EPI 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



EP I 



501 



internodes; sheaths radical, and below the middle of the stem, 

 semiovate at the mouth, keeled on the back ; flowers termi- 

 nating on two or three alternate compressed spathes, toothlet- 

 ted in two rows on the edge, flexouse, naked; germen cylin- 

 dric, less than half the length of the flowers, which are larger 

 than those of the White Narcissus. Found in the swampy 

 parts of thick woods near Malacca. 



109. Epidendrum Flos ceris. Leaves from bulbs, ovate- 

 oblong, acute, flat, fleshy. This climbs variously on trees; 

 flowers subspiked, solitary, alternate, somewhat remote, ses- 

 sile on the germen, spathaceous, boat-shaped. This is sus- 

 pected to be the same as the second species ; and is therefore 

 named after it. Native of the East Indies. 



110. Epidendrum Triste. Leaves cylindric, empty; sheaths 

 fistulose ; peduncles opposite to the leaves, corymbed, per- 

 forating the sheath ; lip of the nectary entire, spathulate, 

 heart-shaped. Native of New Caledonia. 



111. Epidendrum Crispatum. Leaves cauline, round, fili- 

 form, subiiicurved, empty, sessile; raceme quite simple ; lip 

 of the nectary with the middle segment revolute, waved, cre- 

 nate. Native of the Society Islands in the South Seas. 



112. Epidendrum Equitans. Leaves equitant, ensifonn, 

 compressed, keeled, acuminate ; scape naked ; raceme spiked, 

 nodding, filiform. Native of the Society Isles. 



11:). Epidendrum Myosurus. Leaves sheathing at the 

 base, obliquely divaricate, linear, obtuse, channelled ; scape 

 naked ; raceme spiked, nodding, filiform. Native of the So- 

 ciety Islands. 



114. Epidendmm Biflornm. Leaves distich, linear- 

 lanceolate, acute ; peduncles two-flowered, solitary, perfo- 

 rating the sheaths of the leaves; lip of the nectary trifid, 

 acuminate. Native of the Society Islands. 



115. Epidendrum Autumnale. Leaves cauline, lanceolate, 

 nerved, crowded, sheathing; peduncles terminating, scaly, 

 panicled; lip of the nectary erect, retuse. Native of New 

 Zealand. 



116. Epidendrum Fasciola. Leaves rooting, parasitical, bun- 

 dled, linear, waved ; scapes several, racemed ; lip of the nectary 

 slipper-shaped, with a spur. Native of the Society Islands. 



117. Epidendrum Umbellatum. Runners creeping; leaves 

 oval, fleshy, petioltd ; petioles fixed into ovate, angular- 

 keeled apophyses : scape rooted; umbel simple, one-sided, 

 lowest petals elongated. Native of the Society Islands. 



118. Epidendrum Resupinatum. Leaves cauline, petioled, 

 ovate, acuminate, quite entire, plaited, keeled, five-nerved ; 

 raceme simple, spiked ; flowers inverted ; lower lip of the 

 nectary toothed. Native of the Society Islands. 



119. Epidendrum Clypeolum. Leaf radical, roundish, 

 cordate, cowled at the base, reflex and sharp at the tip; 

 scape almost erect, racemed ; lower lip of the nectary orbicu- 

 late, emarginate, very large. Native of the Society Islands. 



120. Epidendrum Nervosum. Scape angular ; leaves ovate, 

 nerved; lip entire, reflex; flowers at the top of the scape in 

 spikes, alternate, drooping, purple ; spike sharp, angled, erect, 

 smooth, about a span long. A very short, ovate, purple 

 bracte under each Hower; upper petal ovate, reflex in the 

 middle, grooved, emarginate, forming a helmet twice as broad 

 as the others. Native of Japan, where it is found between 

 Osacca and Jedo, flowering in May and June. 



121. Epidendrum Striatum. Scape angular, smooth ; 

 leaves sword-shaped, nerved ; petals lanceolate ; lip oblong, 

 flat; flowers on the top of the scape in racemes, several, 

 drooping; bractes like the leaves, gradually diminishing. 

 The two upper petals equal, ovate, the length of the calix, 

 yellow, with a purple line, concave. It flowers in June; and 

 is a native of Japan. 





VOL. i. 42. 



122. Epidendrum Tesselatum. Roots simple or branched, 

 thick, smooth, long, contorted; fibres issuing from the lower 

 naked part of the stem, and from among the lower leaves, 

 adhering firmly to the bark of the tree; stem perennial, sim- 

 ple, one or two feet long, as thick as the little finger, crook- 

 ed, the upper part covered with leaves, the lower naked, 

 withering away at the lower extremity; flowers on axillary 

 racemes, from five to ten in number, remote, facing two ways, 

 beautifully waved, and striated, with various shades of a 

 greenish yellow; petals oval, spreading, equal, scolloped: 

 nectary length of the petals. This plant is a very beautiful 

 parasite, found flowering during the wet season upon trees 

 among the Circar mountains. 



123. Epidendrum Prsemorsum. Leaves remote, alternate, 

 facing two ways, linear, channelled, smooth, very firm, and 

 bitten, jointed just above their sheath-like base, about six 

 inches long, and one inch broad ; spike before the leaf, or 

 leaf opposed, short, straight, thick, many-rlowered ; flowers 

 surround every part of the spike, small, variegated with red 

 and yellow. Native of the East Indies. 



124. Epidendrum Pendulum. The root consists of many 

 fleshy fibres like the two last, but issuing from one head ; 

 stem none; leaves radical, three to five, alternate, facing two 

 ways, from one and a halt' to three feet long, three or four 

 inches at bottom involved in ehafFy sheaths, the rest forming the 

 raceme, pendulous, many-flowered ; petals lanceolate, spread- 

 ing, equal, striated with rose-colour and yellow; nectary red, 

 lower lip three-parted. Native of the East Indies. 



125. Epidendrum Vanda. This handsome plant attaches 

 itself chiefly to the highest Amras and Bilsa (the Mangiferu. 

 and Cratava of Linneus). Its leaves are excavated upwards, 

 to catch and retain dew. It is an air plant, and will live (say; 

 Sir W. Jones) in a pot without earth or water. 



126. Epidendrum Mugnolite. Roots succulently fibrous, 

 creeping, clasping round the smoother forked trees; stems 

 ce-;pitose, simple, two-leafed, four or five inches high; leaves 

 striated, ligid, and coriaceous; scapes many-flowered; flowers 

 yellow; petals spreading, linear, and obtuse, the inner ones 

 much narrower; lip obcordate, spreading, obtusely three- 

 lobed, scarcely the length of (he tube. Mostly on the trunks 

 of Magnolia Grandiflora, from South Carolina to Florida. 



Epigfea ; a genus of the class Decandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth double, ap- 

 proximating, permanent. Exterior Perianth : three-leaved ; 

 leaflets ovate, lanceolate, acuminate, the exterior large. In- 

 terior Perianth: five-parted, upright, a little longer than the 

 exterior ; leaflets lanceolate, acuminate. Corolla: one petal- 

 led, salver-form; tube cylindric, as long as the calix or 

 longer, hirsute within ; border spreading, five-parted ; lobes 

 ovate-oblong. Stamina: filamenta ten, filiform, length of 

 the tube, affixed to the base of the corolla; antherae oblong, 

 sharp. Pistil: germen globose, villose ; style filiform, length 

 of the stamina ; stigma obtuse, subquinquefid. Pericarp : 

 capsule subglobose, depressed, five-cornered, five-celled, five- 

 valved. Seeds: very many, roundish, receptacle large, five- 

 parted. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: outer three- 

 leaved, inner five-parted. Corolla: salver-form; capsule 

 five-celled. The species are, 



1. Epigaea Repens ; Creeping Epigcea, or Trailing Arbu- 

 tus. Leaves cordate-ovate, entire, flat, sharp ; corollas cy- 

 lindric. This is a low plant, with a trailing shrubby stalk, 

 which puts out roots at the joints, and, when in a proper soil 

 and situation, multiplies very fast. The stalks are garnished 

 with oblong rough leaves, which are waved on their edges. 

 The flowers are produced at the end of these branches, in 

 loose bunches ; they are white, and divided at the top into 

 6M 



