L Y T 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



L Y T 



69 



bractes, longer than the flower, and between these three 

 regular flowers, on short pedicels, blue, and small. Jussieu 

 however doubts whether it really belongs to this genus. 

 Native of America. 



13. Lythrum Pemphis. Shrubby, hirsute : leaves opposite, 

 oblong, entire ; flowers axillary, peduncled, solitary ; capsule 

 cut round horizontally, one-celled. This is a hoary shrub. 

 Found on the coast of Ceylon ; and by Forster, in the island of 

 Teautea, in the South Sea. 



14. Lythrum Racemosum. Diffused : leaves opposite, pe- 

 tioled, ovate; racemes terminating; flowers opposite. Native 

 of South America. 



15. Lythrum Dipetalum. Hispid-viscid : leaves in threes, 

 or opposite, sessile, ovate ; flowers axillary, nodding, two- 

 petalled ; petals large, inserted into the upper margin of the 

 calix, erect, obovate, violet or blue. The flowers, which are 

 handsome, render this a very distinct species. Native of 

 South America. 



16. Lythrum Hyssopifolia ; Hyssop-leaved Willow-herb. 



.eaves alternate, linear; flowers six-stamined. Root annual; 



items prostrate, stiffish, simple, or branched, and only near the 



oot, rod-like ; colour of the flowers blue. Linneus says, 



urple, and white at the base; Mr. Miller, light purple; and 



\rocker describes the petals as rose-coloured. Villars says, 

 he leaves are very bitter. It is generally called Grass Poly, 

 >t Small Hedge Hyssop. Native of many parts of Europe, 

 is Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy ; and Eng- 

 and, in wet meadows, watery places, and especially where 



water stagnates in winter ; but it does not seem to be very 

 common any where. With us it is found on Hounslow Heath ; 

 between Staines andLaleham; on Histon, Hinton, and Fe- 

 versham Moors ; and at Oakington, in Cambridgeshire ; on 

 the Banbury Road, from Oxford, near the first turnpike- 

 gate ; at Feversham, in Kent, in the ditches near the abbey- 

 pond ; near the Wheat-sheaf, five miles beyond Huntingdon, 

 on the north'road ; and about Wiiford, in Northamptonshire. 

 It flowers in July. Being annual, it must be raised from seeds, 

 like the next species ; but they are bog-plants, and seldom 

 admitted into gardens. 



17. Lythrum Thymifolia; Thyme-leaved Willow-herb. 

 Leaves alternate, linear ; flowers four-stamined. Root annual, 

 very like the preceding, but only half, or one-third of the size ; 

 petals commonly four, rose-coloured. It flowers in August. 

 Native of the south of France, Italy, and Silesia, in moist 

 meadows and ditches. See the preceding species ; of which 

 Krocker suspects it to be a variety. 



18. Lythrum Americanum ; South American Willow-herb. 

 Leaves oblong-ovate, below opposite, above alternate; flowers 

 six-stamined. The root is woody ; from which arise two or 

 three slender stalks upwards of two feet high ; flowers small, 

 white. Found at La Vera Cruz, in swamps. 



19. Lythrum Alatum. Plant very smooth ; leaves oppo- 

 site, ovate-oblong, acute, subcordated at the base ; flowers 

 axillary, solitary, sessile, hexandrous, small, purple. It 

 grows from three to four feet in height ; and is found in 

 Lower Georgia. 



M AB 



MAE A ; a genus of the class Dioecia, order Triandria. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male. Calix: perianth semi- 

 trifid : divisions acute, villose. Corolla : one-petalled, tubu- 

 lar, villose on the outside; tube cylindric, longer than the 

 calix ; border trifid ; divisions ovate, thickish, upright. Sta- 

 mina: filamenta three, filiform, shorter than the calix; antherse 

 erect, ovate. Pistil : rudiment globular, subsessile, in the 

 centre of the flower. Female. Calix: perianth inferior, per- 

 manent, as in the males. Corolla and Pistil: undescribed. 

 Pericarp : drupe sugerior, ovate, oblong, two-celled ; cells 

 two-seeded. Seeds : nuts two, oblong, three-sided, some- 

 what convex at the back, with two plane sides. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Male. Calix: trifid. Female. Corolla: 



trifid. Drape : superior, two-celled. The only known 



species is, 



1. Maba Elliptica. This is a very smooth tree, with the 

 twigs and young leaves hairy. Leaves alternate, on very short 

 petioles, elliptic, veined, very smooth ; peduncles axillary, 

 short, often three-flowered ; flowers small, and singular, hav- 

 ing the outside of the ealix and corolla more villose than any 

 of the plant. There is another species, or variety, which 

 Forster calls Maba Major, because the drupe or fruit is three 

 times the size of the other ; having three-sided kernels in the 

 cells, which are tough and insipid : they are however eaten by 

 the inhabitants, and were brought for sale to our people. 

 Native of the Friendly Islands. 



Mabea ; a genus of the class Monoecia, order Polyandria. 

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

 leafed, five-toothed, acute. Corolla: none. Stamina : fila- 

 inenta nine to twelve, inserted into the bottom of the calix ; 

 autheroe roundish. Female, Calif: perianth one leafed, 



MAC 



upright, five-toothed, acute^ Corolla : none. Pistil : gennen 

 oblong, subtrigonal, longer than the calix ; style long, (Jussieu 

 asks, if it be not rather three styles glued together?) stigmas 

 three, filiform, revolute, or twisted spirally. Pericarp: cap- 

 sule covered with a thick bark, roundish, tricoccous, three- 

 celled ; cells bivalve, bursting elastically. Seeds : solitary, 

 roundish. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. Calix: one- 

 leafed, five-toothed. Corolla: none. Filamenta: nine to 

 twelve, inserted into the bottom of the calix. Female. Stig- 

 mas: three, revolute. Capsule: covered with a thick bark, 

 three-celled, three-seeded. The species are, 



1. Mabea Piriri. Leaves ovate-oblong, accuminated. A 

 I shrub, with the trunk six feet high, and about six inches in 



diameter : from this trunk rise, to a great height, several 

 twiggy branches, which spread and catch upon the neigh- 

 bouring trees. The flowers are borne in great numbers on the 

 j tops of the branches, ranged in along panicle; the upper part 

 of which sustains the male, and the lower the female flowers, 

 which are about six or eight in number. All the parts of this 

 shrub yield a milky juice. The Creoles and Negroes use the 

 smaller branches for pipes ; hence the tree is called Pipe- 

 wood, (Bois (I Calumet.) Native of Guiana. 



2. Mabea Taquari. Leaves ovate, obtuse, marked with 

 red veins beneath. It differs from the preceding, in having a 

 reddish bark, and larger leaves and fruit ; but in other respects 

 much resembles it. Native of Guiana, where it is used for the 

 same purposes as the former. 



Macedonian Parsley. See Bubon. 



Mucrocnemum ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order 

 Monogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, superior, turbinate, fire-toothed, permanent. Corolla ; 



