WEL WITS CHI A 687 



Wedding flower, Francoa. 



Wedelia Jacq. Compositae (5). 65 trop. and warm temp. 



Wedeliella Cockerell (Allionia p.p.). Nyctaginaceae. 3 N. Am. 



Weeds, cf. Ageratum, Cactaceae, Capsella, Cynara, Eichhornia, Elodea, 

 Galinsoga, Gomphocarpus, Lactttca, Salsola, Titkonia, Xanthium, &c. 



Weeping willow, Salix babylonica L. 



Wehlia F. Muell. Myrtaceae (n. 2). 3 W. Austr. 



Weigelia Pers., Weigela Thunb. = Diervilla Tourn. 



Weigeltia A. DC. (Cybianthus BH.). Myrsinaceae (n). 21 W.I., 

 trop. S. Am. 



Weigeltia Reichb. Leguminosae. Nomen. 



Weights, Abrus precatorius L., Ceratonia Siliqua L. 



Weihea Sprang. Rhizophoraceae. 12 Ceylon, Madag., trop. Afr. 

 Fls. fully hypog. Sometimes placed near to Elaeocarpus. 



Weinmannia L. Cunoniaceae. So ^ exc. S. Afr. 



Weld, Reseda lutea L. 



Weldenia Schult. Commelinaceae. i Mexico. 



Welfla H. Wendl. Palmae (iv. i). 2 C. Am. 



Wellingtonia Lindl. = Sequoia Endl. (Conif.). 



Wellstedia Balf. f. Boraginaceae (v). i Socotra. 



Welsh poppy, Meconopsis cambrica Vig. 



Welwitschia Hook. f. (Tttmboa Wehv.). Gnetaceae. i sp., W. 

 mirabilis Hook. f. (T. Bainesii Wehv.), a remarkable plant dis- 

 covered by Baines in Damaraland in W. trop. Afr., and shortly 

 afterwards by Welwitsch in Mossamedes, and described by Hooker 

 in Trans. Linn. Soc. 1883 ('/^)- Specimens in most museums. 

 The plant has a peculiar habit, and grows for at least a century, and 

 probably much longer. Its native climate is a markedly desert one, 

 with a mere trifle of rainfall, the bulk of the moisture being derived 

 from sea fogs, which cause a heavy deposit of dew. Seeds are pro- 

 duced in large quantities, and being enclosed in the winged P are 

 blown about, and germinate in the occasional wet years. The stem 

 is stout, with a two-lobed form and almost circular in section. It 

 narrows downwards into a stout tap-root. At the edges of the two 

 lobes are two grooves, from each of which springs a 1. These 1. are 

 the first pair alter the cots, and are the only 1. the plant ever has ; 

 they go on growing at the base throughout its life, wearing away at 

 the tips and often becoming torn down to the base. The stem con- 

 tinues to grow in thickness, and exhibits concentric grooves upon the 

 top surface. In the outer (younger) of these grooves the fls. appear, 

 in cpd. dichasia of small ( $ ) or larger ( ? ) spikes; they are covered 

 by bracts which become bright red after fert. The fls. are dioec., and 

 are produced annually. Pollination by insects. In the S , there is a 

 P ot 2 + 2 1., the outer whorl transv. to the bract ; sta. 6, united below, 

 with 3-loc. anthers; gynaeceum rudimentary, but with the integu- 

 ment of the ovule looking like a style and stigma. In the ? , the 

 perianth-1. are fused into a tube, and are equivalent to the two outer 

 1. of the i ; there is no trace of sta. Ovule r, erect, with the inte- 

 gument drawn out beyond it. Seed with endosp. and perisperm, 

 enclosed in the P which becomes winged. [See Gymnospermae, and 

 Pearson in Phil. Trans. 198, 1906.] 



