A L S 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



A L S 



81 



it by the great length and slenderness of its spikes, tapering 

 to a point, and usually of a purple colour. The stalk is a 

 foot or eighteen inches high, and it has obtained the name of 

 Mouse-tail in English from the great length and slenderness 

 of the spike, resembling the tail of the mouse. It is every 

 way inferior to Fox-tail Grass, and therefore not worth cul- 

 tivation. It flowers early, continues flowering till autumn, 

 and comes very quickly into bloom after it is sown. 



5. Alopecurus Geniculatus ; Flote Fox-tail Grass. Culm 

 spiked, infracted ; corollas awnless ; (awns concealed within 

 the calix.) Stalk from twelve to eighteen inches high ; root 

 perennial. It is called Black Grass in some places, from the 

 deep purple colour of the spikes ; cattle eat it readily, but it 

 is not a profitable grass. It flowers in June. 



6. Alopecurus Hordeiformis ; Barley-like Fox-tail Grass. 

 Raceme simple ; flowers intrenched with awns. This is an 

 Indian grass, about a foot high, with the pistil longer than 

 the flower ; and it has the appearance of Barley-grass. 



7. Alopecurus Monspeliensis ; Bearded Fox-tail Grass. Pa- 

 nicle subspiked ; calices nigged; corollas awned. This is 

 an annual, which grows wild in marshes and wet pastures, 

 and flowers in June and July. 



8. Alopecurus Paniceus ; Hairy Fox-tail Grass. Panicle 

 subspiked ; glumes villous ; corollas awned. This plant only 

 reaches to five or six inches high ; it grows on dry soils, and 

 is annual, flowering in July. 



Alpinia; a genus of the class Monandria, order Mono- 

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

 tubulose, three-toothed ; leaflets equal, erect, acute. Co- 

 rolla: monopetalous, tubulose; tube cylindraceous, short; 

 border three-parted ; parts nearly equal, oblong. Nec- 

 tary connate with the tube of the corolla, two-parted ; the 

 lower part forming the lower lip is larger and longer than 

 the parts of the corolla, broadish, spreading, often divided. 

 Stamina : filament proper, none ; but along the upper divi- 

 sion of the nectary, forming the upper lip, which is Saltish, 

 and the length of the corolla, grows a large anthera ; either 

 deeply bifid or entire. Pistil : germ inferior, oblong, style 

 filiform, often inserted into the fissure of the anthera, stig- 

 ma incrassate, obtuse. Pericarp : capsule oval, three-celled 

 three-valved, crownedwiththepermanent calix. Seeds: some 

 ovate, angular, covered with a sort of berried aril. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Calix: three-toothed, equal, tubulose. 

 Corolla: three-parted, equal. Nectary: two-lipped, the 

 lower lip spreading. The species are, 



1. Alpinia Racemosa. Raceme terminating, spiked ; flow- 

 ers alternate; lip of the nectary trifid ; leaves oblong, acumi- 

 nate. Root fleshy, branched, and having the taste and smell 

 of ginger ; the stem from two to five feet high. It is a na- 

 tive of the West Indies ; and must be preserved in a stove, 

 with the pot plunged into a tub of water. When the leaves 

 decay, which is every winter, it may be propagated by part- 

 ing the roots. 



2. Alpinia Occidental. Raceme radical, compound, 

 erect ; nectary emarginate ; capsules three-celled ; leaves 

 lanceolate-ovate, very smooth. It is a native of Jamaica 

 and St. Domingo. 



Altine; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Trigynia. 

 -GBNBRIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth five-leaved ; leaf- 



s concave, oblong, acuminate. Corolla: of five equal 



petals longer than the calix. Stamina: filaments capillary; 



itherae roundish. Pistil: germ subovate ; styles filiform; 



stigmas obtuse. Pericarp: an ovate, one-celled, three- valved; 



capsule, covered with the calix. Seeds : many, roundish. Es- 



STIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-leaved. Petals: five, equal. 

 Capsuk : one-celled, three-valved. The species are, 



VOL. i. 7 



1 . Alsine Media ; Common duckweed. Petals bipartite : 

 leaves ovate-cordate. This plant is very generally known ; 

 it assumes a diversity of appearances, according to the soil 

 in which it grows. It is commonly given as food to chickens 

 and small birds, and when boiled it exactly resembles spinach : 

 swine, and also many insects, are very fond of it. As a me- 

 dicine, it contains no active principle, but is frequently applied 

 to swellings, either alone or in poultices. The whole plant, or 

 the juice of it, boiled in a sufficient quantity of hog's lard, 

 makes an excellent cooling ointment. Taken inwardly, it is 

 said this plant is good against the scurvy, and promotes the 

 urinary evacuation. A poultice made of the bruised herb is 

 recommended to remove inflammations arising from blows. 

 Chickweed flowers upright, and open from nine to noon ; but 

 if it rains, the flowers do not open ; after rain they become 

 pendant, but in a few days rise again. Chickweed is also a 

 remarkable instance of the sleep of plants : at night the leaves 

 approach in pairs, so as to enclose between their upper sur- 

 faces the tender buds ; and the two upper leaves but one, at 

 the end of the stalk, are furnished with longer petioles than 

 the others, so that they can close upon the terminating pair, 

 and protect the end of the branch. It is found wild in most 

 parts of the world. 



2. Alsine Segetalis. Petals entire ; leaves awl-shaped. 

 It is an annual, and grows in France about Paris, and in 

 Piedmont. 



3. Alsine Mucronata. Petals entire, short ; leaves setace- 

 ous ; calices awned ; stems erect, a foot high, many toge- 

 ther, branching, a little hairy. Petals ovate, white. It is a 

 native of France and Switzerland. 



Aistonia; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth inferior, im- 

 bricate; scales ovate, very obtuse, concave ; the inner ones 

 gradually larger, forming as it were a quadripartite or 

 quinquepartite calix. Corolla : one-petalled, shorter than 

 the calix ; tube short ; border spreading, divided into eight 

 or ten parts ; divisions equal, in a double row, alternately 

 interior and exterior; obovate, obtuse, quite entire. Stamina: 

 filaments very many, inserted into the tube very short, imbri- 

 cate, very smoth ; the outer ones longer, linear, attenuated 

 at the tip; antherse orbiculate, furrowed. Pistil: germ 

 superior, ovate, small; style simple, length of the corolla, 

 filiform, erect ; stigma capitate-obovate. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Corolla: one-petalled, eight or ten cleft; clefts 

 alternated. There is only one species, viz. 



I. Alstonia Theseformis. This shrub was found by Mutis 

 in South America. It is very smooth, and resembles Bohea 

 tea ; its dried leaves also give a greenish colour to the saliva 

 when chewed, and have the same taste as the Chinese tea. 

 The flowers are axillary, three or four together, and sessile ; 

 the caiix is very smooth, the scales rounded and green, with 

 a membranaceous edge; the corollas white and spreading. 



Alstroemeria ; a genus of the class Hexandria, order 

 Monogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: none. Corolla: 

 six-petalled, sub-bilabiate ; the three outer petals wedge- 

 shaped, .retuse, rnucronate ; the inner, which are alter- 

 nate with the others, lanceolate ; the two lower ones, tubu- 

 lous at the base. Stamina : filaments awl-shaped, bending 

 down, unequal ; antherse oblong. Pistil: germ inferior, 

 hexangular, truncate ; style bending down, filiform, the length 

 of the stamina ; stigmas three, oblong, bifid. Pericarp : a 

 roundish six-ribbed mucronate capsule, three-celled, three- 

 valved, valves concave, contrary to the dissepiment. Seeds : 

 very many, globose, covered with raised points, subumbili- 

 cate at the tip. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: of six 

 petals, sub-bilabiate ; the two lower petals tubulose at the 



