| + | Amherstia (Countess Amherst and her daughter, Lady Amherst, promoters of botany in India). Leguminosae. A monotypic genus comprising A. nobilis, Wall., one of the noblest of flowering trees, native to India, where it reaches a height of 40 ft. and more. Fls. gaudy red, 8 in. long, with wide-spreading petals, the upper ones gold-tipped, and colored petal-like bracts, in long, hanging racemes: Lvs. pinnate, nearly 3 ft. long. The tree first flowered in Eng. in 1849. It requires hothouse treatment. The fls. last only 2 or 3 days. Demands rich, loamy soil, and abundant moisture during the growing season, after which the wood must be ripened firm. Propagation is by seeds, more often by cuttings of half-ripened wood under a glass, with bottom heat of about 80". Thrives well in the open in Jamaica. B.M. 4453. F.S. 5:513-516. |