AMERIMNON (from a, privative, and merinna, care; in allusion to the little attention the plant requires; name originally applied to the House-leek). SYN. Amerimnum. ORD. Leguminosæ. Ornamental, evergreen, stove shrubs, with alternate, stalked, ovate, somewhat cordate, simple leaves. For culture, see [Anona.]
A. Brownei (Browne's).* fl. white, sweet-scented; peduncles axillary, ten-flowered, glabrous or puberulous. May. l. ovate, somewhat cordate, acute, glabrous. h. 6ft. to 10ft. Jamaica, 1793. Requires a trellis or other support.
A. strigulosum (strigulose). fl. white; racemes axillary, solitary, three times longer than the petioles. May. l. ovate, rather cordate, obtuse, clothed with adpressed hairs on both surfaces; branches and petioles clothed with light brown, dense, short hairs. h. 6ft. to 10ft. Trinidad, 1817.
AMERIMNUM. A synonym of [Amerimnon] (which see).
AMHERSTIA (commemorative of Countess Amherst, a zealous promoter of natural history, particularly botany). ORD. Leguminosæ. A stove, evergreen tree of almost unsurpassed magnificence and brilliancy, requiring a very high and moist temperature. It delights in a rich, strong loam, and may be propagated by cuttings of the half-ripened wood, inserted in sand, under a glass in bottom heat of about 80deg.; also by seeds.
A. nobilis (noble).* fl. of a fine vermilion colour, diversified with yellow spots, large; racemes long, pendulous, axillary. May. l. large, impari-pinnate, bearing six to eight pairs of leaflets. h. 30ft. to 40ft. India, 1837. The flowers are, unfortunately, somewhat ephemeral, lasting but a few days in perfection, during which period, however, no object in the whole range of the vegetable kingdom presents a more striking aspect than this tree.
AMICIA (commemorative of J. B. Amici, a celebrated French physician). ORD. Leguminosæ. A pretty, greenhouse or half-hardy perennial, succeeding in any warm, sheltered spot. Young cuttings will root in sand, under a hand glass, in heat.
A. Zygomeris (two-jointed-podded).* fl. yellow, splashed with purple on the keel; peduncles axillary, five or six-flowered. Autumn. Legumes with two joints. l. abruptly pinnate, with two pairs of cuneate-obcordate, mucronate leaflets, which are full of pellucid dots; branches and petioles pubescent. h. 8ft. Mexico, 1826.
AMMOBIUM (from ammos, sand, and bio, to live; in reference to the sandy soil in which it is found). ORD. Compositæ. This well-known everlasting is closely allied to Gnaphalium, from which it differs principally in habit. Receptacle with oblong, pointed, toothed, chaffy scales; involucre of imbricated leaflets. It may be treated as a half-hardy annual, or as a biennial, if seeds are sown in September and kept in a cool greenhouse during the winter, and this is the best way to grow it. Any moderately good soil suits it.
A. alatum (winged). fl.-heads about 1in. across, of a silvery whiteness, with the exception of the yellow disk florets, very numerous, in loose, corymbose panicles. May to September. l. oblong-lanceolate; radical ones in a tufted rosette. Stems winged—hence the specific name. h. 1½ft. to 2ft. New Holland, 1822. See Fig. 77.
A. a. grandiflorum (large-flowered).* fl.-heads purer white, nearly twice the size of those in the type. This variety, which comes true from seed, is a great acquisition.
AMMOCHARIS. See [Brunsvigia.]