Plantagenet badge, 

 a sprig of broom 



PLANTAGENET 



upon a Physiological Basis, A. F. 

 W. Schimper, Eng. trans. W. R. 

 Fisher, 1903 ; The Romance of 

 Plant Life, G. F. S. Elliot, 1907 ; 

 Oecology of Plants, E. Warming 

 and M. Vahl, 1909; Links with 

 the Past in the Plant World, A. C. 

 Seward, 1911. Edward step 



Plantagenet. Name commonly 

 given to the family to which the 

 English kings from Henry II to 

 Richard II be- 

 longed, More 

 correctly they 

 are styled An- 

 g e v i n s, from 

 Anjou, of which 

 Geoffrey, father 

 of Henry II, was 

 count. Plan- 

 tagenet was a 

 nickname be- 

 stowed on Geoff- 

 rey because he 

 wore a sprig of broom plant (Lat. 

 planta genista) in his cap, and was 

 not used as a surname for his de- 

 scendants until later, being adopted 

 as such first, perhaps, by Richard 

 duke of York, father of Edward IV. 

 After the death of Richard II, in 

 1399. the throne passed to the 

 house of Lancaster, and then to 

 that of York, both of these being 

 branches of the Plantagenet family. 

 In the male line the family became 

 extinct when Edward, earl of 

 Warwick, a nephew of Edward IV, 

 was put to death in 1499. The 

 name Plantagenet was borne after- 

 wards as a surname by one or two ' 

 illegitimate descendants of the 

 kings. Through females all the 

 sovereigns of Great Britain since 

 Henry VIII are descended from 

 the Plantagenets. See Angevins ; 

 Anjou ; Henry II. 



Plant agina- ^^^^ HH! ^ nHHH 

 ceae. Natural 

 order of annual 

 and perennial 

 herbs, natives 

 of all temperate 

 regions. As a 

 rule the leaves 

 all spring 

 directly from 

 the rootstock. 

 The flowers are 

 small, green, 

 and incon- 

 spicuous, in 

 spikes, and the 

 fruits are small 

 capsules. 



Plantain 

 ( Plantago ) 

 Genus of herbs 

 of the natural 

 order Plantagi 

 naceae, natives 

 of all temperate 



region* Thpv 

 >ns. iney 



ha ve in con- 



6187 



spicuous green flowers, fertilised by 

 the wind as pollen carrier. The 

 Greater Plantain (P. major), known 

 also as waybread, produces long 

 spikes of fruit, used for feeding 

 cage- birds. In almost every place 

 where Europeans have been this 

 plant is found as an introduced 

 weed, and the coloured races know 

 it as the white-man's foot. P. media, 

 lamb's tongue, or hoary plantain, 

 is a nuisance on lawns, where its 

 rosette of broad leaves lies so close 

 to the ground that it kills out the 

 grass. See Banana ; Inflorescence. 



Plantain Eaters (Musophag- 

 idae). Family of birds peculiar to 

 the continental portion of the 

 Ethiopian region. They consist of 

 six genera and about 25 species. 

 They vary in size, ranging from 15 

 to 30 ins. in length. They have 

 large eyes, long necks, and the 

 red, yellow, or black bill is usually 

 stout and broad. The black feet are 

 strongly clawed, and the outer toe 

 is reversible. Most species have 

 erectile crests on the head, and the 

 plumage is metallic blue and green, 

 orgrey-brown, varied with crimson. 

 The red feathers yield a pigment 

 (turacin). Usually found in pairs 

 or small flocks in wooded country 

 near water, their food consists of 

 bananas, tamarinds, papaw, and 

 other fruits, varied by insects, 

 worms, molluscs, and small birds. 

 Their notes are a scream or a cat- 

 like mew. They run swiftly, but 

 are caught and eaten by the natives. 

 Turaco corythaix, of S. Africa, is 

 known locally as the lory. 



Plantain Lily (Funkia,). Genus 

 of perennial herbs of the natural 

 order Liliaceae. They are natives 

 of Japan. The perennial organs 

 are a bunch of tubers. The leaves, 

 which spring direct from the crown, 

 are large, oval or heart shaped. 

 The flowering stems rise above 

 the leaves and bear a number 

 of tubular flowers of white or 

 lilac tint, each with a narrow leaf- 

 like bract beneath its stalk. 

 Several species are in general culti- 

 vation as bedding or border plants. 



Plantation. Term applied to a 

 newly planted copse or wood, 

 established " either by planting 

 nursery-raised seedling trees, or by 

 the sowing of seed. Plantations 

 in Britain are usually made up 

 with mixed trees, the quicker grow- 

 ing conifers being employed to 

 shelter the others from wind and 

 weather. In the course of years, 

 when the conifers, etc., have been 

 cleared away and used for fuel, or 

 commercial purposes, the slower 

 growing trees become technically a 

 wood: In making a plantation of 

 conifers, it is usual to sow gorse or 

 furze seed to act as protection 

 against weather. The word planta 



PLANTIN 



tion is usually applied to estates 

 devoted to the cultivation of crops 

 which need constant renewal, as 

 rubber, sugar, rice, tobacco, and 

 cotton. Such were the plantations 

 in America and the W. Indies, to 

 which convicts and slaveswere sent. 

 By analogy the word is applied to 

 the settlement of men and women 

 in a new country, and so we speak 

 of the plantation of whites. See 

 Colonisation ; Slavery. 



Planthouse. Technical name 

 applied to the whole of the glass 

 structures used in the garden for 

 the purpose of cultivation of plants 

 from warm climates. It thus 

 embraces conservatories, forcing 



Plantain Lily. Flowers and leaves 

 of the Japanese plant 



houses, orchid houses, hothouses, 

 heated greenhouses, cool green- 

 houses, frames, and every other 

 form of glass-roofed erection which 

 affords protection to plant life from 

 the weather, with the single ex- 

 ception of orchard houses (q.v.), 

 devoted to the cultivation of fruit 

 only. Modern usage, however, has 

 limited the term planthouse to the 

 long, low, span-roof houses with 

 brick sides and solid foundations, 

 which are used for forcing plants 

 for market. See Greenhouse. 



Plantin, CHRISTOPHE (1514-89). 

 French printer. Born at St. 

 Avertin, near Tours, he settled at 

 Antwerp i n 

 1549, as a 

 book binder, 

 took up print- 

 ing in 1555, 

 and founded a 

 business which 

 won for him 

 a European re- 

 putation. The 

 most notable 

 example of his 

 work is the Polyglot Bible, ot 

 1569-72. In 1570 Philip II granted 

 him a special privilege as printer 

 of liturgical books, in addition to 

 which he issued some fine editions 

 of the classics. He opened branch 

 offices in Leiden and Paris. After 

 his death the business was carried 



Christophe Plantin, 

 French printer 



