KPKXDYMA. 



EPILOUIl'M. 



i- truly natural, although it depends upon the single character of the 

 manual simplicity of the anther* ; a character however which is of 

 the greater value as opposed to the 2-oelled anthers of Ericerr, which 

 are generally divided and furnished with appendage*. The propriety 

 of the measure is moreover confirmed not only by the number of 

 Kfatridttr, Urge as it is, but also by their geographical disposition ; 

 for all, as far as we at present know them, are inhabitants of Australasia 

 r I'olnMsia, countries in which not more than one or two specie* of 

 Jricwr are found." (' Prodr. 1 p. 686.) 



Sprtugflia iitrfti inila. 



1 , a flower with s calyx aa long ai the 5-parted corolla, and nevcral bracU 

 imbricating the baw ; 2, an anther ; 3, the itamena and ovary. 



The species consists of shrubs with alternate or occasionally 

 opposite leaven, which are either articulated with the stem, like 

 those of Sricetf, or broad at the base and half-surrounding the stem in 

 a kind of hood or sheath. Their flowers are usually monopetalous, 

 but as in the order Erieacetr, it is not unfrequent to find them with 

 their corolla divided or divisible into several pieces, and therefore 

 truly polypetalous. The xize and colour of the corolla are often 

 striking, and the species then become exceedingly showy, and are 

 favourites with gardener*. None of them are of any particular use, 

 unless those are considered an exception whose succulent fruit is 

 eatable, like Liuantht tapida and others, which constitute the 

 Australian cranberries. 



I >r. Brown mentions 24 genera and 144 species of this order in his 

 work upon the ' New Holland Flora.' Dr. Lindley, in his ' Vegetable 

 Kingdom,' gives 30 genera and 320 species. 



EPENDYMA. [KmiiELiDii.] 



KPEKVA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Fabacetr. It has four thick and concave sepals connected together 

 into a permanent urccolatc tube at the base, with the sides incumbent, 

 the upper one the broadest. It has but one petal, which ia roundish, 

 fringed, and inserted in the middle of the calyx. There are 10 stamens, 

 which are long thickened filaments, rather villous at the base, and 

 Joined into a short monadelphous ring. The ovary is stipitate. The 

 style long and filiform. The legume compressed, dry, coriaceous, 

 falciform, 2-valved, 1- to 4-*e*ded. When young it is tomentose. 



'train is a tree with abruptly pinnate leaves, bearing 2 or 8 

 pairs of ovate acuminated shining leaflets. The panicle is pendulous 

 on a long peduncle, constantly composed of numerous distant raceme*. 

 It in the Wallaba-Troe of Guyana according to Sir Robert Schomburgk, 

 who inform* u that its wood is deep red, frequently variegated with 

 whitish streaks, bard, heavy, and shining, and impregnated with an 

 oily resin which renders it very durable. The bark is bitter, and is 

 used by the Arawaak Indians as an emetic. 



1 1 .iii'.II. y. YryrtaUr Kingdom ; Don, JHMnmydeoiu Planlt.) 



BPBKDBA (the Greek name of the Efittim, which this genus 

 closely resemble*), a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 linrtacttr. The species are dioecious ; the male flowers are arranged in 

 the form of a catkin, having a bifid calyx, and 7 stamens, 4 of the 

 anthers of which are inferior, 2 superior ; the female flowers have a 

 >|iiintnple calyx 2-parted, 2 ovaries, and 2 needs covered over by the 

 l--rri.fl calyx. The species are not nnnmoim, and are found in 

 K'ir.i', Ania, Africa, and America. The branches and flowers of the 

 Aitic specie* of this genus were formerly kept in the shop* an 

 typtica, Th* fruit is mucilaginous, eatable, subacid, and slightly 

 pungent. 



Uttaeifsj has the sheaths of the joints 2-toothe.l, blunt, the 

 catkin- 2, nj.rxMtt.-, stalked, the peduncles shorter than the catkin'.. 

 It is a native f Krano* and name parts of Germany, and abounds in 



the southern parts of Europe, and thence eastward to Persia and 

 India. The berries, which consist of the fleshy calyx covering 

 the ovarium, ripen in July and August. They have a sweetish taste, 

 and contain a mucilaginous juice. 



E. monottachya has the sheaths of the joints the same as the last, 

 but the catkins either solitary or opposite, and the peduncles longer 

 than the catkins. This plant is found in Hungary and Siberia, and in 

 these countries the fruit is eaten as a great luxury. 



E. iiltiuima has clustered catkins and spreading branches, and is a 

 native of Rarbary. 



There is an American species found on the borders of Lake 

 Michigan in the country of the Chippeway Indians. It bears a large 

 fruit. 



(Burnett, Outline! of Botany ; Loudon, Eneycloptedia of Plant*.) 



I'.l'HK MKKA (f^jtupo, living for a day), a genus of Neuropterous 

 Insects belonging to the family of Subulicornet of Latreille. They 

 have long soft tapering bodies, terminating in two or three long 

 sete. Their wings are placed nearly or quite perpendicularly. Their 

 antenna; are very small, and 3-pointed. In the larva state they live in 

 wet places or under water, and enjoy an existence of two or three 

 years ; but when they attain their final stage of metamorphosis and 

 perfect form, they are among the most fleeting of living creatures, 

 existing often only a few hours, and propagating their species before 

 they die. In this state they ttometimes appear suddenly in myriads, 

 during fine summer evenings, by the water-side, where they may be 

 seen flitting about and balancing themselves in the air, in the manner 

 of gad-flies. (Weatwood, Introduction to Entomology.) 



EPHIALTUS. [MAIAD.E.] 



EPHIPPUS. [CHarODOH.J 



EPHYRA. [ACALBPHJE.] 



KPIDENDRUM, an old name for all the Orchidaceous Plants which 

 uro w upon the branches of trees, and which are now called Epiphytes. 

 ( Krii'HYTES.] In its modern sense it is restricted to a considerable 

 genua of the order with the labellum united to the column, anrl four 

 pollen-massea adhering to aa many little straps bent back upon thorn. 

 Some of them are showy and interesting, particularly E. Minntri, 

 E. oncidioidet, E. cochlcatum, S. aromalicum, E. bijidum, and E. anro- 

 jmrpurrum ; but many are inconspicuous, and of no importance 

 except to botanists. According to Sir R. Schomburgk the expressed 

 juice of E. bitittum is a purgative, taken in doses of a table-spoonful 

 ;it a time ; it is also reckoned in Tortola an anthvlmintic anil diuretic. 



EPIDKKMIS (in Animals). [SKIN.] 



EPIDERMIS (in Plants). [BARK ; TISSCES, VEGETABLE.] 



EPIDOTE, a Mineral consisting of silica, alumina, lime, iron, and 

 manganese. It crystallises in right rhomboidal prisms, morj or leas 

 modified, often with six or more sides. It ia of a yellowish-green 

 colour, with ash- and hair-brown. It is translucent to opaque. 

 Lustre vitreous, a little pearly ; often brilliant on the faces of the 

 crystals. 



There are three prominent varieties of this species : one of a 

 yellowish-green colour ; another called Zoitilc, of a grayish-brown or 

 hair-brown ; and a third of dark reddish shades, which contains 14 

 per cent, of oxide of manganese, and is called Manganae Epidote, 

 Another variety of a red colour ia called T/iulUc. The yellowish- 

 green variety ia often called Putaeite, Bttctlandite is an iron Epidote. 

 The green Epidote has a composition as follows : 



Silica . 



Alumina . . . 



I. line .... 



Protoxide of Iron 



Protoxide of Manganese 



Water 



37-0 



26-8 



lion 



13-0 







1-8 



-99-0 



Epidote occurs in crystalline rocks, and also in some sedimentary 

 rocks that have been heated by the passage of dykes of trap or 

 basalt. It has been found principally in the United States of 

 America. 



(Dana, Mineralogy.) 



EPILOBIUM, an extensive genus of Plants belonging to the 

 natural order Onayracen. It is composed of herbs with opposit.- m- 

 alternate leaves ; axillary or solitary flowers,- or disposed in terminal 

 spikes, each flower furnished with a bractea ; the corollas purple, rose- 

 coloured, or flesh-coloured. The calyx has four nopals connected in a 

 long tube ; the petals 4 ; stamens 8 ; the capsule linear, bluntly 

 tetragonal, 4-celled, 4-valved, many-seeded, and inseparable from the 

 calyx ; the seeds pendulous and covered with pappus. About 45 

 species of this genus have been described : they are natives of the 

 cooler parts and mountainous districts of Europe, Asia, and America. 



E. angtutifulivm, Narrow-Leaved Willow-Herb, or French Willow, 

 has a creeping root ; erect nearly simple stem ; sub-sessile lanceolate 

 uniltilatrd glabrous leaven, with pellucid veins ; the flowers bracteated 

 in npimte racemes ; the style rcflexcd, pilose at the base, and shorter 

 than the stamens. It in found in mountains, woods, and meadows, in 

 Europe and Siberia. In (Ircat Britain it in found in moist shaily 

 places in the north of England atnl in the south of Scotland. It ban 

 crimson inodorous flowers, with blue pollen. It is a very ornamental 

 plant, and is often introduced into gardens; but it requires great 



