MIM 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



MIR 



133 



composed of globular heads of yellow fragrant corollets. It 

 is the largest of its species known in India; and is the pedda 

 patseroo of the Telingas. Native of the mountainous parts of 

 the coast of Coromandel. 



85. Mimosa Asak; Purple Mimosa. Spines in threes, 

 straight; leaves bipinnate, three-paired ; proper five-paired, a 

 gland between the lowest pair of the partial ones. Branches 

 purple, smooth, flexuose. Native of Arabia. 



Mimulus; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Angio- 

 spermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, oblong, prismatic, five-cornered, five-folded, five- 

 toothed, equal, permanent. Corolla: one-petalled, ringent; 

 tube the length of the calix ; border two-lipped ; upper lip 

 upright, bifid, rounded, bent back at the sides; lower lip 

 wider, trifid, with the segments rounded, the middle one 

 smaller; palate convex, bifid, protruded from the base of 

 the lip. Stamina: filamenta four, filiform, within the throat, 

 two shorter; antherse bifid, kidney-form. Pistil: germen 

 conical ; style filiform, the length of the stamina ; stigma 

 ovate, bifid, compressed. Pericarp : capsule oval, two-celled, 

 opening transversely at top ; partition membranaceous, con- 

 trary to the valves. Seeds: very many, small. Receptacle: 

 oblong, fastened on each side to the partition. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Calix: four-toothed, prismatical. Corolla: 

 ringent; the upper lip folded back at the sides. Capsule: 

 two-celled, many-seeded. -The species are, 



1. Mimulus Ringens; Oblong-leaved Monkey-flower. Erect: 

 leaves oblong, linear, sessile. Root perennial ; stalk annual, 

 square, a foot and half high. It flowers in July and August. 

 Native of Virginia and Canada. This plant is very hardy 

 in respect to cold, but should have a loamy soft soil, rather 

 moist than dry, and not too much exposed to the sun. It 

 may be increased by parting the roots in autumn ; but they 

 should not be divided too small. It may also be propagated 

 by seeds sown in autumn, soon after they are ripe ; for those 

 which are sown in the spring seldom grow the same year : 

 they should be sown on a border exposed to a morning sun 



2. Mimulus Luteus ; Ovate-leaved Monkey-flower. Creep- 

 ing: leaves ovate, on short stalks embracing the stem ; flowers 

 on solitary stalks, two at each joint, of a bright yellow colour, 

 their throat spotted with red. This plant is supposed 

 to be hardy, and of easy propagation, and will probably soon 

 become common, as it is the most beautiful species of the 

 genus, being large and magnificent, thickly set with foliage 

 and flowers. Native of Peru, &c. 



3. Mimulus Alatus ; Wing-stalked Monkey-flower. Erect : 

 leaves ovate, petioled; stems square-winged. This has the 

 resemblance of the first species. Native of America. 



4. Mimulus Aurantiacus ; Orange Monkey-flower. Stem 

 erect, shrubby, round ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, bluntish. 

 Stalk about three feet high, much branched, shrubby. It is 

 propagated by cuttings. 



5. Mimulus Lewisii. Plant erect, small, pubescent; leaves 

 sessile, oblong-lanceolate, acute, nervous, mucronate-dcnti- 

 culate ; flowers few, terminal, with very long footstalks ; teeth 

 of the calix acuminate. The flowers are of a very beautiful 

 pale purple. It grows on the head springs of the Missouri, al 

 the foot of Portage hill, and is seldom above eight inches high. 



Mimusops; a genus of the class Octandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER". Calix: perianth eight- 

 leaved, coriaceous ; leaflets in a double row, ovate, acute, 

 permanent. Corolla: petals eight, lanceolate, spreading, the 

 length of the calix. Stamina: filamenta eight, awl-shaped, 

 hairy, very short; antherce oblong, erect, the length of the 

 calix. Pistil: germen superior, round, hispid; style cylin- 

 dric, the length of the corolla; stigma simple. Pericarp 



drupe oval, acuminate : (Berry one-celled, according to Geert- 

 ner.) Seeds: single, or two? oval, hard, shining. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Calix: four-leaved; Gsertner says, eight- 

 )arted. Petals: four; Linneus says eight, and Gartner 

 many. Nectary: sixteen-leaved. Drupe: acuminate. Or 

 hits, from Jussieu Calix: eight-parted, in two rows. Corolla: 

 eight-parted, with the segments entire, or three-parted; ap- 

 jendices eight, small, like scales. Drupe: with one or two 

 seeds. The species are, 



1 . Mimusops Elengi. Leaves alternate, remote, lanceolate, 

 acuminate. This is a middle-sized tree. Native of the East 

 Indies, where it is much planted on account of its fragrant 

 Sowers, which come out chiefly in the hot season. 



2. Mimusops Kauki. Leaves clustered, ovate, obtuse, 

 silvery beneath. Native of the East Indies and Arabia. 



3. Mimusops Hexandra. Leaves alternate, obovate, emar- 

 ginate. This is a large tree, with an erect trunk, and covered 

 with an ash-coloured bark ; when old, it has frequently large 

 rotten excavations. The wood being remarkably heavy, is 

 much used by the washerwomen in the East Indies to beetle 

 their cloth on. Native of the East Indies, in the moun- 

 tainous uncultivated parts of the Circars. 



Mint. See Mentha. 



Minuartia; a genus of the class Triandria, order Trigynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five-leaved, 

 upright, long ; leaflets awl-shaped, somewhat rigid, perma- 

 nent. Corolla : none. Stamina : filamenta three, capillary, 

 short ; antherse roundish. Pistil : germen three-cornered ; 

 styles three, short, filiform; stigmas thickish. Pericarp: 

 capsule oblong, triangular, much shorter than the calix, one- 

 celled, three-valved. Seeds : not numerous, roundish, com- 

 pressed. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-leaved. 

 Corolla: none. Capsule: one-celled, three-valved. Seeds: 

 few. The species are, 



1. Minuartia Dichotoma. Flowers clustered, dichotomous. 

 This is a rigid, hard, tough, little annual plant : flowers sessile 

 in cymes, forming a square head. Native of Spain. 



2. Minuartia Campestris. Flowers terminating, alternate, 

 longer than the bracte. Native of Spain, where it is found 

 in the lower hills. 



3. Minuartia Montana. Flowers lateral, alternate, shorter 

 than the braete. Stems several, diffused, a finger's length, 

 pubescent, and hoary. Native of Spain. 



Mirabilis; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth outer one- 

 leafed, erect-ventricose, inferior, five-parted ; segments ovate- 

 lanceolate, sharp, unequal, permanent; inner globular, placed 

 under the petal, with a contracted entire mouth, and perma- 

 nent. Corolla: one-petalled, funnel-form ; tube slender, long, 

 thicker at top, placed on the inner calix ; border from upright 

 spreading, entire, bluntly five-cleft, plaited ; nectary spherical, 

 fleshy, surrounding the germen, with a five-toothed mouth ; 

 teeth very small, triangular, converging. Stamina: filamenta 

 five, inserted into the orifice of the nectary, and alternate with 

 its teeth, within the inner calix free, more slender, fastened at 

 bottom to the tube of the corolla, filiform, the length of the 

 corolla, inclining, unequal; antherae twin, roundish, rising-. 

 Pistil: germen turbinate, within the nectary; style filiform, the 

 length and situation of the stamina; stigma globular, dotted, 

 rising. Pericarp : none. The inner calix incrusts the seed, and 

 falls with it. Seed: single, ovate, five-cornered. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Calix: inferior. Corolla: funnel-form, superior. 

 Nectary: globular, inclosing the germen. The species are, 



1. Mirabilis Jalapa; Common Marvel of Peru. Flowers 

 heaped, terminating, erect ; root tuberous ; slem herbaceous, 

 round, often trichotomous. This is a perennial plant, and the 



