PER 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



PET 



273 



Thunberg says, the root is used as an emetic in the East 

 Indies, where it is found growing at the foot of mountains. 



7. Periploca Indica; Indian Periploca. Spikes axillary, 

 imbricated ; leaves elliptic, obtuse, mucronate. Stem smooth. 

 Native of Ceylon. 



8. Periploca Capsularis ; New Zealand Periploca. Leaves 

 lanceolate, quite entire, opposite ; cymes axillary, diffused. 

 Native of New Zealand. 



9. Periploca Africana ; African Periploca. Leaves ovate, 

 acute; flowers corymbed; stem hirsute. This has many 

 slender stalks which twine about each other, and by a shrub 

 or other support will rise nearly three feet high, putting out 

 several small side-branches ; these are hairy, as are also the 

 leaves. The flowers come out in small bunches from the 

 side of the stalks ; they are small, of a dull purple colour, 

 and have a sweet scent. It flowers in the summer, but does 

 not produce seeds here. Native of the Cape. If sheltered 

 under a common frame or green-house during winter, and 

 removed abroad with other hardy exotic plants in sum- 

 mer, they will thrive, and flower very well ; but as all the 

 plants of this genus have a milky juice, so they should not 

 have much wet, especially in cold weather, lest it rot them. 

 They are easily propagated by laying down their branches, 

 which in one year will have roots enough to transplant; 

 these should be planted in a light sandy loam, not rich ; 

 and the pots must not be too large, for they will never thrive 

 when overpotted. 



10. Periploca Tunicata. Leaves oblong-heart-shaped, 

 acuminate; flowers umbelled; stem twining, even. Imported 

 from Tranquebar. 



11. Periploca Sylvestris. Leaves roundish-ovate, netted- 

 veined, pubescent underneath ; flowers umbelled. Stems 

 shrubby, tomentose. Native of the East Indies. 



12. Periploca Oochin-chinensis. Stem arboreous ; leaves 

 fleshy ; racemes terminating ; flowers bluish white, on short 

 racemes. It is a middling-sized tree, with spreading branches. 

 Native of Cochin-china and Bengal. 



13. Periploca Fruticosa. Leaves oblong-cordate, pubes- 

 cent; flowers axillary; stem shrubby, climbing. The flowers 

 come out in small bunches from the wings of the leaves, they 

 are small, white, and of an open bell-shape, and are suc- 

 ceeded by swelling taper pods, filled with seeds crowned 

 with long feathery down. Native of Vera Cruz. It is tender, 

 and will not thrive in England, unless the plants are placed 

 in a warm stove. They may be propagated by laying down 

 their branches ; or from seeds, when they can be procured 

 from the places where they naturally grow. These should 

 be sown upon a good hot-bed, and when the plants come up 

 they must be treated like other tender exotic plants. 



Periwinkle. See Vinca. 



Perolis ; a genus of the class Triandria, order Digynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: glume two, equal, acute, 

 awned valves, containing a single flower. Corolla: two 

 minute, awnless, membranaceous valves, much shorter than 

 the calix ; nectary two minute scales at the base of the ger- 

 men. Stamina : filamenta three, capillary ; antherae oblong. 

 Pistil : germen superior, oblong; styles two, capillary, shorter 

 than the corolla; stigmas feathered, divaricating. Pericarp: 

 none, except the closed permanent calix. Seed: one, linear- 

 oblong. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: two equal awned 

 valves. Corolla: two minute awnless valves. Style: deeply 

 divided. The species are, 



1. Perotis Latifolia. Culm simple; leaves waved; joints 

 smooth ; sheath half an inch or more in length, whitish, 

 especially towards its origin, ending in a scarcely visible 

 whitish ligule ; spike a hand or half a foot in length, very 



thin. It flowers in August and September. Native of the 

 East Indies. 



2. Perotis Polystachya. Culm branching ; leaves flat ; 

 joints bearded. Native of the East Indies. 

 Persian Lily. See Fritillaria. 



Persoonii; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: none. Petals: 

 four, staminiferous towards the base; glands four at the 

 base of the germen. Stigma: blunt. Drupe: one-seeded. 

 Observe. This genus differs from Loranthus, to which it is 

 nearly allied, in the number of parts, and in the want of a 

 calix. It consists of subvimineous shrubs ; leaves commonly 

 alternate, without stipules ; corolla smooth within ; antherae 

 linear, finally bent back ; style permanent, smooth ; drupe 

 eatable in most ; flowers yellow. Twenty-two species are 

 known, all natives of New Holland. 



Ferula ; a genus of the class Dioecia, order Polyandria. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male. Calix: perianth two-, 

 leaved, very small ; leaflets opposite, oblong, somewhat con- 

 cave, spreading, the upper ones twice as big as the other. 

 Corolla: petal one, semiglobular-concave, hanging down, 

 heart-shaped at the base, scarcely emarginate at the tip; 

 nectary membranes multifid, somewhat plaited, erect, inserted 

 into the receptacle between the two rows of the stamina. 

 Stamina: filamenta very many, (twenty-four to thirty,^ set 

 transversely in a double vow, thick, upright, the height of 

 the nectary ; antherse thickish, four-cornered, oblong, blunt, 

 upright, raised above the nectary. Pistil: germina four, 

 barren, very small, subglobular, very shortly pedicelled, 

 placed at the angles of the receptacle above the nectary ; 

 style very short, upright 1 ; stigmas three, with segments pel- 

 tate, standing out at the tips. Female, on a distinct tree. 

 Calix : as in the male, deciduous. Corollas : as in the male; 

 nectary as in the male, with the membranes approximating,' 

 somewhat inflated, filling the disk of the receptacle. Pistil : 

 germina four, fertile, inserted into the receptacle, as in the 

 male, a little larger, shortly pedicelled; style to each, upright, 

 short, three-cornered; stigmas as in the male. Pericarp: 

 capsule obovate, subtrigonal, hanging down from the elon- 

 gated pedicel, three-celled, three-valved ; valves bifid, at 

 length two-parted. Seeds: solitary, obovate, truncated, 

 smooth, small. Observe. The calix is rather a double bracte. 

 The corolla before it unfolds is globular, with a longitudinal 

 suture ; when that opens, the original or proper orifice be- 

 comes transverse, the receptacle almost prominent beyond 

 the corolla, and the flower hangs down from the nodding 

 apex of the incurvated peduncle. The only species is, 



1. Ferula Arborea. Native of New Granada, about Mari- 

 quita. 



Peruvian Mastick Tree. See Schinus. 



Pelaloma ; a genus of the class Decandria, order Mono- 

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

 goblet-shaped, five-toothed, superior, permanent; teeth sharp, 

 almost upright. Corolla : petals five, oblong, spreading, 

 each inserted by the claw between the teeth of the calix, 

 deciduous. Stamina: filamenta ten, placed on the margin 

 of the calix, longer than the corolla; antherae oblong, incum- 

 bent. Pistil: germen ovate, in the bottom of the calix ; 

 style long, awl-shaped ; stigma simple, acute. Pericarp : 

 berry globular, fleshy, crowned with the calix, one-celled. 

 Seeds: solitary, or in fours, angular on one side, convex on 

 the other. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix; goblet-shaped, 

 five-toothed. Petals: five, inserted between the teeth of the 

 calix. Stamina: on the margin of the calix. Berry: one- 

 celled. The species are, 



1. Petaloma Myrtilloides. Peduncles solitary, one-flow- 



