ACT 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



A D E 



59 



42. Acrostichum Serrulatum. Fronds linear, toothed, 

 fruit-bearing at the tip; shoots very short, rooting. 



43. Acrostichum Graminoides. Fronds naked, linear, sub- 

 dichotomous, and fruit-bearing at the tip. 



44. Acrostichum Sulphureum. Pinnas alternate-ovate, 

 pinnatifid ; leaflets retuse, serrate. This and the two fore- 

 going, are natives of Jamaica. 



Aetna, a genus of the class Polyandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth four-leaved, leaf- 

 lets roundish, obtuse, concave, caducous. Corolla: petals 

 four, acuminate to both ends, larger than the calix, cadu- 

 cous. Stamina : filamenta usually about thirty, capillary, 

 broader at top ; anthene roundish, twin, erect. Pixtilla : 

 germen superior, ovate; style none ; stigma thickish, obliquely 

 depressed. Pericarp: a berry, oval-globose, smooth, one- 

 furrowed, one-celled. Seeds: very many, semi-orbicular, 

 lying over each other in two rows. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix: four-leaved. Corolla : four-petalled. Berry : one-celled. 

 /Seeds . semi-orbicular in two rows. These plants may be pro- 

 pagated by seeds, which should be sown on a shady border 

 soon after they are ripe, where they can be obtained fresh ; 

 for if they are kept out of the ground till spring, the plants 

 will not appear till the year after. As they seldom come all 

 up at the same time, the border should not be disturbed till 

 the following autumn, when they should be transplanted to 



another shady border, where they may remain to flower. 



The species are, 



1. Actaea Spicata ; Common Black-berried Herb Christopher, 

 or Bane berry. Raceme ovate ; fruits berried. This species 

 grows naturally in several places in the north of England. 

 It grows two feet and a half high. The footstalks of the 

 leaves arise from the root ; these divide into three smaller 

 footstalks, and are so divided again that each leaf is com- 

 posed of twenty-seven lobes, or small leaves. The flower- 

 stem which arises from the root, has leaves of the same form, 

 but smaller. The flowers grow in ramose spikes, and are 

 of a pure white. It flowers in June, and in autumn ripens 

 its fruits, which are black and shining, about the size of 

 pease, and very poisonous. Indeed the whole plant is of an 

 acrid and poisonous nature, and therefore, though a power- 

 ful repellent, and having a root useful in some nervous cases, 

 must be administered with caution. The juice of the ber- 

 ries, mixed with alum, yields a black dye. Toads seem to 

 be allured by the smell of this plant ; but Dr. Withering 

 observes, that this may be owing to its fondness for the 

 same damp shady situations as the toad. There are two 

 varieties of this species, one an American plant with white 

 berries ; the other of British origin, and being only dis- 

 tinguished from the rest of the same species by its berries 

 being red instead of black. 



2. Actsea Racemosa ; American Black or Wild Snake-root. 

 Racemes very long ; fruits dry. The root of this plant is 

 much used in America in many disorders, and is supposed 

 to be an antidote against poison, and the bite of the rattle- 

 snake. It is a native of North America, where it is called 

 Black Snake-root, to distinguish it from Common Snake- root. 

 The Seeds are annually sent to Europe, and should be sown 

 as soon as the season will permit. It flowers in June, or early 

 in July, but does not perfect seed in England. During the 

 flowering time it makes a good appearance ; and therefore 

 deserves a place in shady borders, or among shrubs, where if 

 it be not overhung by them, it thrives well, and, being hardy, 

 will only require the same care as the shrubs themselves. ' 



3. Actsea Japonica; Japanese Herb Christopher. Spikes 

 very long ; leaflets gashed, palmate, undivided. 



4. Actaea Asperaj Rough-leaved Herb Christopher. Stem 



climbing ; leaves lanceolate, rough ; spikes interrupted. This 

 species is a native of Canton, near China; and its leaves 

 being extremely rough, the Chinese use them for polishing., 

 particularly tin-ware. 



Adam's Needle. See Yucca. 



Adansonia; a genus of the class Monadelphia, order Poly- 

 andria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 semiquinquelid, cyathiform ; divisions revolute, deciduous. 

 Corolla: petals rive, roundish, nerved, revolute, connected 

 by the claws with each other and the stamina. Stamina: 

 filamenta united at bottom into a tube, which they crown, 

 expanding horizontally ; antherre kidney-shaped. Pistilla: 

 germen ovate; style very long, tubulous, variously intorted ; 

 stigmas many, (ten,) prismatic, villous, radiate-expanded. 

 Pericarp: capsule ovate, woody, not gaping, ten-celled, with 

 farinaceous pulp, the partitions membranaceous. Seeds : 

 numerous, kidney-shaped, rather bony, involved in a friable 

 pulp. Observe. This genus is very nearly allied to Bombax ; 

 the fructification differing only in the seeds being covered 

 with meal instead of wool or cotton. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix: simple, deciduous. Style: very long. Stigmas: 

 many. Capsule: woody, ten-celled, with farinaceous pulp, 

 and many seeds. The only species is, 



1. Adansonia Digitata; Ethiopian Sour Gourd, or Monkies 

 Bread. This tree was found in Africa of the amazing size of 

 from sixty-five to seventy-eight feet in circumference, but 

 their usual height was not extraordinary, only from twelve 

 to fifteen feet. The fresh fruit is very pleasant, of an acid 

 flavour, and is eaten with sugar. The pulp or juice mixed 

 with sugar, or a syrup made of it, is used in putrid and pes- 

 tilential fevers. At Cairo they reduce this pulp to a powder, 

 and use it in the lientery, dysentery, and all sorts of fluxes. 

 It is propagated by seeds, which it does not produce in 

 Europe. They must be sown in pots, and plunged into a 

 hot-bed, where they will appear in about six weeks '; and 

 soon after be fit to transplant, which should be done, and 

 each removed into a separate pot filled with light sandy 

 earth, and put into a fresh hot-bed, observing to shade them 

 until they have taken root, after which they should have 

 free air every day in warm weather They reach to the 

 height of six feet, and some have even attained to twelve and 

 fifteen feet ; but they cannot with us endure the open air. 

 - Adder 's Tongue. See Ophioglossum. 



Adelia ; a genus of the class Dioecia, order Monadelphia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male. Calix: perianth one-leafed, 

 three-parted; leaflets oblong, curved back. Corolla: none. 

 Stamina: filamenta many, capillary, $ie length of the ca- 

 lix, united into a cylinder at the base ; antherse roundish. 

 Female. Calix: perianth five-parted; parts oblong, per- 

 manent. Corolla: none. Pistil: germen roundish; styles 

 three, very short, divaricate ; stigmas tqrn. Pericarp : cap- 

 sule tricoccous, roundish, three-celled. Seeds: solitary, 

 roundish. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. Calix : three- 

 parted. Corolla: none. Stamina: many, united at the base. 

 Female. Calix: five-parted. Corolla: none. Styles: three, 

 torn. Capsule: tricocous. These plants are propagated by 

 seeds, which they do not produce of good quality in England: 

 they must be sown upon a hot-bed in the spring. As the 

 flowers are of little beauty, the plants are seldom found ex- 

 cept in botanic gardens. The species are, 



1. Adelia Bernardia; J-'illous-leaved Bernardia. Leaves 

 oblong, tomentose, serrate. It grows naturally in the island 

 of Jamaica, and is near of kin to the Croton. 



2. Adelia Ricinella ; Smooth-leaved Bernardia. Leaves 

 obovate, quite entire. It grows to the height of eight or ten 

 feet, and has slender flower-stalks, Native of Jamaica. 



