446 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



TAM 



the French Tamarisk, and T. Germanica, the 

 German Tamarisk. The French Tamarisk is 

 far the handsomest, and will thrive in almost 

 any soil or situation : in bleak exposed places 

 on the seashore, in the poorest sandy soils, 

 it never fails to succeed and to produce its 

 long, terminal, graceful spikes of pinkish 

 flowers. It will do equally well in city yards, 

 that are exposed to sun, soot and smoke. It 

 is. in short, one of our most valuable orna- 

 mental shrubs. The Manna of Mount Sinai 

 is produced by a variety of T. Gallica; it con- 

 sists wholly of pure, mucilaginous sugar. T. 

 Africana is quite commonly grown. The 

 plants are easily increased by cuttings. 



Tampico Fibre. See Leopoldinia. 



Ta'mus. Black Bryony. Ladies' Seal. The old 

 Latin name used by Pliny. The only Euro- 

 pean representative of the Nat. Ord. Bioa- 

 coridacece. There are two well-known spe- 

 cies, T. communis, the Black Bi-yony, a Brit- 

 ish plant, and T. cretica, a native of Greece 

 and the Grecian Archipelago. They are both 

 climbing plants, and have thick tuberous 

 roots, sending up annual stems which grow 

 to a great length. Their flowers are of sepa- 

 rate sexes, borne on different plants, and are 

 produced in the leaf axils, in slender branched 

 racemes. They are increased by divisions of 

 the roots or by seeds. 



Tanace'tum. Tansy. Derivation of name un- 

 known. Said to be altered from Athanasia, 

 immortal; in allusion to the persistent 

 flowers. Nat. Ord. Compositce. 



All the species that compose this genus are 

 hardy, herbaceous plants, or what might prop- 

 erly be called weeds. T. balsamita, a very 

 sweet-smelling, hardy, herbaceous plant, is the 

 Costmary or Alecost of old gardens. T. vul- 

 gare is the common Tansy of the old gardens 

 and roadsides. It was formerly introduced 

 as a garden plant, and took a prominent posi- 

 tion among domestic medicines, but is now 

 pretty generally discarded. It is a native 

 of Europe, has escaped from the gardens, and 

 has long been naturalized in the United 

 States. T. v. crispum is a very elegant, 

 dwarf variety, with smaller, emerald-green 

 leaves, which are very elegantly cut, and have 

 a crisped or frizzled appearance. 



Tanghi'nia. Ordeal Tree. Tang/im is the native 

 name of the plant in Madagascar. Nat. Ord. 

 ApocynacecB. 



T. venenifera, the only species, is a small, 

 glabrous, evergreen tree, with rose-colored 

 flowers in large terminal cymes, each sup- 

 ported by a couple of bracts. The seeds of 

 this plant furnish a powerful poison, and 

 were formerly used as an ordeal by the kings 

 of Madagascar. The seed was pounded, and 

 a small portion given to each person to be 

 tried ; those in whom it caused vomiting, 

 escaped^ but to those whose stomachs re- 

 tained it, it was quickly fatal and their guilt 

 was then held to be proven. 



Tansy. See Tanacetum. 



Tape Grass. See Vallisneria. 



Tapeino tes. A small genus of GesneracecB, for 

 the most part now included in Sinningia and 

 Gloxinia. 



Taper. The opposite of angular; usually em- 

 ployed in contradistinction to that term when 

 speaking of long Isodies. 



TAR 



Tapioca Plant. A common name for Manihot 

 tililiaaima. 



Tap-Root. A root which penetrates deep and 

 perpendicularly into the ground without divid- 

 ing. 



Tara'xacum. Dandelion. Name supposed to 

 be from the Greek taraxo, to disquiet or dis- 

 order ; in allusion to the medicinal eifects of 

 the plant. Nat. Oi'd. Compoaitce. 



The common Dandelion, T. Dena-leonia, is a 

 native of Europe, but has become so thor- 

 oughly naturalized as to be a very troublesome 

 weed. The roots have powerful medicinal 

 properties and are held in high esteem by the 

 Eclectic practitioners. The leaves are used 

 as a pot-herb, for which purpose the plants 

 are grown in frames by the market gardeners 

 of nearly all large cities. It is also used as 

 an early spring "greens, " and is cultivated 

 for this purpose in both private and market 

 gardens. Of late years a great improvement 

 has been made in the size of the leaves of thd 

 cultivated kinds. Propagated by seeds. 



Tare. The common Vetch, Vicia sativa, also 

 Vicia hirsuta and Ervum Ervilia. 



Tares of Scripture. See Lolium temulentum. 



Ta'ro. The native name for Colocasia anti- 

 quorum. This plant forms one of the chief 

 articles of diet in the Pacific Isles, where it 

 is largely cultivated. The tubers are boiled 

 or baked, or made into bread, and the young 

 leaves may be eaten like Spinach ; but like 

 the tubers they require to be well cooked to 

 destroy their poisonous properties and acrid- 

 ity. Several varieties are cultivated, some 

 being better for one mode of cooking, some 

 for another. Dr. Seeraann relates that one 

 kind, called " Kurilagi, " was pointed out to 

 him as having been eaten with nearly a whole 

 tribe of people, in the island of Viti Levu. 

 This tribe having given great offence to the 

 ruling chief of the district, was condemned to 

 die. Every year the inmates of one house 

 were baked and eaten, the empty dwelling 

 burned down, and its foundation planted with 

 "Kurilagi." The next year when thlsTaro 

 was ripe, it was the signal for destroying the 

 next house and its inhabitants, and the plant- 

 ing of a fresh field of Taro. After many 

 years the remaining few were pardoned, ana 

 allowed to die a natural death, and in 1860 

 one old woman was the only survivor of the 

 tribe. (Seemann's " Flora Vitiensis. ") 



Ta'rragon. (Artemisia Dracunculus.) This, like 

 many garden plants that have been under cul- 

 tivation for at least four hundred years, is of 

 unknown origin. Opinions are divided as to 

 whether it is a native of Siberia or the South 

 of Europe. It is a hardy, herbaceous perennial, 

 cultivated for its leaves and young shoots, 

 both of which are used as an ingredient in 

 salads, soups, stews, pickles and various- 

 other compounds. Tarragon vinegar, so 

 much esteemed as a fish-sauce, is made by an 

 infusion of the leaves in common vinegar. It 

 is propagated from seeds, or from pieces of 

 the root, every portion of which, however 

 small, will grow if a single bud is left on. 



Tartareous. Having a rough, crumbling sur» 

 face. 



Tartarian Honeysuckle. See Lonicera. 



Tartarian Lamb. See Cibotium Barometg, 



