FIG. 55. FLOWER OF AJUGA REPTANS.
A. reptans (creeping).* fl. varying from blue to rose-colour; lower whorls remote; upper ones spicate, six to twenty flowered. May. l. ovate or obovate, quite entire or sinuated, and are, as well as the stem, nearly glabrous; radical one petiolate, stem ones nearly sessile. Stem creeping. The variegated and darkest leaved forms of this are superior to the type for horticultural purposes. Britain. Perennial. See Fig. 55.
A. rugosa (wrinkled). Synonymous with A. genevensis.
AKEBIA (its Japanese name). SYN. Rajania. ORD. Lardizabalaceæ. A pretty twining shrub, succeeding well in the south-western counties of England, or in Scotland, trained to a trellis, or rambling over other shrubs in the open; but, when so grown, it requires the protection of a mat in winter. It makes an excellent twiner for the cool greenhouse. Sandy loam, leaf soil, and peat are most suitable for its culture. Increased by root divisions and cuttings.
A. quinata (five-leafletted).* fl. purplish brown, small, in axillary racemes, very fragrant. March. l. on very slender petioles, and palmately divided into usually five distinct petiolulate oval or oblong emarginate leaflets, the bottom pair smallest. h. 10ft. Chusan, 1845.
AKEE-TREE. See [Blighia sapida].
ALA. A lateral petal of a papilionaceous flower.
ALANGIACEÆ. A very small order of trees or shrubs, usually with inconspicuous flowers, in axillary fascicles. Fruit succulent, eatable. The two genera best known in this country are Alangium and Nyssa.
ALANGIUM (from Alangi, the Malabar name of the first species). ORD. Alangiaceæ. Very showy stove evergreen trees, with alternate, exstipulate, entire leaves. Flowers few, sessile, in axillary fascicles; calyx campanulate; petals linear, spreadingly reflexed. They thrive well in a mixture of loam and peat, or any light rich soil. Cuttings root readily if planted in a pot of sand, with a hand glass placed over them, in heat.
A. decapetalum (ten-petaled).* fl. pale purple, with a grateful scent, solitary, or two to three together in the axils of the leaves; petals ten or twelve. June. l. alternate, oblong-lanceolate, quite entire; branches glabrous, spinescent. h. 30ft. Malabar, 1779.
A. hexapetalum (six-petaled). fl. purple, six-petaled. l. ovate-lanceolate, acuminated, velvety beneath. h. 30ft. Malabar, 1823.