Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/495

 IVY IXTLILXOCHITL 477 that makes it difficult of cultivation, but the direct rays of the sun in the latter part of win- ter have an injurious effect upon it ; hence it succeeds best upon the northern sides of build- ings. In Virginia the plant flourishes luxuri- antly, and some fine specimens may be found growing upon the old mansions of that state. In modern gardening ivy has been introduced as a bedding plant; it is grown with its stems prostrate, and as these take root at every joint a dense mat of its peculiar dark green foliage may be readily produced; it is used in the form of broad edgings to flower beds cut in the lawn, as well as to form beds by itself; its darker green contrasted with the light green of the grass produces a fine effect. In the northern states, however, the great use of ivy is for indoor decoration, for which purpose it is unequalled. It is made to run over window frames, over the arch of folding doors, along cornices, around picture frames, or wherever it may be desired. It is also used to form screens, either for windows or for use in vari- ous parts of the room ; a trellis of the desired form is fixed to a platform, upon which the ivy plants stand in pots or in a suitable box. It is of the easiest propagation, and for after success only care and patience are required. Cuttings may be rooted in the usual way in sand, or a branch several feet long may be made to strike root by surrounding its lower end for several inches with a ball of sphagnum moss, which is to be tied on. The ball is placed in a jar or other convenient receptacle in which it can be kept constantly moist; when roots have formed, it may then be set in a pot of earth. Ivy requires a rich soil, and while it is growing an abundance of water. The principal care it needs, besides proper wa- tering, is the washing of the foliage ; dust ac- cumulates upon the leaves, and must be re- moved from time to time by means of a damp sponge. It is sometimes attacked by a scale louse, which upon its first appearance should be removed by a blunt knife or other mechani- cal means. In summer most of the interior ivy decorations are taken outdoors to a partly shaded spot, but those which are very large must remain in place and receive proper care as to light, water, and cleanliness. The Eng- lish ivy presents many varieties, differing in the size and form of the leaf, depth of green, color of fruit, &c. ; notable among these are several with the foliage beautifully marked, margined, or veined with white and yellow, known as gold and silver ivies, all of which are very beautiful, but in this country can only be enjoyed under glass. "What is known as the tree ivy is propagated from the flowering shoots; it ultimately forms climbing stems. Irish ivy, so called, is really a native of the Canaries (II. Canariense), and has much larger leaves than the common. These two are all the species recognized by the late Berthold Seeman in an elaborate memoir (" Journal of Botany," vol. ii.) on the genus; and while the catalogues and works on gardening enumerate scores of species, they are believed to be all reducible to these two. Mr. Shirley Hibbard in 1869, in a communication to the Linnasan society, and later in a work entitled " Ivy, its History and Characteristics" (London, 1873), Variegated-leaved Ivies. ignoring all former names, has attempted to arrange the garden forms of ivy, and impose a nomenclature which is not likely to be gen- erally adopted. Among other plants to which the name ivy has been applied are German ivy, a climbing composite (see GERMAN IVY) ; Colosseum ivy (linaria cymbalaria), a small creeping toad flax; ground ivy (nepeta gle- choma), a prostrate European labiate, which is not rare as a weed in the older portions of this country, and which before the introduction of hops was used in England to give bitterness to beer, and is also called alehoof ; American ivy, more generally known as the Virginia creeper (ampdopsis quinqucfolia), which, though a deciduous plant, occupies much the same place in our vegetation that the ivy does in Europe ; and poison ivy, a name which with several others is applied to the well known rhus toxi- codendron, for which see SUMACH. IMO.V, a mythical Thessalian prince, king of the Lapithas, and father of Pirithous. When Deloneus, whose daughter Dia he had espoused, demanded of him the customary bridal gifts, Ixion treacherously invited him to a banquet, and then had him cast into a fiery pit. None would hold intercourse with the murderer, or purify him, till Jupiter at length performed the necessary rite, and made him his guest. But Ixion presumed to make love to Juno, whereupon Jupiter made a phantom resem- bling her, by which Ixion became the pro- genitor of the centaurs. For his impiety he was chained by Mercury to a wheel which re- volved perpetually in the air. IXTLILXOCHITL, Fernando de Aha, an Indian historian, descended in a direct line from the kings of Tezcuco in Mexico, born about 1568, died about 1648. He was interpreter of the native languages to the viceroys of Mexico, and assiduously collected the ancient MSS. and tra- ditions of his country, which he embodied in a