Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/328

 308 VERBENA cultivated is F. Aubletia, which, with the ab- surd name of Rocky mountain verbena, and the incorrect botanical name F. montana, was a few years ago largely advertised as a new discovery ; it is found southward and west- ward from Illinois and the Carolinas; the plant has the spreading habit and the deeply cleft leaves of the garden verbenas, with light purple flowers, and has been used in the various crossings which have produced these. The garden verbenas are among the most popular of garden flowers, and have become so thoroughly mixed by numerous hybridizings and crossings that it is difficult to trace the now popular varieties to their origin. F. chamcedrifolia was introduced into England in 1825 from Buenos Ayres, and F. phlogi- folia into New York from Brazil in 1835; the first is the original scarlet, and the other the original rose-colored ; about the same time seeds of F. teucroides, with white flowers, were Hybrid Garden Verbenas. sent to this country from Brazil ; and with these three our florists produced a series of hybrids, remarkable for the brilliancy and great variety of their flowers ; they comprise every color and shade, from pure white to the deep- est maroon, except a yellow and a positive blue, though a close approach to blue has been at- tained. European florists have also been en- gaged upon this plant, and the named varieties are almost innumerable, with yearly additions to the list; great improvement has also been made in the size and substance of the flower, form of truss, and habit of the plant ; a dis- tinct bright eye to each flower is essential, and in the striped varieties there must be no blend- ing of colors. The verbenas, on account of their easy propagation, rapid growth, and bril- liant, constant, and long-continued flowering, are the most popular flowers for producing color effects in that style of gardening known as bedding or massing, and are among the few VEROELLI that are really successful in our hot summers. The propagation from cuttings is rapid and easy, every joint making a plant; so readily does the stem throw out roots, that if a bou- quet be left in water for a few days, the ver- bena stems will be found with minute rootlets. Where no particular colors are desired, the plants may be raised from seed, and if sown in the open ground in May will bloom in Au- gust. The sweet-scented or lemon verbena be- longs to a different genus of the same family ; it is Lippia (formerly Aloysid) citriodora, a low, weak-branched shrub from Chili, with whorls of linear-lanceolate roughish leaves, and small, slender spikes of bluish white flow- ers; the leaves abound in glandular dots which contain a volatile oil, the fragrance of which is generally acceptable, and they are much used in summer bouquets. The plant is deciduous, and must have a season of rest; it is usually set in the open ground in spring, and housed in winter under the stage of a greenhouse or in a cellar. It can be trained in the form of a tree, with a distinct trunk and round head. UIRBOKC KIIOVEN. I. Engene Joseph, a Bel- gian painter, born at "Warneton, West Flan- ders, Juno 8, 1799. He studied under his father, who had settled in Brussels as a sculp- tor, and learned painting alone. In 1821 he became known as an animal painter by his " Cattle Market at Geneva." In 1834 he re- ceived 10,000 francs from Baron James de Rothschild of Paris for his " Herd of Cattle in an Autumn Landscape." Some of his subse- quent works, several of which are in the Uni- ted States, brought still higher prices. Among them are " A Herd of Sheep overtaken by a Storm," " Horses attacked by Wolves," and " A Herd of Cattle in the Roman Campagna." He has published several volumes of etchings. !! Charles Lonls, a Belgian painter, brother of the preceding, born in 1802. He was a pupil of his brother, and at first painted animals ; but he afterward resided in Holland, devoting himself to marine painting. His works include "Fishing Boats drying their Sails," "Rising Tide," " Fishing Vessels in sight of Fort Lillo," and "View of the Port of Flushing." YERCELLI (anc. Verccllai), a city of Piedmont, Italy, in the province of Novara, on the W. bank of the Sesia, 40 m. N. E. of Turin ; pop. in 1872, 27,349. It is the capital of a district of the same name, formerly a province, and is the seat of a bishop. The ramparts have been converted into boulevards. The Milan gate is of fine architecture. The cathedral, of the 16th century, is the most celebrated among many fine churches. It contains the tombs of St. Eusebius and St. Amadeus, and a library with manuscripts of groat antiquity. The town has a palace, once the residence of the dukes of Savoy, a hospital with a picturesque clois- ter, a crypt-like Gothic chapel, a small museum with a botanic garden, a lyceum, a gymnasium, a technological school, an episcopal seminary, and a theatre. The main products of the en-