298 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



P.EO 



Paeo'ny. See Pceonia. 



Pagoda-tree. Chinese. A name given to 



Sophora Japonica, Plumieria acuminata, and 



Ficus Indica. 



Paigle. An old name for the Cowslip. 



Painted. A term used in cases where colors 

 are arranged in streaks of unequal density. 



Painted Cup. See Castilleia. 



Paint Root. See Lachanthes. 



Palafo'xia. Named by Lagasca, in honor of 

 Palafox, a Spanish general. Nat. Ord. Com- 

 positce. 



A genus of rather coarse-growing herbaceous 

 and shrubby perennials, with white, flesh- 

 colored, or purple flowers, produced in rather 

 loose paniculate or corymbose heads. P. 

 Hookeriana, a native of Mexico is a pretty 

 dwarf annual species, forming a dense tuft 

 about one foot high. The flowers are pro- 

 duced freely in loose clusters and are of a 

 pleasing rosy-pinli hue. Several of the species 

 are common from Carolina to Texas. 



Palate. The mouth of a ringent, or gaping 

 flower. 



Pala'va or Pala'via. In honor of A. Palau y 

 Verdera, once professor of botany at Madrid. 

 Nat. Ord. Malvaceae. 



A small genus of Peruvian herbaceous 

 annuals, producing small pink or purple flow- 

 ers on long axillary stalks ; rarely cultivated 

 excepting in botanical collections. 



Paleae. Membraneous scales resembling chaff. 

 The inner scales of the flower in grasses are 

 pales. 



Palestine Lily. Arum Palestinum. See Arum. 



Palicou'rea. Named after Le Palicour, of 

 Guiana. Nat. Ord. Ruhiacete. 



A large genus of tropical American shrubs 

 of variaVjle habit, with four-angled branches. 

 They form very pretty shrubs, with variously 

 colored (never blue) flowers. Only a few spe- 

 cies are in cultivation. Syn. Psychotria. 



Paliso'ta. Named in honor of Palisot de Beau- 

 vois, a French botanist and traveler. Nat. 

 Ord. Commelinacem. 



A genus of perennial herbs, natives of 

 Africa. P. bicolor has large bright green 

 leaves, with broad disk of greenish-yellow, 

 the margins being studded with stiff brownish 

 hairs. It grows from one to two feet high, 

 and is a very elegant ornamental-leaved plant. 

 Introduced from Fernando Po in 1878. 



Paliu'rus. Christ's Thorn. Name of a town in 

 Africa. Nat. Ord. Rhamnacem. 



There are but two species in this genus, 

 both hardy deciduous shrubs, natives of 

 southern Europe and western Asia. They are 

 handsome shrubs, well adapted for shrub- 

 beries. The fruit of P. aculeatus is very sin- 

 gular, appearing like a head with a broad- 

 brimmed hat on, whence its French name 

 Porte Chapeau. This is the plant that is sup- 

 posed to have furnished the thorns used for 

 plaiting the crown placed upon Christ's head 

 before His crucifixion. It has flexible 

 branches, capable of being easily plaited ; and 

 each leaf has two sharp spines at its base, one 

 of which is straight and erect, and the other 

 eur\-ed and bent downward so as to form a 

 hook. There is some difference of opinion as 

 to whether this is the plant that afforded the 



PAL 



"thorns," or whether it was Zizyphus spinor 

 Christi, for both of which the distinction has 

 been claimed. It is commonly used for 

 hedges in the East, and its seeds are consid- 

 ered medicinal by Turkish doctors, and are 

 also used as a dye. 

 Palm. A general name for the plants belonging 

 to the order Palmacew. Also popularly 

 applied to Salix caprea when in flower. 



Palm. Australian Feather. The genus Ptycho- 



aperma. 

 Bamboo. Raphia vinifera. 

 Betel-nut. Areca Catechu. 

 Bourbon. The genus Latania. 

 Broom. Attalea funifera, and Thryna.x argentea. 

 Cabbage. Oreodoxa ohracea and Chamwrops 



Palmetto. 

 Cabbage. New Zealand. Cordyline Australia. 

 Catechu. Areca Catecku. 

 Cocoa-nut. Cocos nucifera. 

 Cocoa-nut, Double or Sea. Lodoicea SeycheU 



larum. 

 Coquito. Jubc^a apectahilis. 

 Date. Phcenix dactylifera. 

 Doom or Doum. Hyphmne thehaica. 

 Dragon's Blood. Calamus Draco. 

 Fan. A name applied to any Palm which has 



fan-shaped leaves. 

 Fan, European. Cham/erops humillH. 

 Fan, Jamaica. Sabal Blackburnianu. 

 Hemp. Chamcerops excelsa. 

 Ivory-nut. Pkytelephas macrocarpa. 

 Jaggerj'. Caryota urens. 

 New Zealand. Areca Sapida. 

 Norfolk Island. Kentia Baiieri. 

 Oil. ElfEis guineensia, and Coco.h buiyracea. 

 Palmetto. Sabal (Chavicerops) Palmetto. 

 Palmjra. Borasaus flabelliformui. 

 Parlor. Aapidistra lurida. 

 Peach. Gulielma apeciosa. 

 Pissiaba. Atlalea funifera, and Leopoldinia 



Piassaba. 

 Eaffia or Eoffia. Raphia Riiffia, and R. 



tcedigera. 

 Rattan. Calamus rotang, C. rudentum, and 



other species. 

 Sago. Sagus Icevis, S. Rumphii, and Cycas 



circinalis. 

 Talipot. Corypha umhraculifera. 

 Thatch. Sabal Blackburniana. 

 Toddy. Caryota urens. 

 Umbrella. Kentia Canterburyana. 

 Wax. Ceroxylon or Iriartea andicola. 

 Wax of Brazil. Copernicia cerifera. 

 Wine, Brazilian. Mauritia vinifera. 

 Palma'ceae. A large natural order pre-eminent 

 in the whole Avorld of Plants for the grandeur 

 and beauty attained by many of the species. 

 They are arborescent plants, with simple, 

 rarely branched trunks, marked with the 

 scars of the leaves, which are terminal, pin- 

 nate, or fan-shaped, with plicate vernation 

 and parallel simple veins, and often with 

 spiny petioles. Natives of tropical regions 

 chiefly, they impart to them much of their 

 botanical features. The greater part of them 

 have unbranched stems, which sometimes 

 attain a height of a hundred feet, and send 

 out clusters of large leaves, from the axils of 

 which bunches of flowers proceed. Although 

 the flowers are small, the inflorescence, taken 

 collectively, very often has a most imposing 

 aspect. Linneeus called them the Princes of 

 the Vegetable Kingdom, a designation which 



