=A. u. maximus= (larger).* _fl._ bright blue, in immense umbels. This is larger in all its parts than the type, and when well grown is truly a noble plant. There is also a white-flowered form of this variety, which is most desirable, being equally as large.
=A. u. minor= (smaller).* This is smaller in all its parts, with narrow leaves, and slender scapes of deep blue flowers. A very elegant variety.
=A. u. Mooreanus= (Moore's).* _fl._ dark blue. _h._ 1-1/2ft. 1879. A new variety, with shorter, narrower, and more upright leaves than the species; it has a dwarf habit. Perfectly hardy.
=A. u. variegatus= (variegated).* Where variegated-leaved plants are desired, few could be more useful than this; its leaves are almost entirely white, with a few green bands, but they are neither so broad nor so long as in the type. It is an excellent subject for the domestic garden.
=AGAPETES= (from _agapetos_, beloved; in reference to the showy character of the plants). ORD. _Vacciniaceæ_. A genus containing about eighteen species of warm greenhouse or stove evergreen shrubs. Flowers corymbose and racemose; corolla tubular. Leaves alternate, coriaceous. They are all worthy of cultivation, but only two or three species are grown in England. Peat, turfy loam, and sand, in equal parts, is the best compost for them; and young hardened cuttings will strike in sandy soil, under a hand glass, in stove temperature.
=A. buxifolia= (box-leaved).* _fl._ bright red, about 1in. long, tubular, wax-like, disposed in corymbs. April. _l._ small, oval oblong, bright green, leathery; branches spreading, twiggy. _h._ 5ft. Bootan.
=A. setigera= (bristly). _fl._ red, about 1in. long, tubular, numerous, in lateral and corymbose racemes, furnished with bristly hairs. _l._ scattered, lanceolate, acuminated, on very short robust petioles. Pundua Mountains, 1837.
=A. variegata= (variegated). _fl._ scarlet, about 1in. long, tubular, lateral, corymbose. _l._ on short petioles, lanceolate, acuminated, denticulated, attenuated at the base, veiny. Khasia, 1837.
=AGARICUS= (derived from _Agaria_, the name of a town in Sarmentosa). Mushroom. ORD. _Fungi_. The most extensive genus known. It, however, contains but one or two species of cultural value. The most important ones are the common field mushroom, _A. campestris_ (Fig. 44), the Fairy Ring mushroom, _A. pratensis_, and _A. vaginatus_. Familiar species are the Parasol mushroom, _A. procerus_ (Fig. 43); St. George's mushroom, _A. gambosus_ (Fig. 42); and the deadly Fly Agaric, _A. muscarius_ (Fig. 41). For practical purposes the majority of this genus are poisonous, and many virulently so. Great care must be exercised in experimenting with unknown species, even by experienced fungologists. _See_ =Mushroom=.