ANT 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



ANT 



103 





ovate, acute, pubescent, beneath ; flowers three-petalled ; 

 petals lanceolate, coriaceous, tomentose. A very large tree 

 in South America, producing a fruit highly esteemed by the 

 Peruvians for its delicacy : it is oblong, scaly on the out- 

 side, and of a dark purple colour when ripe ; the flesh is 

 soft and sweet, and has many brown, shining seeds inter- 

 mixed with it. 



3. Annona Squamosa ; Undulated Custard Apple, or Sweet 

 Sop. Leaves oblong, acute, smooth ; fruits obtusely scaled ; 

 outer petals lanceolate, inner ones minute. A small tree, 

 of eight feet high ; flowers green without and whitish 

 within. A native of both Indies ; where the fruit, which 

 is sweet, is eaten. 



4. Annona Reticulata; Netted Custard Apple. Leaves 

 oblong-lanceolate, acute, smooth ; fruits ovate, reticulate- 

 areolate ; outer petals lanceolate, inner minute. This species 

 attains to the height of twenty-five feet or more, with 

 spreading branches. Native of both Indies : some say the 

 fruit is much esteemed, and others that it is seldom eaten. 



5. Annona Hexapetala ; Long-leaved Custard Apple. 

 Leaves eliptic-oblong, acute, smooth ; petals spatulate, 

 equal, acute. Native of China, and cultivated in the East 

 Indies. 



6. Annona Palustris; Shining-leaved Custard Apple. Leaves 

 oblong, rather obtuse, smooth ; fruits areolate. This tree 

 seldom exceeds six feet high ; grows wild in soft marshy 

 places of Jamaica. Its wood is so very soft, even after it is 

 dried, that it is frequently used instead of corks, and is 

 hence universally called Corkwood by the natives ; who also 

 call the fruit the Alligator Apple, which, though sweet- 

 scented and of no ill flavour, is not eaten, because it is said 

 to be a strong narcotic. 



7. Annona Triloba; Triftd-fruited Custard Apple. Leaves 

 eliptic, acute, smooth ; flowers pendulous, campanulate ; 

 calices ovate ; petals many, oval. The fruit grows in clusters 

 of three or four together ; they are at first, green, and 

 when ripe yellow, with a pulp of a sweet luscious taste. Every 

 part of this tree has a rank, if not a fetid smell ; and the 

 fruit is relished by few except negroes. It grows in a fat 

 soil, and low shady swamps. It is a native of the Bahama 



slands, also of Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia ; and the 

 seeds are frequently brought to England by the title of 

 Papaw Tree. It will thrive in warm situations in the air of 

 this country. 



8. Annona Glabra ; Smooth Custard Apple. Leaves lan- 

 ceolate-ovate ; fruits conoid, smooth. This tree attains the 

 height of sixteen feet, and bears an insipid, sweet, eatable 

 fruit, which is the food of guanas and other creatures. 

 Native of North America. 



9. Annona Asiatica ; Asiatic Custard Apple. Leaves lan- 

 ceolate, smooth, shining, marked with lines. Native of the 

 East Indies and of China ; where it is cultivated ; but the 

 fruit, which is an oblong conical berry, filled with a whitish, 

 sweet, eatable pulp, is inferior in flavour to the third sort. 



10. Annona Africana ; African Custard Apple. Leaves 

 lanceolate, pubescent. Notwithstanding its name Africana, 

 it is said to be a native of America. 



Anotta. See Biia. 



Anserina. See Potentilla. 



Anteuphorbium. See Cacalia. 



Anthemis ; a genus of the class Syngenesia, order Poly- 

 gamia Superflua. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix .- common 

 hemispherical ; scales linear, subequal. Corolla ; compound 

 radiate ; corollules hermaphrodite, tubular, numerous, in a 

 convex disk ; females more than five in the ray. Proper 

 of the hermaphrodite, funnel-shaped, five-toothed, erect : 



of the female, ligulate, lanceolate, sometimes three-toothed. 

 Stamina : in the hermaphrodites, filamenta five, capillary, 

 very short ; anthera cylindrical, tubular. Pistil : in the her- 

 maphrodites, germen oblong ; style filiform, the length of 

 the stamina; stigmas two, reflex: in the females, germen 

 oblong ; style filiform, the length of the hermaphrodite ; 

 stigmas two, revolute. Pericarp: none; calix unchanged. 

 Seeds: solitary, oblong ; down margined, or none. Recep- 

 tacle: chaffy, convex, or conical. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Receptacle: chaffy. Down: none. Calix: hemispherical, 

 nearly equal. Floscules of the ray ; more than five. Some 

 plants of this genus are annuals, others perennials, and all, 

 except the fifteenth and nineteenth species, are hardy enough 

 to bear the open air. They are propagated by seeds sown 

 upon poor land in the spring ; they flower in July ; and only 

 require to be weeded and kept well asunder, as they are 



generally bushy, and require room. The species are, 



* With a discolour, or white Ray. 



1. Anthemis Cota. Chaffs of the flowers rigid, pungent. 

 The largest flower of this genus. An annual ; native of 

 ploughed fields in Italy and Spain. 



2. Anthemis AHissima ; Tall Chamomile. Erect, with leaves 

 pinnate ; the bases of the pinnas rough, with a reflex tooth- 

 let. Annual ; growing wild in the south of France, Spain, 

 and Italy. 



3. Anthemis Maritima ; Sea Chamomile. Leaves pinnate, 

 toothletted, fleshy, naked, dotted ; stem prostrate ; calices 

 rather tomentose. The flowers have the smell of Feverfew ; 

 they flourish in July and August. It grows wild about 

 Montpelier, in Italy, and in England. 



' 4. Anthemis Tomentosa ; Downy Chamomile. Leaves pin - 

 natifid, obtuse, flat ; peduncles shaggy, leafy ; calices tomen- 

 tose. Native of the coasts of Greece, Italy, and France. 



5. Anthemis Mixta; Simple-leaved Chamomile. Leaves 

 simple, jagged, toothed. An annual ; growing wild in Italy 

 and France. 



6. Anthemis Alpina ; Alpine Chamomile. Leaves tooth- 

 pinnate, quite entire, linear ; stem villose,. one flowered ; 

 petals ovate ; chaffs sphacelate. Perennial ; native of Italy. 



7. Anthemis Chia ; Cut-leaved Chamomile. Leaves pin- 

 natifid, jagged; peduncles naked, subvillose. Seen by 

 Tournefort in the isle of Chios. 



8. Anthemis Nobilis; Common or Sweet Chamomile. Leaves 

 pinnate-compound, linear, acute, subvillose. It abounds in 

 most of the dry commons of Surry, and in Cornwall, flower- 

 ing in July and August. The leaves and flowers have a 

 strong, but not ungrateful smell, with a very bitter nauseous 

 taste, especially the flowers, which are more aromatic than 

 the leaves. If they be carefully dried, the taste and smell 

 will not diminish, but improve. The single flowers only 

 should be kept, because the white florets of the ray, which 

 are multiplied in the double flowers, are almost tasteless ; 

 and yet double flowers are the only sort ever found in the 

 shops. An infusion of the flowers is often used as a stomachic 

 and antispasmodic, but in large quantities it excites vomit- 

 ing. Large doses of the powdered flowers have cured agues,, 

 even where the bark has failed. Both leaves and flowers 

 are very useful in antiseptic fomentations and poultices. 

 From their antispasmodic powers, they are frequently found 

 to relieve pain, whether internally or externally applied. 

 The decoction is used for clysters, as well as in fomenta- 

 tions ; which, with poultices made of the flowers, often 

 prove beneficial in putrid sore throats. Independently of its 

 general virtues as a bitter, it is good in different kinds of 

 colic, particularly such as arise from flatulencies or cold. It 

 is also recommended in hysterical and hypochondriacal ilis- 



