A. salicifolia (willow-leaved).* fl. light blue, in terminal corymbose cymes; corolla small, funnel-shaped, with a rounded tube; throat whitish, bearded. Summer. l. lanceolate, smooth, acute. h. 1½ft. to 2½ft. North America, 1812. Habit less erect than the following species. See Fig. 82.
A. Tabernæmontana (Tabernæmontanus).* fl. pale blue, in cymes; petals lanceolate, acute, slightly hairy on the outside; sepals also lanceolate, acute. Summer. l. ovate-lanceolate, acute, shortly stalked. h. 1½ft. to 2½ft. North America, 1759. SYNS. A. latifolia, Tabernæmontana Amsonia.
AMYGDALUS (from amysso, to lacerate; fissured channels in the stone of the fruit). Almond. ORD. Rosaceæ. TRIBE Drupaceæ. Well known, ornamental, deciduous spring flowering shrubs. Drupe clothed with velvety pubescence, with a fibrous dry rind, separating irregularly, having the stone of the fruit pitted or smooth. The larger-growing species are very excellent for shrubberies, or as specimen trees; being in blossom before most other trees, they make a fine appearance in early spring. The dwarfer kinds are also well fitted for small shrubberies or the fronts of large ones. For greenhouse culture they should be obtained in a small pyramidal shape; they are not, however, suited to a small house, as the plants, to bloom well and be effective, ought to be at least 2ft. or 3ft. high, and proportionately wide. Plenty of root room is essential. After potting, water thoroughly, and place the trees in an orchard house for a few weeks, when they may be removed to their permanent station. A temperature of about 50deg. or 55deg. is sufficient to hasten the flowering; a higher temperature is apt to frustrate the object in view. After flowering, gradually harden off the plants until about the end of May, when they may be plunged out of doors for the season. Repotting should be done as soon as the leaves fall. Increased by budding upon seedling plum-stocks in summer. The Almond is grown on the Continent for its fruit. See also Prunus.
A. argentea (silvery). A synonym of A. orientalis.
A. Besseriana (Besser's). A synonym of A. nana.
A. cochinchinensis (Cochin China). fl. white; racemes small, sub-terminal. fr. ovate, ventricose, acute at the apex. March. l. oval, quite entire. h. 30ft. to 40ft. Cochin China, 1825. Greenhouse.
FIG. 83. FLOWERING BRANCH OF AMYGDALUS COMMUNIS.
A. communis (common).* Common Almond. fl. white or rose coloured, solitary. March. fr. compressed, egg-shaped, tomentose. l. oblong lanceolate, serrulated. h. 10ft. to 30ft. Barbary, 1548. See Fig. 83.
A. c. amara (bitter).* Bitter Almond. fl. larger, white, but rose coloured at the base. April. Seeds bitter.
A. c. dulcis (sweet). Sweet Almond. fl. red, earlier; fruit ovate, compressed, acuminated. Seeds sweet. l. of a greyish green colour.
A. c. flore-pleno (double-blossomed).* fl. flesh colour, full double, rosy in the bud. l. oval-elliptic, acuminate.
A. c. fragilis (brittle). fl. pale rose coloured, rising with the leaves; petals broader, deeply emarginate. l. shorter than those of the type.
A. c. macrocarpa (large-fruited).* fl. whitish rose colour, large, rising before the leaves, with broadly obcordate undulated petals. fr. larger than that of the type, umbilicate at the base, but acuminated at the apex. l. broader than the type, acuminated. There are also numerous other varieties.
A. incana (hoary).* fl. red, solitary. April. Drupe compressed, pubescent. l. obovate, serrated, clothed with white tomentum beneath. h. 2ft. A handsome dwarf shrub. Caucasus, 1815.
A. nana (dwarf).* fl. rose coloured, solitary. March. fr. of the same form as that of A. communis, but much smaller. l. oblong-linear, attenuated at the base, serrated, quite glabrous. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Tartary, 1683. SYN. A. Besseriana.
A. orientalis (Oriental). fl. rose coloured. March. fr. mucronate. l. lanceolate, quite entire, almost permanent, clothed with silvery tomentum, as well as the branches. h. 2ft. to 4ft. Levant, 1756. SYN. A. argentea.
AMYLACEOUS. Starch-like.
AMYRIDACEÆ. See [Burseraceæ.]
AMYRIS (from a, intensive, and myron, balm; the whole of the trees in this genus smell strongly of balm or myrrh). ORD. [Burseraceæ.] Ornamental stove evergreen trees, abounding in a resinous fluid. Flowers white, disposed in panicles. Leaves unequally pinnate. They thrive well in a mixture of loam and peat; and cuttings root freely in sand, under a hand glass with bottom heat, during the spring months.
A. balsamifera (balsam-bearing). Synonymous with [A. toxifera.]
A. braziliensis (Brazilian).* fl. white; panicles axillary, shorter than the leaves. August. l. with one to three pairs of opposite leaflets; leaflets lanceolate, tapering to the base, rounded at the apex, mucronate, quite entire, veiny, shining above, discoloured beneath. h. 20ft. Brazil, 1823.
A. heptaphylla (seven-leaved). fl. whitish yellow; panicles branched, axillary, and terminal. l. with three to four pairs of alternate, simple leaflets, which are stalked, obliquely-lanceolate, acuminated, entire. h. 16ft. India, 1823.
A. Plumieri (Plumier's).* Gum Elemi Tree. fl. white; panicles branched, terminal. The fruit of this species is the shape and size of an olive, but red, having an odoriferous pulp within it. l. leaflets three to five, all stalked, somewhat serrated, ovate, acuminate, villous beneath. h. 20ft. West Indies, 1820.
A. toxifera (poison-bearing).* fl. white; racemes simple, about the length of the petioles. fr. the shape of a pear, and of a purple colour, hanging in bunches. l., leaflets five to seven, stalked, ovate, somewhat cordate, acuminated. h. 50ft. West Indies, 1818. The wood, known as Rhodes Wood, bears a fine polish, and has a pleasant smell. SYN. [A. balsamifera.]