426 MIMETANTHE 



Mimetanthe Greene {Mimulus p.p. Btf.). Scrophular. (u. 6). i S.W. 

 N.Am. 



Mimetes Salisb. Proteaceae (i). 15 S. Afr. 



Mimophytum Greenman. Boraginaceae (iv. i). i Mexico. 



Mimosa L. Leguminosae (i. 5). 400 trop. and subtrop. Am., a few 

 in Afr. and As. M. pudica L. (sensitive plant) is now a common 

 trop. weed and is cult, in hothouses. Mainly herbs and undershrubs, 

 frequently with stipular thorns. M. pudica has a bipinnate 1. with 

 four secondary petioles. It is exceedingly sensitive, and a touch or 

 shake will make it move rapidly into the position which it assumes at 

 night. The leaflets move upwards in pairs, closing against one 

 another, the secondary petioles close up against one another and the 

 main petiole drops through about 60. After a short time the move- 

 ments are slowly reversed. They are effected by the aid of a. pulvi?ius 

 or swollen joint at each point of movement. Each pulvinus can be 

 made to work independently of the rest by gentle stimulation, and 

 the propagation of the stimulus from pulvinus to pulvinus may also be 

 seen. The ribs of the fr. are frequently thorny and are usu. dropped 

 on dehiscence. 



Mimulopsis Schweinf. Acanthaceae (iv. A). 15 trop. Afr., Madag. 



Mimulus L. Scrophulariaceae (11. 6). 80 cosmop. M. luteus L. 

 (yellow monkey-flower) nat. in Brit. M. moschatus Dougl. is the 

 common musk-plant of cottage windows. Insects entering the fl. 

 touch first the stigma, which is sensitive to contact and closes up (cj. 

 Martynia). Cult. orn. fl. 



MimusopsL. Sapotaceae (2). 65 trop. M. Balata Crueg. (M. globosa 

 Gaertn.; Guiana) yields a gutta-percha (balata). M. elata Allem. is 

 the Brazilian milk tree or Masseranduba. The timber is hard and 

 durable, the fr. edible, "but strangest of all is the vegetable milk, 

 which exudes in abundance when the bark is cut; it has about the 

 consistence of thick cream." (Wallace, Amazon, ch. n.) It is used 

 as milk, and for glue. 



Mina Cerv. (Ipomoea L. p.p. BH., Quamoclit EP.). Convolvulaceae 

 (i). 2 Mexico. Cult. orn. fl. 



Minaea Lojacono (Bivonaea p.p. EP., Thlaspi p.p. BH.}. Cruciferae 

 (2). 2 Italy, Spain. 



Minkelersia Mart, et Gal. Leguminosae (in. 10). 3 Mexico. 



Minquartia Aubl. Olacaceae (Bignon. BH.). i Guiana. 



Mint, Mentha, esp. M. viridis L.; cat-, Nepeta cataria L.; pepper-, 

 Mentha piperita L. , (Am.) Mirabilis. 



Minuartia L.^Arenaria Rupp. p.p. (BH.)- Alsine p.p. (Caryo.). 



Minuria DC. Compositae (3). 4 Austr. 



Minuriella Tate. Compositae (3). i Austr. 



Minurothamnus DC. Compositae (4). i Cape Colony. 



Mionandra Griseb. Malpighiaceae (n). i Argentina. 



Miquelia Meissn. Icacinaceae. 6 Indomal. 



Mirabilis Riv. ex L. (BH. excl. Oxybaphus L'Herit.). Nyctaginaceae 

 (i). 25 trop. Am. At the base of the fl. is an involucre of 5 1. 

 resembling a K ; it is really the bracts of a 3-fld. dich. cyme, of which 

 in most only the central fl. is developed. In some, however, e.g. 

 M. coccinea Benth. et Hook, f., the invol. encloses > i fl. The fl. 



