G IN 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



GLA 



613 



of the calix at the base. Stamina : filamenta nine, filiform, 

 flexuose, longer than the corolla, inserted into the mouth of 

 the calix ; antheree parallelepiped, versatile. Pistil : germen 

 oblong 1 , compressed at the bottom of the calix, affixed to a 

 pedicel, with a membranaceons wing at top ; style filiform, 

 flexuose, the length of the stamina ; stigma obtuse. Peri- 

 carp: legume long, straight, one-celled, two-valved, pedi- 

 celled. Seeds : very many, oval, flatted, smooth. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Calix: double, both one-leafed. Pe- 

 tals: three, fringed, spreading. Germen: pedicelled, with a 

 membranaceous wing at top. The only known species is, 



1. Ginannia Guianensis. This is a shrub, growing to the 

 height of fifteen feet, beginning to be branched at one or 

 two feet from the ground; leaves alternate, entire, smooth, 

 ovate-oblong, acuminate, subsessile, the largest six inches 

 long, and two inches and a half wide ; stipules minute, in 

 pairs at the base of the petioles ; flowers terminating, few, 

 rod, large, and handsome, on a short peduncle, on which are 

 four or five soft green scales or bractes ; legume reddish, 

 linear, compressed, three inches long. Native of the forests 

 of Guiana, flowering in February, and fruiting in May. 



Ginger. See Amomum. 



Ginkgo; a genus hitherto imperfectly described, the only 

 known species of which is, 



1. Ginkgo Biloba, or Maidenhair Tree. This tree grows 

 to a prodigious size, with a trunk frequently as thick as the 

 largest Oak ; the branches are alternate, and spreading ; leaves 

 alternate, petioled, in bundles at the knots or tubercles of 

 the branches, not much unlike the leaves of Maidenhair ; of 

 the fructification, we yet know very little with certainty. 

 The flowers are male and female, separate, probably on dif- 

 ferent trees. They come out in April, before the leaves, 

 and from the same bud with them, towaids the end of the 

 branches, on aments or catkins, as Keempfer describes 

 them, pendent, and longish, abounding in pollen. The fruit 

 grows on a thick fleshy peduncle, an inch in length, and, 

 having figured them single, Kaempfer describes them as 

 round or oblong, of the size and appearance of a damson or 

 damascene plum, with a warted surface, becoming yellow 

 as the fruit ripens, and a fleshy, juicy, white pulp, adhering 

 very closely to the nut, which resembles that of the pistachia, 

 but is almost double the size, and more of the form of an 

 apricot stone ; the shell is woody, thin, brittle, and whitish, 

 and the kernel is white, rather firm, sweet, with a mixture 

 of austerity or bitterness when raw, but is agreeable when 

 gently roasted on the coals, before the skin is taken ofF; and 

 in that state, is supposed to help digestion. Native of Japan 

 and China. 



Ginora; a genus of the class Dodecandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one- 

 kafed ; tube bell-shaped ; border six-cleft ; segments lanceo- 

 late, spreading, coloured, permanent. Corolla : petals six, 

 roundish, spreading, longer than the calix, with long claws 

 inserted into the neck of the calix. Stamina : filarnenta 

 twelve, subulate, patulous, as long as the calix, and inserted 

 into it; antheree kidney-shaped. Pistil: germen roundish, 

 flatted; style subulate, the same length with the corolla, per- 

 manent; stigma obtuse. Pericarp: capsule flatted and 

 roundish, shining, coloured, somewhat four-grooved, four- 

 valved, one-celled, gaping at the tip. Seeds: very many, 

 minute; receptacle roundish, large. ESSENTIAL CHAR AC- 

 TEE. Calix: six-cleft Petals: six. Capsule: one-celled, 



four-valved, coloured, containing many seeds. The only 



known species is, 



1. Ginora Americana. It grows upright, to the height of 

 three or four feet, and divides into smooth branches, round, 

 VOL. i. 52. 



except that they are compressed at the origin of the twigs 

 and leaves, all woody ; leaves lanceolate, acute, quite entire, 

 smooth, spreading, an inch and a half long:, on very short 

 petioles ; peduncles slender, spreading, solitary, an inch in 

 length ; flowers handsome, almost an inch in diameter, with- 

 out any scent; calix red; corolla blue; capsule dark red, 

 outwardly resembling a berry. It is an elegant shrub, with 

 the appearance of Myrtle. Native of Cuba, by river sides, 

 where it is called rosa del rio, or river rose. 



Ginseng. See Panax. 



Gisekia; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Pentagy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five-leaved; 

 leaflets ovate, concave, blunt, scariose at the edge, perma- 

 nent. Corolla: none. Stamina: filamenta five, subulate, 

 ovate at the base, short; antherae roundish. Pistil: germen 

 superior, roundish, retuse, five-parted; styles short, bowed 

 back; stigmas blunt. Pericarp: capsules five, roundish, 

 somewhat flatted, scabrous, blunt, approximating. Seeds: 

 solitary, ovate, smooth. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: 

 five-leaved,. Corolla: none. Capsules: five, approximating, 

 roundish, one-seeded. The only known species is, 



1. Gisekia Pharnacioides ; Trailing Gisekia. Stalks her- 

 baceous, decumbent, smooth, round, scored with a line on 

 the upper side, a foot long, with remote joints ; branches of 

 the base alternate ; leaves opposite, petioled, elliptic-lanceo- 

 late, quite entire, blunt, smooth and even, spreading; pe- 

 duncles mostly axillary, solitary, round, naked; umbel sim- 

 ple, many-flowered; flowers green on the outside, white 

 within, hanging down, except on the day of flowering; fruit 

 blackish. It is an annual plant, flowering herein June; and 

 a native of the East Indies. 



Githago. See Agrostemma. 



Glabraria; a genus of the class Monadelphia, order Poly 

 andria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth oue- 

 leafed, tubular, five-cleft, shorter by half than the corolla. 

 Corolla : petals five, lanceolate, blunt, equal ; nectary sur- 

 rounding the germen, consisting of five subulate, upright, 

 coloured bodies, the length of the calix. Stamina: fila- 

 menta thirty, capillary, interposed between the nectaries, in 

 sixes, connected at the base, the same length with the calix, 

 antherae kidney-shaped. Pistil: germen subglobose ; style 

 filiform, the length of the stamina; stigma simple. Peri- 

 carp: drupe juiceless, one-celled. Seeds: a bony oval nucleus. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-cleft. Petals: five. 

 Nectary: composed of five bristles, the length of the calix. 



Stamina: thirty, always in sixes. Pericarp: a drupe. 



The only known species is, 



1. Glabraria Tersa. A large tree, resembling Lauras 

 Camphora, or the Camphor-tree. Leaves alternate, petioled, 

 ovate, lanceolate, quite entire, smooth, acuminate, subtornen- 

 mose underneath, even nevertheless, and glaucous ; flowers 

 white, in little axillary balls, forming a sort of raceme, leaf- 

 less, and much shorter than the leaves. The wood of this 

 tree is very light and pale-coloured, not being liable to the 

 rot, or to the attacks of insects : it is much used in the East 

 Indies for house and ship building. 



Gladiolus; a genus of the class Triandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : a spathe, two- 

 valved, inferior, shorter than the corolla; valves oblong, 

 permanent, the outer one larger, inclosing the inner. Corolla: 

 one-petalled, superior; tube cylindric, bent; border some- 

 what bell-shaped, six-parted ; segments oblong, from erect 

 patulous, the uppermost and lowest lateral, either without or 

 within. Stamina : filamenta three, inserted into the orifice 

 of the tube, filiform, shorter than the corolla ; antherae ovate, 

 incumbent. Pistil: germen inferior, triangular; style fili- 

 7 R 



