AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE 



451 



THA 



of Alg(B and Fungi, of which latter the Lichens 

 are a sub-division. 

 Tha'iius. A fusion of root, stem and leaves 

 into one general mass; the cellular mass of 

 which the lower cryptogamous plants are en- 

 tirely composed. 



Thamiio'pteris. Derivation of name not given. 



Nat. Ord. Polypodiacece. 



A small genus of bold, evergreen Ferns, 

 with simple fronds, having the general appear- 

 ance of Asplenium. The typical species is 

 often called Bird's-nest Fern, and has been 

 severally classed as Asplenium nidus and 

 Neoltopteris vulgaris. The species are indige- 

 nous to the East Indies, the Pacific Islands 

 and to Australia. 



Tha'psia. So called from the Island of Thapsos. 

 Nat. Ord. Umbelliferce. 



A small genus of perennial herbs, natives of 

 the Mediterranean region and Madeira. The 

 only species of interest is T. garganica, the 

 Drias-plant, celebrated among the Moors for 

 its healing qualities. The roots of T. edulia 

 are eaten in Madeira, byn. Monizia. 



Thatch Palms. A native name for various spe- 

 cies of Sabal, Euterpe, Thrinax, etc. 



Thea. Tea. From Tcha, the Chinese name for 

 Tea. Nat. Ord. Ternsiromiacem. 



Thea and Camellia belong to the same natu- 

 ral order, and there is so little difference 

 between the two, botanically, that they were 

 formerly classed as one. Besides the well- 

 known Tea plant, there are but five species, 

 all natives of India, China and Japan. They 

 are all evergreens, either shrubs or small 

 trees, with thicii, shining leaves and white or 

 rose-colored flowers. We are indebted to the 

 "Treasury of Botany" for the following con- 

 cise history of this plant : "The native coun- 

 try of the Tea plant, like that of many others 

 which have long been cultivated by man, is 

 uncertain. Hitherto the only country in 

 which it has been found in a really wild state 

 is Upper Assam ; but China, where it has for 

 so many centuries been most extensively cul- 

 tivated, has not yet received so thorough an 

 exploration by .botanical travelers as to war- 

 rant the assertion that it is not indigenous to 

 any part of that vast empire. A Japanese 

 tradition, however, which ascribes its intro- 

 duction into China to an Indian Buddhist 

 priest, who visited that country in the sixth 

 century, favors the supposition of its Indian 

 origin. It was at one time commonly sup- 

 posed that the two well-marked sorts of Tea, 

 Black and Green, were the produce of distinct 

 species; but Mr. Fortune has proved that the 

 Chinese manufacture the different kinds indis- 

 criminately from the same plant; and botan- 

 ists are now pretty generally agreed that the 

 two ."supposed Chinese species, called T. Bohea 

 and T. viridis. are nothing more than varieties 

 of one and the same species, for which the 

 Linneean name, T. Chinensis, is adopted, and 

 of which the Assam Tea plant (sometimes 

 called T. Assamica) is merely a third variety, 

 oi perhaps, indeed, the wild type. Botanists 

 have again relegated them to Camellia, under 

 the name of C. theifera. Though the produce 

 of the same variety of the Tea plant, the 

 Black and Green Teas prepared for exporta- 

 tion are mainly the growth of different dis- 

 tricts of China, the Black Tea district being 

 situated in the provinces of Fokien and 



THE 



Kiangsi, and the Green in Chekiang and Ngan- 

 whi; but the two kinds may be produced in 

 either district, the difference being caused 

 solely by the diverse methods of preparation. 

 For the manufacture of Black Tea, the freshly- 

 gathered leaves, freed from extraneous moist- 

 ure by a short exposure in the open air, are 

 thrown, in small quantities at a time, into 

 round, flat iron pans, and exposed to gentle 

 fire-heat for about five minutes, which ren- 

 ders them soft and pliant, and causes them 

 to give off a large quantity of moisture. After 

 this they are emptied out into bamboo sieves, 

 and while still hot, repeatedly squeezed and 

 rolled in the hands to give them their twist 

 or curl. They are next shaken out into large 

 screens and placed in the open air in the shade 

 for two or three days ; and finally exposed in 

 iron pans to a slow and steady fire-heat until 

 completely dried, care being taken to keep 

 them in constant motion to prevent burning. 

 The chief difference in the manufacture of 

 genuine Green Tea consists in the leaves 

 being so long exposed to the air after rolling 

 that fermentation does not take place, and in 

 not being subjected to such a high tempera- 

 ture in the final drying ; but the greater part, 

 if not the whole, of the Green Tea consumed 

 in Europe and America is colored artificially 

 by the Chinese to suit foreign trade. The 

 Chinese distinguish a great number of varie- 

 ties of Tea, some of which sell for $12.50 per 

 pound ; but these fine kinds will not bear a 

 soa voyage, and are used only by the wealth- 

 ier classes in China and Russia, to which 

 country they are carried overland. In ordi- 

 nary commerce four kinds of Black and six of 

 Gteen Tea are recognized; but the difference 

 between them consists chiefly in size, the sev- 

 eral kinds being obtained by sifting. " The 

 Agricultural Department at Washington has 

 distributed hundreds of thousands of Tea 

 plants in different sections of the Southern 

 States and experiments at this date of writing 

 aire still under way, with little hope of its 

 introduction being of any advantage to the 

 economic industry of the country. 

 Tlheca. A spore case ; a sac, tube, shell, or any- 

 kind of case containing spores. 

 Theobro'ma. Chocolate Tree. Linnasus named 

 this tree from Theos, a god, and broma, food ; 

 poetically, food for the gods. Chocolate is the 

 Mexican name of the beverage made from the 

 pounded seeds. Nat. Ord. Sterculiacece. 



T. Cacao, the important species of this genus, 

 is a native of the West Indies and Central 

 and South America. It is a beautiful tree, 

 growing from twelve to sixteen feet high ; the 

 leaves are lanceolate, oblong, bright green ; 

 the flowers are small, reddish and quite in- 

 odorous. Tlie fruit is smooth, of a yellow or 

 red tinge, from six to ten inches in length, 

 and about three inches in diameter; the rind 

 is fleshy, about half- an int-h in thickness; 

 within the fiesh is a white substance of the 

 consistence of butter, separating from the 

 rind when ripe, and adhering only to it by fila- 

 ments, which penetrate it ana reach to the 

 seeds. Hence it is known when the seeds are 

 ripe by the rattling of the capsule when shaken. 

 The pulp has a sweet and not unpleasant taste, 

 with a slight acidity. It is sucked and eaten 

 raw by the natives. The seeds are about 

 seventy-five in number. When fresh they are 

 of a flesh-color ; gathered before being quite 



