ALBURNUM. The white wood of a tree; the younger wood, not choked up by sedimentary deposit, and therefore permeable to fluids.
ALCHEMILLA (from Alkemelyeh, the Arabic name of one of the species). Lady's Mantle. ORD. Rosaceæ. Hardy herbaceous perennials, with corymbose, apetalous flowers; calyx tubular, with the tube rather contracted at the apex. Leaves palmate or lobed. Of very easy culture, in common, but well drained soil. They are well adapted for rockwork and planting near the front of borders. Easily increased by divisions of the roots, and seeds. All here described are hardy, except A. sibbaldiæfolia.
A. alpina (alpine).* fl. greenish, small; corymbose. June. l. digitate; leaflets five to seven, lanceolate-cuneated, obtuse, serrated, clothed with white satiny down beneath. h. 6in. Britain.
A. pubescens (pubescent). fl. greenish; corymbs terminal, crowded, clothed with a coating of long weak hairs. June. l. roundish-reniform, seven-lobed, toothed, silky beneath. h. 6in. to 8in. Caucasus (Higher), 1813.
A. sericea (silky).* fl. greenish, corymbose. June. l. digitate; leaflets seven, lanceolate-obovate, obtuse, connected at the base, serrated at the apex, clothed with satiny down beneath. h. about 6in. Caucasus, 1813. Much larger in every part than A. alpina, to which it is closely allied.
A. Sibbaldiæfolia (Sibbaldia-leaved). fl. white, conglomerate; stem corymbosely many-flowered at the apex. July. l. deeply three-parted, clothed with adpressed pubescence beneath; segments deeply serrated, lateral ones bifid. h. 6in. Mexico, 1823. A greenhouse species, which should be grown in small well-drained pots, with a mixture of leaf soil and sandy loam.
ALDEA. A synonym of Phacelia (which see).
ALDER. See [Alnus].
ALETRIS (from aletron, meal; referring to the powdery appearance of the whole plant). The American Star Grass. SYN. Tritonia. ORD. Hæmodoraceæ. Interesting hardy herbaceous perennials, closely allied to the Amaryllids. Perianth half-inferior, tubular; limb spreading or funnel-shaped; stamens inserted at base of perianth segments, filaments flat. They delight in a sunny but damp situation, with peat, leaf mould, and sand, and are slowly increased by division of the roots.
A. aurea (golden).* fl. yellow, bell-shaped. h. 1ft. to 2ft. North America, 1811. Similar in habit to A. farinosa.
A. capensis (Cape). See Veltheimia viridifolia.
A. farinosa (mealy).* fl. white, bell-shaped, in a terminal spiked raceme, upon stems 1½ft. to 2ft. high. l. lanceolate, ribbed. North America, 1768. A pretty species, forming a spreading tuft, and possessing intensely bitter properties.
ALEURITES (from the Greek word signifying floury; all the parts of the plant seeming to be dusted with a farinaceous substance). ORD. Euphorbiaceæ. A handsome stove evergreen tree, with small, white, clustered flowers. Leaves alternate, stalked, exstipulate. Of easy culture in a loamy soil. Ripe cuttings, with their leaves untouched, root readily in sand, under a hand-glass.
A. triloba (three-lobed).* Candleberry Tree. l. three-lobed, 4in. to 8in. long. h. 30ft. to 40ft. Moluccas and South Pacific Islands, 1793.
ALEXANDERS. See Smyrnium.