112 



MEL 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



M E L 



4. Melochia Depressa; Fhtt-fruitcd Melochia. Flowers 

 solitary ; capsules depressed, five-cornered ; angles blunt, 

 ciliate ; stalk shrubby. Browne says, it commonly rises to 

 the height of two or three feet, throwing out a few slender 

 flexile branches on all sides; the leaves spread themselves 

 every day about noon, to receive the heat of the sun more 

 freely, but as the air grows cooler, they generally rise upright, 

 and stand almost parallel to the stem or branches ; this 

 mechanism of the leaves is greatly forwarded by the knee in 

 the footstalk of each. Found in Jamaica, &c. 



.5. Melochia Venosa ; Veiny-leaved Melochia. Peduncles 

 distinct, terminating, many-flowered ; leaves ovate, serrate, 

 veined, tomentose underneath ; stem hairy, four feet high ; 

 flowers in clusters, yellow. Found in South America, &c. 



6. Melochia Concatenat-a. Racemes clustered, terminat- 

 ing; capsule globular, sessile. A perennial upright smooth 

 plant, with stiff branches. Native of the East Indies. 



7. Melochia Nodiflora. Flowers conglobate, axillary ; cap- 

 sules globular ; leaves ovate, acuminate, smooth. Native of 

 most of the West India Islands. 



8. Melochia Lupulina. Racemes clustered, axillary ; cali- 

 ces inflated, membranaceous ; leaves ovate cordate, gash- 

 serrate, tomentose underneath. Native of Jamaica. 



9. Melochia Corchorifolia ; Red Melochia. Flowers in ses- 

 sile heads; capsules roundish; leaves subcordate, sublobate. 

 An annual plant; with hardish, and diffused, rugged, rod- 

 like branches ; corollas pale, with a yellow bottom. Native 

 of the East Indies. 



10. Melochia Supina; Prostrate Melochia. Flowers in 

 heads; leaves ovate, serrate; stems procumbent. An annual 

 plant, with trailing stalks. Native of the East Indies. 



11. Melochia Odorata; Sweet-scented Melochia. Panicles 

 peduncled, compound; leaves ovate, subcordate, sublobate, 

 biser-rate, smooth. Forster's specific character is: Cymes 

 corymbed, axillary ; leaves cordate, acuminate, serrate. A 

 smooth plant; flowers large. Native of the islands of Tanna 

 and Tongataboo in the South Seas. 



Melodinus; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Digynia. 

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

 parted, permanent; leaflets ovate, lying over each other at the 

 edge. Corolla : one-petalled, salver-shaped ; tube cylindrical, 

 three times as long as the calix; border five-parted, flat; 

 segments sickle-shaped, crenulate, twisted to the right, shorter 

 than the tube ; nectary in the mouth of the tube, stellate ; 

 segments five, cloven, lacerated. Stamina: filamenta five, 

 awl-shaped, very short, in the middle of the tube ; antherse 

 ovate. Pistil: germen globular, superior; style round, the 

 length of the calix, bipartile ; stigma conical, acute. Peri- 

 carp: berry fleshy, globular, many-seeded, with a fleshy 

 partition. Seeds: numerous, ovate-roundish, flatted a little, 

 nestling. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: contorted. 

 Nectary: in the middle of the tube, stellate. Berry: two- 

 celled, many-seeded. The only species is, 



1. Melodinus Scandens. A very smooth shrub with a 

 climbing stem ; leaves oblong, ovate veined, quite entire, 

 very smooth, opposite It has great affinity to Rauwolfia. 

 Native of New Caledonia. 



Melon. See Cucumis. 



Melonary, The portion of ground in the kitchen garden 

 principally allotted for the business of early and general hot- 

 bed work, in the culture of Melons and Cucumbers, as well 

 as occasionally in other framing culture. These Compart- 

 ments are mostly enclosed by some sort of fence, and are 

 particularly convenient and useful, as in the practice of hot- 

 bed culture there is unavoidably a considerable littering occa- 

 sioned at times, by means of the necessary supplies of hot 



dung, straw, litter, and other materials, both in the making 

 of the beds and after culture, which by this means being 

 confined to a particular part, the whole is performed more 

 conveniently, and without incommoding the economy of the 

 other parts of the garden. They are also very useful when 

 properly chosen in the driest and warmest situations, in ;he 

 advantage of having the hot-beds on dry ground, and shel- 

 tered from cutting winds, with the full benefit of the whole 

 day's sun, as well as in being more secure. In considerable 

 gardens, the places allotted for this use are sometimes of such 

 extent, as to have the hot-houses, or forcing-houses, and 

 other appurtenances of that kind, where culture by artificial 

 heat is required, near together, by which time arid trouble 

 is saved, and great advantage in other respects gained. In 

 the choice of a place for this purpose, some part of the 

 warmest, best-sheltered, dry quarter of the garden, which is 

 well defended from the northerly and north-easterly winds, 

 not liable to inundation or the stagnation of water, and con- 

 veniently situated for bringing in dung, tan, earth, &c. should 

 be selected. It will be more proper still, if, with these ad- 

 vantages, it lie a little higher, or very gently sloping towards 

 some lower part, especially when towards the full sun from 

 rising to setting, so as to admit of ranging the hot-beds 

 longitudinally east and west, or as nearly in that direction 

 as possible. With respect to the extent or dimensions, 

 they muct be according to the quantity of hot-bed framing 

 required, as from two or thre to five or ten rods square, or to 

 that of a quarter or half an acre, or more ; in which, besides 

 the part immediately allotted for the hot-beds, it is convenient 

 to have room for the previous preparation of the dung, &c. 

 for earthing the beds. The most eligible form is an even or 

 an oblong square. When enclosed, the fences may be six, 

 seven, or eight feet high, in the northerly or back part, and 

 five or six in front, the sides corresponding, though when 

 extensive they may be nearly of equal height all round. The 

 internal part, or place where the hot-beds are, even when 

 dry, should be a little elevated, to throw off the water in 

 heavy rains, and, when unavoidably low or liable to be wet 

 in winter or spring, be raised, with some dry materials, con- 

 siderably above the general level, that the hot-beds may 

 stand dry, as well as to afford advantage in performing the 

 business of cultivation. The ground for the immediate place 

 of the hot-beds may generally remain even or level ; some 

 however form shallow trenches the width and the length of the 

 intended hot-beds, as from six to twelve inches deep, and 

 make the lower part of the bed in the trench ; which, how- 

 ever, is more proper in a dry or somewhat elevated situation, 

 than in low or wet ground, as water is apt to settle in the 

 bottom, and chill the beds by suddenly reducing the heat. 

 Besides, by having the beds wholly above the ground, there 

 is a better opportunity of applying the occasional linings quite 

 from the bottom upwards. By proper attention in the con- 

 struction of the different parts of these grounds, and in the 

 building of the fence, they may be also rendered highly use- 

 ful in raising varous kinds of fruit, which could not other- 

 wise be the case. 



Melon Thistle. See Cactus. 



Melothria ; a genus of the class Triandria, order Monogy- 

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

 bell-shaped, ventricose, five-toothed, superior, deciduous. 

 Corolla : one-petalled, wheel-shaped ; tube the length of the 

 calix, and fastened all round to it ; border five-parted, flat ; 

 segments broader outwards, very blunt. Stamina: filamenta 

 three, conical, inserted into the tube of the corolla, and of 

 the same length ; antherse twin, roundish, compressed. Pis- 

 til: germen ovate-oblong, acuminate, subinferior; style cylin- 



