M U N 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



M UN 



145 



added by other botanists, so that the species now amount to 

 twenty-five. 



Mudwort. See Limosella. 



Mugwort. See Artemisia. 



Muhlenbergia ; a genus of the class Triandria, order 

 Digynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : glume one- 

 valved,very small, emarginate, lateral. Corolla: two-valved; 

 valves equal; outer lanceolate, long, acute, awned, embraced, 

 the Inner one hairy at the base ; inner a little shorter, nar- 

 rowed, linear, mucronate; nectary two-leaved; leaflets ovate, 

 obliquely truncate, gibbous, small. Stamina : tilamenta 

 three, capillary, shorter than the corolla; antheree linear. 

 Pistil: gernien ovate; styles two, capillary; stigmas fea- 

 thered. Pericarp: none, except the corolla, which incloses 

 the seed. Seed: one, oblong, acuminate. ESSENTIAL CIIA- 

 HACTER. Calix: onc-valved, minute, lateral. Corolla: two- 

 valved. The species are, 



1. Muhlenbergia Diffusa. Culm branched, diffused, pro- 

 cumbent; leaves linear, lanceolate, somewhat rugged, nerved, 

 three of the nerves thicker on the back of the leaf, so that it 

 seems to be three-nerved. It is a perennial grass, native of 

 North America. 



2. Muhlenbergia Erecta. Culm firm, simple ; leaves pu- 

 bescent ; panicles loose ; calix bivalve ; awn very long. It 

 flowers in July, and grows in dry shady woods from Canada 

 to Carolina. 



Mulberry Tree. See Morus. 



Mule's Tongue. See Asplenium, 



Mullein. See Verbascum. 



Mullera ; a genus of the class Diadelphia, order Decan- 

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

 bell-shaped, compressed, truncated and flattish at the base, 

 four-toothed ; the upper tooth obliterated, very seldom clo- 

 ven ; the lateral ones more remote, acute, the lowest more 

 produced and more awl-shaped. Corolla: papilionaceous; 

 banner reflex, cordate, ovate, quite entire, obtuse, flat; claw 

 flattish, scarcely longer than the calix, remote from the 

 wings and keel ; wings oblong, converging, gibbous at the 

 base, clawed; keel shorter than the wings, composed of two 

 distinct, converging, clawed petals forming an oblong, com- 

 pressed, straight sheath. Stamina: filamenta ten, united into 

 a compressed sheath, broader at the base ; antheree ovate. 

 Pistil: germen linear, compressed; style short; stigma acute. 

 Pericarp: fruit necklace-form, composed of three, four, or 

 five concatenated, solid, one-celled, one-valved, one-seeded 

 globules, the lowest of which are larger. Seeds: solitary, com- 

 pressed, kidney-form, smooth. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Pericarp: elongated, fleshy, necklace-form, with one-seeded 

 globules. The only known species is. 



1. Mullera Moniliformis; Beaded Mullera. This is a tree, 

 with ferruginous somewhat warted branches; leaves alternate, 

 pinnate, having two pairs of leaflets with an odd one at the end ; 

 flowers scattered, nodding, the size of Laburnum flowers. 

 This plant has a near affinity to Sophora ; but it differs from 

 it in having the stamina properly diadelphous, and the fruit 

 not leguminous, or opening longitudinally by two valves. Il 

 has its name from the manner in which the fruit hangs, joined 

 in a long row like a necklace or rosary. Native of Surinam. 



Munchhausia; a genus of the class Polyadelphia, order 

 Polyandria. GENERIC CHARACTER.. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, half six-cleft, turbinate, torulose, permanent, with 

 blunt segments. Corolla: petals six, obovate, spreading, 

 clawed, inserted into the calix. Stamina: twenty-four or 

 thirty, capillary, shorter than the petals, collected into six 

 bodies ; antherce kidney-form. Pistil : germen superior, 

 Ovate; style filiform, declining, of a middling length; stigma 



lunt. Pericarp: capsule ovate, acuminate, six-celled. 

 Seeds: very many. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: six- 

 cleft, torulose. Petals: clawed. Stamina: in six bodies, 

 ibur or five in each. Pistil : superior, with a filiform curved 

 style. The only known species is, 



1. Munchhausia Speciosa. This is a small tree, with alter- 

 nate, patulous, round, smooth branches ; leaves alternate, 

 ovate or ovate-oblong, acuminate, quite entire, smooth, paler 

 underneath, on very short petioles ; flowers alternate, on very 

 short peduncles, extremely handsome. Native of Java and 

 China. 



Muntingia ; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Perianth one-leafed, five- 

 parted, concave at the base; segments lanceolate, acuminate, 

 large, deciduous. Corolla : petals five, roundish, spreading, 

 inserted into the calix. Stamina: filamenta very many, capil- 

 lary, very short; antheroe roundish. Pistil: germen globu* 

 lar, clothed with villose hairs ; style none ; stigma headed, 

 pentagonal, rayed, permanent ; according to Gtertner, pyra- 

 midal, five-grooved, sessile. Pericarp: berry globular, umbi- 

 licate with the stigma, five-celled. Seeds: numerous, round- 

 ish, very small, nestling. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: 

 five-parted. Corolla : five-petalled. Berry : five-seeded ; 



(Geertner says, many-celled.) Seeds: many, nestling. 



The only known species is, 



1. Muntingia Calabura; Villose Muntingia. This shrub or 

 small tree rises from a fathom to ten or twelve feet; or, 

 according to Sloane, thirty feet in height, sending out many 

 irregular, spreading, long, round, hoary branches ; leaves 

 alternate, flat, spreading horizontally,' oblique, ovate-lanceo- 

 late; petioles short, round, hirsute; peduncles two to four, 

 between the petioles, and not axillary, clustered, longer than 

 the petiole, shorter than the leaf, one-flowered, round, 

 villose-viscid. Jacquin remarks, that they successively turn 

 the flower when it is about to expand to the face of the leaf, 

 which before was reflexed to the back of it. The flowers are 

 without scent, but handsome; about an inch in diameter, re- 

 sembling those of the Bramble. The fruit is of a dark purple 

 colour when ripe. Native of Jamaica, on the calcareous sub- 

 alpine hills, flowering in the spring; and of St. Domingo, in 

 the wet parts of woods, flowering in August and September. 

 It is propagated by seeds sown in pots filled with light rich earth, 

 and plunged into a moderate hot-bed of tanner's bark, raising 

 the glasses to admit fresh air in warm weather. The seeds 

 will often remain in the ground a whole year before the plants 

 will appear; in which case the pots must be constantly kept 

 clear from weeds, and should remain in the hot-bed till after 

 Michaelmas, when they may be removed into the stove, and 

 plunged into the bark-bed, between other pots of tall plants, 

 and remain there during the winter season. These pots 

 should be now and then watered, when the earth appears 

 dry; and in the beginning of March the pots should be re- 

 moved out of the stove, and placed in a fresh bark-bed under 

 frames, which will bring up the plants soon after. When the 

 plants are two inches high, they should be carefully taken out 

 of the pots, and each planted into a separate pot, filled with 

 light rich earth, and then plunged into the hot-bed again, 

 observing to shade them from the sun until they have taken 

 new root, after which time they should be duly watered, and 

 in warm weather they must have a large share of fresh air. 

 In this hot-bed the plants may remain until autumn begins 

 to be cold ; they should then be removed into the stove, 

 and plunged into the bark-bed. It will be proper to con- 

 tinue these plants all the year in the stove, but in warm wea- 

 ther they should have a large share of fresh air; but as the 

 plants grow in strength, they will be more hardy, and may 



