An herbarium, or Hortus Siccus is , a collection of dried plants systematically arranged. Herbariums were popular among the Victorians, and a Victorian text describes the process for collecting specimens thus:
'The specimens should be collected in dry weather, and carried home in a japanned tin-box or vasculum, a small pocket-box being desirable, however, for mosses and small plants. Very delicate specimens should be at once placed in a small field-book of unsized blotting-paper carried tightly strapped between suitable boards, At home they are carefully arranged upon bibulous paper, and pressed between smoothly planed deal boards either by putting weights upon the boards or by using a screw-press. The paper is changed every day or two, as they are found to part with their moisture more or less freely.
Succulent plants (such as stone-crops) should be killed by immersion in boiling water, and left for some time to drain, before pressing. If the stem be thick and woody, or if the flower be thick and globular, as in the thistle, one half may be cut away without depriving it of its character. When the process of desiccation has been completed specimens are fastened upon stiff paper with a mixture of gum-tragacanth and gum-arabic, or thin glue, or with slips of gummed paper, or a needle and thread. To preserve the specimens from the ravages of insects, camphor should be placed in the cabinet and frequently renewed.' Research Herbarium
Akee (Blighia sapida) is a tree of the natural order Sapindacese, much esteemed for its fruit. The leaves are somewhat similar to those of the ash; the flowers are small and white, and produced in branched spikes. The fruit is lobed and ribbed, of a dull orange colour, and contains several large black seeds, embedded in a succulent and slightly bitter arillus of a pale straw colour, which is eaten when cooked. The akee is a native of Guinea, from whence it was carried to theWest Indies by Captain Bligh in 1793. Research Akee
Aralia is a genus of plants with small flowers arranged in umbels and succulent berries, the type of the natural order Araliacese, which is nearly related to the Umbelliferse, but the species are of a more shrubby habit. They are natives chiefly of tropical or subtropical countries, and in Britain are represented by the ivy; ginseng belongs to the order. From the pith of one species, Aralia papyrifera is obtained Chinese rice paper. Research Aralia
Aril or aririus, in some plants, as in the nutmeg, is an extra covering of the seed, outside of the true seed-coats, proceeding from the placenta, partially investing the seed, and falling off spontaneously. It is either succulent or cartilaginous, coloured, elastic, rough, or knotted. In the nutmeg it is known as mace. Research Aril
Beet (Beta) is a genus of plants of the family Chenopodiaceae distinguished by its fruit being inclosed in a tough woody or spongy five-lobed enlarged calyx. Two species only are known in general cultivation, namely, the sea-beet Beta maritima) and the garden beet (Beta vulgaris). The former is a tough-rooted perennial, common on many parts of the British coast and sometimes formerly cultivated for its leaves, which are an excellent substitute for spinach.
Of the garden beet, which differs from the last in being of only biennial duration and in forming a tender fleshy root, two principal forms are known to cultivators, the chard beet and the common beet. In the chard beet the roots are small, white, and rather tough, and the leaves are furnished with a broad, fleshy midrib (chard), employed as a vegetable by the French, who dress the ribs like sea-kale under the name of poiree. Some writers regard this as a peculiar species, and call it Beta cicia or hortensis.
The common beet includes all the fleshy-rooted varieties, such as red beet (with a fleshy large carrot-shaped root), yellow beet, sugar-beet, mangel-wurzel, etc. For garden purposes the best is the red beet of Castelnaudary, so called from a town in the south-west of France. The beet requires a rich light soil, and being a native of the Mediterranean region is impatient of severe cold, requiring to be taken up in the beginning of winter and packed in dry sand, or in pits like potatoes, the succulent leaves having been first removed.
Red beet is principally used at table, but if eaten in great quantity is said to be injurious. The beet may be taken out of the ground for use about the end of August, but it does not attain its full size and perfection until the month of October. A good beer was formerly brewed from the beet, which yielded a spirit of good quality.
From the white beet the French, during the wars with Napoleon I, succeeded in preparing sugar, that article, as British colonial produce, having been prohibited in France. Since that time, with the increase of chemical and technical knowledge, the making of beet-sugar has become an important industry in France, Germany, Austria, Russia, Belgium, and Holland and in England, though the early failure of attempts to produce beet-sugar on a large scale seem to have been mainly due to artificial conditions of trade competition. Research Beet
Begonia (Elephant's-ear) is an extensive genus of succulent-stemmed herbaceous plants, of the order Begoniaceae, with fleshy oblique leaves of various colours, and showy unisexual flowers, the whole perianth coloured. They readily hybridize, and many fine varieties have been raised from the tuberous-rooted kinds. From the shape of their leaves they have been called elephant's ear. Almost all the plants of the order are tropical, and they have mostly pink or red flowers. Research Begonia
Brooklime (Veronica Beccabunga) is a plant belonging to the Scrophulariaceae, occurring throughout Europe, North Africa and North and Central Asia. The plant is devoid of hairs, and is very succulent. The stems, creeping on the surface of the mud and rooting at the node, bear pairs of opposite leaves, from the axils of which flowering shoots arise. The flowers are bright blue, rather small, and arranged in pairs of opposite axillary racemes, not much longer than the subtending leaves. The plant had at one time a reputation as a spring salad and antiscorbutic. Research Brooklime
Cactus is the family of fleshy, thickened and mainly leafless plants, the Cactaceae (also known as the Indian Fig family). The species are succulent shrubs, with minute scale-like leaves (except in the genus Pereskia, tree-cactus, with large leaves), and with clusters and spines on the stems. They have fleshy stems, with sweetish watery or milky juice, and they assume many peculiar forms. The juice in some species affords a refreshing beverage where water is not to be got. All the plants of this order, except a single species, are natives of America. They are generally found in very dry localities. Some are epiphytes. Several have been introduced into the Old World, and in many places they have become naturalized. The fruits of some species are edible, as the prickly-pear and the Indian Fig cultivated throughout the Mediterranean region. The flowers are usually large and beautifully coloured, and many members of the family are cultivated as house plants. Research Cactus
The Chandelier Plant (Kalanchoe tubiflora) is a succulent, evergreen shrub from southern Africa popular as a houseplant on account of its showy peach, red or pink coloured flowers. The leaves are long and tubular, spotted violet-brown and frilled with plantlets, raying out from an upright central stem. Research Chandelier Plant
The Chenopodiaceae are a family of monochlamydeous plants which have more or less succulent leaves, flowers that possess a superior syncarpous pistil, with two, three or four styles and an undivided stigma. Research Chenopodiaceae
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Herbarium
