B44. 
THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 
Melaleuca—continued 
M. styphelioides (Styphelia-like). f., white, in pubescent 
‘spikes, surrounding the lower part Sy the branches. May to 
Taly. J. alternate, ovate, acuminated, ending in a pungent 
mucrone, sessile; glabrous. h. Aft. to l0ft. 1795. Shrub. 
Fig. 533. FLOWERING BRANCHES OF MELALEUCA SQUAMEA, 
reduced and natural size. 
(Thyme-leaved). fl. purple; spikes few-flowered. 
June to P J. w i 8 h. 2ft. 1792. 
Shrub. (B. M. 1868; L. B. C. 439.) SYN. M. coronata (A. B. R. 278). 
branches, linear 
1874. Shrub. (B. M. 6131.) ; 
MELAMPYRUM (from Melampuron, an old Greek 
name used by Theophrastus, from melas, black, and pyros, 
wheat; alluding to the colour of the seeds of European 
field species, as they appear mixed with grain). .Cow 
Wheat. ORD. Scrophularinee. A genus comprising 
about six species of hardy, erect, annual herbs, found in 
Europe and Western Asia, one being broadly dispersed 
over Asia and North America. Flowers sub-sessile in 
the axils, or in dense terminal spikes; corolla yellow, 
violet, or variegated. Leaves opposite, narrow. The 
two species described below are the handsomest, but, in 
addition to these, M. pratense, the common Cow Wheat, 
and M. sylvatica, are found in Britain. Melampyrums, 
being more or less parasitic, are not easily grown under 
artificial conditions. Seeds should be sown annually, in 
spring, in the open border; if amongst short grass, &., 
success is more likely to be attained. * 
arvense (field iked; : 
3 Seon Ye ew 7 Spe dark pike” on 
e 
1 at the base. Stem lft. to 2ft. tusely 
Europe 
quadrigonous, stout, erect, branched, scaberulous. 
ritain), Western Asia. (Sy. En, B. 1001.) 
M. cristatum (crested). A. densely spiked ; corolla tube yellow, 
_ tipped with pors bent. September and October. 1. spread- 
ing, narrow linear-lanceolate. Stem Ein. to 18in. high, rigid, 
| MELANDRIUM. Included under Lychnis (which 
Included under Aspidium. 
XB (from melas, black, and rheo, to 
‘tree, when wounded, yields a black juice). 
ce. ORD. Anacardiacew. A genus com- 
species of very large-growing stove 
ves of Birma and the Malayan 
axillary panicles; 
five-nerved, caducous cal ; 
* imbricated. i ves 
re, leathery. ‘The under- 
-and loam compost. 
M. (Wilson's). i, red, solitary or two or three together 
in the axils of the stem leaves, often numerous alo: * gr 
‘i l. opposite, almost imbricate on the smaller 
hes, or linear-lanceolate, erect or scarcely spreading, 
VNigrina. ORD. Scrophularinee. 
. July and August. J. lanceolate, quite entire, or 
Stem high, ob 
Melanorrhœa- continued. 
Propagated by cuttings of ripe shoots, with the leaves 
intact, placed in sand, under a glass, and in bottom 
heat. 
M. usitatissima (most useful). fl. red. “. obovate, very blunt, 
villous, A. 100ft. Hindostan, 1 This species yields a very 
valuable black varnish. “This is obtained by the process of 
tapping ; short joints of bamboo, closed at the bottom end, being 
thrust into holes made in the trunk, and left for about two days, 
- when they become full of a whitish thick juice, which turns 
black when exposed to the air, and requires to be kept under 
water in order to preserve it (Treasury of Botany ”). 
MELANTHACES. Included, by Bentham and 
Hooker, under Liliacew. 
MELANTHERA (from melas, black, and anthera, 
an anther; alluding to the colour of the anthers). ORD. 
Composite. A genus comprising about eight species of 
scabrous-pubescent or slightly villous, stove, greenhouse, 
or half-hardy, herbs or sub-shrubs, natives of tropical 
America and Africa. Flower-heads white or yellow, 
mediocre; young ones depressed, at length sub-globose, 
borne at the apices of the branches or in the axils of 
the upper leaves; involucre hemispherical, short, the 
bracts two or three-seriate; receptacle convex or at 
length conical; achenes glabrous or slightly pilose. 
Leaves opposite, petiolate, toothed, or rarely hastately 
trilobed. The species thrive in any ordinary soil, and 
may be increased either by seeds or by divisions. 
M. deltoidea (deltoid). fl.-heads yellow; involucral scales oval. 
oblong; chaff of the receptacle obtuse, mucronate. July and 
August. l. opposite, undivided, ovate-deltoid or sub-cordate, 
scabrous-canescent. k. 3ft. West Indies, &., 1799. Stove 
herb, SYN. Calea aspera. 
M. hastata e A. -heuds white; involucral scales 
lanceolate ; c of the receptacle spine-pointed. June and July. 
J. opposite, hastately trilobed, scabrous. A. 3ft. to 6ft. North 
America, 1732. Half-hardy herb. The variety pandurata has 
fiddle-shaped leaves. 
MELANTHIUM (from melas, black, and anthos, a 
| flower; in allusion to the darker colour which the per- 
sistent perianth assumes after blossoming). Syn. Leiman- 
tu . ORD. Liliacee. A genus comprising only three 
species of hardy bulbous plants, confined to North 
America. Flowers yellowish-white, small, copiously race- 
mose-paniculate; perianth of six widely-spreading seg- 
ments. Leaves linear or lanceolate, membranous, gla- 
brous. Stems loose, leafy. The species are not much 
grown in our gardens. For culture, &c., see Veratrum. 
M. virginicum (Virginian). Bunch Flower. fl., perianth cream- 
colour, turning brown, and persistent ; segments heart-shaped or 
oblong and halbert-shaped. July. . lanceolate or linear, grass- 
like, th 90 í high. 
ose from the root broader. Stem simple, 3ft. to 5ft. 
(B. M. 985, under name of Helonias virginica.) 
MELASMA (from melasma, blackness; the plant 
turns black when dried). Syns. Gastromeria, Lyncea, 
: JE A genus comprising 
three or four species of stove or greenhouse, scabrous- 
_ pubescent or hispid herbs, of which two (perhaps varie- 
ties of one) are natives of South Africa, the third is 
Brazilian, and the fourth Mexican. Flowers in ter- 
minal leafy racemes, which are sometimes long-inter- 
rupted at base; calyx broadly ovate-campanulate, folia- 
wet 3800 y four-angled. Europe (Britain), Siberia. (Sy. | ceons, five-fid at apex, the lobes valvate; corolla white 
or pale yellowish, five-lobed, imbricated; tube broad, 
sub-campanulate, shorter than the calyx or shortly ex- 
serted. Leaves opposite, sessile, entire, toothed, or 
slightly incised at base. Probably none of the species 
are in cultivation. > 
s ULA (from melas, black, and sphw- 
rula, œ diminutive of sphaira, a ball; referring to the 
small blackish bulbs). Syns. Aglea, Diasia. ORD. 
Tridew. A monotypic genus, the species being a very 
pretty, greenhouse, bulbous plant, with an elegant and 
| graceful habit, and producing a profusion of flowers, 
which remain in perfection for a considerable period. 
For culture, see Ixia. : 
M. graminea (grass-lik | whitish, with lish stripe, 
| Sispouedl in lings Rataan bronchai panicles Api . grass like, 
