angelica.
401. This is the angelica archangelica of Linnxus, (Pentandria Digynia ; Umbelliferte): it is a biennial plant, with very large pinnate leaves, the extreme leaflet three lobed. The roots are long and thick ; and they, as well as the whole plant, are pots erfully aromatic. It is truly a northern plant, being common in Lapland and Iceland. It was cultivated in Britain in 1563, and probably more early. The stalks of it were formerly blanched, and eaten as ce lery. Now they are used only when candied ; and the young and tender stalks are for this purpose collected in May. Though the plant is only a biennial, it may be made to continue for several years, by cutting over the flower-stem before it ripen seed ; in which case it imme diately sets out below. It is easily raised from seed, which should be sown soon after being gathered. It grows best in a moist soil, and thrives exceedingly by the side of a ditch.
Love-apple.
402. Love-apple, or Tomato, (Solanum Lycopersicum,L.) is an annual plant, a native of South America ; it was cul tivated by Gerarde in 1596. The stem, if supported, will rise to the height of six feet or more. The leaves are pin nate, and have a rank disagreeable smell. The flowers are yellow, appearing in bunches in July and August, and followed by the fruit in September and October. The fruit is smooth, compressed at both ends, and furrowed over the sides ; it varies in size, but seldom exceeds that of an ordinary golden-pippin. The common colour is yel low; but there is a red-fruited variety, which is now the sort principally cultivated ; and there is also a small va riety called the cherry-shaped. When ripe, it is put into soups and sauces, to which it imparts an agreeable acid flavour. The green fruit is frequently pickled; and sometimes also the ripe. A preserve is likewise made of the fruit.
The seed is sown on a hot-bed in March ; when the seedlings are two inches high, they are transplanted into a slight hot-bed till they acquire a little strength. They are then placed near a wall, paling, or reed hedge, to which they can be trained, in a sheltered place, with a full south exposure. The fruit, after all, ripens only in favourable seasons. In dry weather the plants require regular water ing. 'Two or three of the ripest and best of the berries are selected for seed, the pulp being taken out, and the seeds separated by washing.
Love-apples have by many been considered as the aurea mala spoken of by Virgil : but the plant scarcely deserves the title of " arbor silvestris," and would hardly receive it from a poet who was a naturalist ; and on this account, pro bably, Dr Duncan, sen. has suggested, that Virgil's plant might really be an apple-tree, such as the oslin or original pippin, the fruit of which is of a fine yellow colour. In this view, the Doctor is supported by the authority of Sir William Temple. (J? 7ised/. vol. ii.) 403. Allied to the love•apple is the Egg-plant, (Solanurn melongena, L.) It is a tender annual, rising about two feet high, with reclining branches. The flowers are of a pale violet colour ; they are followed by a very large berry, ge nerally of an oval shape, and white colour, much resem bling a hen's egg, or, in large specimens, a swan's egg. There is likewise, however, a variety with globular ber ries; and the fruit is sometimes of a violet colour. In southern countries the fruit is eaten; here the plant is often cultivated as an ornament for the hot-house and the greenhouse; but the fruit is seldom made use of. It is sometimes transplanted to successive hot-beds, and planted out in June in a warm border ; where, if the autumn prove fine, the fruit makes a beautiful appearance.
Capsicum.
404. Capsicum, or Guinea pepper, (Capsicum annuum, L.; Pentandritz Monogynia ; Solanacete, Juss.) is an an nual plant, rising about two feet high ; a native of both the Indies. It has been long known, being mentioned by Ge rarde. It is raised principally for the sake of the young pods, or, to speak more correctly, inflated berries, which make a favourite pickle. They are sometimes also used in the ripe state, when they form a spice of the hottest quality. The seed is sown in the spring, on a gentle hot bed; and the seedlings are transplanted into another bed, where they are nursed till June, when they are planted out in a sheltered border. The berries vary much in shape, producing many subvarieties of the plant. They are long or short, heart•shaped or bell-shaped, and angular. They vary likewise in colour ; being generally red, but some times yellow. In Scotland, capsicum plants are often pot ted and kept under glass, the climate being seldom suffi cient to ripen the herries in the open border.