, WINTER. See Eranthis.
ACONITUM (from Aconæ, or Acone, a harbour of Heraclea, in Bithynia, near where it is said to abound). Aconite; Monk's Hood; Wolf's Bane. ORD. Ranunculaceæ. An extensive genus of very ornamental hardy perennials. Flowers in terminal racemes; sepals five, the upper one helmet shaped, the two sides broader than the two back ones; petals five, small, the two upper with long claws hooded at the tip; the three inferior smaller or undeveloped. Leaves palmate. They thrive well in any ordinary garden soil. If left undisturbed for several years, they will attain a goodly size, and produce fine panicles of handsome flowers. They are invaluable for growing beneath the shade of trees, where they succeed better than almost any other class of plants. All are very easily propagated by divisions of the roots and seeds; the latter should be sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame. Care should be taken not to leave pieces of the roots about, for, with but one exception, those of all the species are very poisonous. Although very unlike horse-radish, they have frequently been mistaken for it, with fatal results; and none of the species should be cultivated in or near the kitchen garden.