A. flos-Jovis.* Flower of Jove. fl. purple or scarlet, in umbellate heads; peduncles short, rather branched. July. l. lanceolate, stem-clasping, silky, tomentose. h. 1½ft. Switzerland, 1726. Plant white from tomentum. See Fig. 52.
FIG. 52. AGROSTEMMA FLOS-JOVIS, showing Habit and Flower.
AGROSTIS (from agros, a field; the Greek name for a kind of grass). Bent Grass. ORD. Gramineæ. Annual or perennial grasses. Panicle loose; spikelets compressed. Several of the species are very effective, and well worth growing; and the spikes are pretty objects, when dried, for window vases, &c. They are of easy culture, in ordinary garden soil. Sow seeds during spring in the open border, in tufts, among ferns, &c., or in pots for decorative purposes.
A. elegans (elegant). h. 1ft. Russia, 1834.
FIG. 53. AGROSTIS NEBULOSA.
A. nebulosa (cloud).* Cloud Grass. fl. panicles resemble, when developed, a cloud resting over the ground. h. 1½ft. Very light and elegant. Annual. See Fig. 53.
A. pulchella (pretty).* Dwarfer, and with a more rigid habit than A. nebulosa. It is, nevertheless, a most graceful plant, and valuable for bouquet making, and for winter decorative purposes. h. 6in. to 12in. Russia. Annual.
A. spica-venti (windward-spiked). fl. panicle large, silky looking, loosely spreading. England. Annual.
AGROTIS. See Pot-herb Moths and Turnip Moth.
AILANTUS (from ailanto, referring to its lofty growth). Tree of Heaven. ORD. Xanthoxylaceæ. Tall deciduous trees. The stove species will grow freely in a mixture of loam and peat; and the best way to increase these is by pieces of the roots, planted in a pot with their points above the ground, and placed in a hotbed, where they will soon make fine plants.