PHA 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



PHA 



27J 



a. Pharnaceum Serpyllifohum. Peduncles one-flowered, 

 axillary ; leaves ovate, blunt. Stems branched, dichotomous, 

 filiform, jointed, smooth ; peduncles lateral, capillary, the 

 length of the leaves. Native of the Cape. 



9. Pharnaceum Quadrangulare. Subfruticose : leaves 

 linear, imbricate, in four rows. The stems are rather 

 shrubby, having the appearance of heath ; flowers white, 

 green on the outside. Native of the Cape. - > ,nrclt di ao 



10. Pharnacfium Incanum; Hoary Pharnaceum. Com- 

 mon peduncles very long; leaves linear; stipules hairy. 

 Shrubby, with an upright proliferous stem ; branches whitish, 

 with tunicated stipules ; flowers green and white. Native of 

 the Cape, and of Cochin-china. 



11. Pharnaceum Albens. Common peduncles very long-; 

 leaves linear, without stipules. This is a little shrub with 

 white stems.-* Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



12. Pharnaceum Dichotomum ; Forked Pharnaceitm. Pe- 

 duncles axillary, elongated, dichotomous; leaves in whorls, j 

 linear. Annual. Native of the Cape. 



13. Pharnacenm Distichum. Racemes two-parted, flexu- 

 ose ; leaves sublinear, pubescent ; flowers small ; capsule 

 one-celled. Native of the East Indies. 



14. Pharnaceum Cordifolium. Racemes two-parted, ter- 

 minating; leaves obcordate. Root fibrous ; stems herbace- 

 ous, a foot high, prostrate, even, knobbed at the joints ; 

 branches alternate ; flowers white. Native of the Cape. 



Pharus ; a genus of the class Monoecia, order Hexandria. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male Flowers: peduncled. Ca- 

 lix: glume two- valved, one-flowered; valves ovate, membra- 

 naceous, coloured ; outer short., sharpish ; inner twice us 

 long, rounded at the tip. Conilla : glume two-valved, longer 

 than the calix ; valves equal, oblong, membranaceous, co- 

 loured ; outer sharpish, keeled below the tip; inner emargi- 

 nate. Stamina: filamenta six, very short, upright; antheree 

 linear, cloven at both ends, the length of the corolla. Fe- 

 male Flowers : larger, sessile, in the same panicle. Calix : 

 glume two-valved, one-flowered ; valves lanceolate, membra- 

 naceous, sharpish, nerved, almost equal. Corolla: glume 

 two-valved, a little longer; outer valve subcylindric, rigid, 

 closely pubescent; end three-sided, sharp; back keeled, bent 

 back, and shaved at the. base ; inner valve linear, very narrow, 

 membranaceous, with the margins folded together, the edge 

 thickened oa both sides, pubescent, with the tip cloven, the 

 same length with the outer. Pistil : gerracn linear; Style 

 simple ; stigmas three, capillary, pubescent, prominent from 

 the outer corolline glume. Pericarp : none ; the outer glume 

 of the corolla enlarged invests the seed, muricatcd all round 

 with soft adhering little hooks. Seed: oblong, grooved on 

 One side, large. Observe. Schreber could not perceive any 

 nectary. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: glume two- 

 valved, one-flowered. Male Corolla: glume two-valved. 

 Female Corolla: glume one-valved, long, involving. Seed: 



one. The species ate, 



1. Pharus Latifolius; Wild Jamaica Oat. Panicle branch- 

 ed; calices apetalous, naked, awnless. This grass has many 

 filamenta, three or four inches long, with lateral fibrils unit- 

 ing in a roundish root; root-leaves several, encompassing 1 

 the stalk, and one another by their footstalks, which are stri- 

 ited, of a light brown colour, and about nine inches long; 

 stalk about a foot and half high, having below two very short 

 joints dividing at a foot from the ground into several branches, 

 on which are naked flowers half an inch in length, sessile, 

 alternate. The male flowers are smaller than the females, 

 and stand on pretty long peduncles at the back of the others. 

 -Native of the woody hills of Jamaica, where it is called 

 Wild Oats, and is reckoned wholesome food for cattle. 



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2. Prrarus Ciliatus. Panicle somewhat branched ; calices 

 apetalous, ciliste, awwless; culms very leafy, two feet high ; 

 leaves linear, narrow, rugged. Native of the East Indies. 



3. Pharus Amtatus. Panicle umbelled; calices apetal- 

 ous, awned, naked; culm above the water, scarcely two feet 

 n height. Native of the East Indies. 



Phascmn; a genus of the class Cryptogamia, order Musci. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Capsule: ovate, veiled, subses- 

 sile, or on a short bristle, closed on erery side, sometimes 

 with the rudiment of a lid, never opening. Males: subdis- 

 coid, terminating, or gemmaceous, axillary. For the species, 

 the reader is referred to Withering' 's Arrangement. They are 

 found chiefly on banks and heaths, but sometimes in bogs. 



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

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

 two-lipped; upper lip emarginate; lower three-toothed. Co- 

 rolla: papilionaceous; banner heart-shaped, blunt, emargi- 

 nate, reclined, the side bent back ; wings ovate, the length 

 of the banner, placed on long claws, keeled, narrow, rolled 

 spirally contrary to the sun. Stamina: filamenta diadel- 

 phous, (simple and nine-cleft,) within the keel, spiral ; anthe- 

 rse ten, simple. Pistil: germen oblong, compressed, villose; 

 style filiform, bent in spirally, pube*rent above; stigma 

 blunt, thickish, villose. Pericarp: legume long, straight, 

 coriaceous, blunt, with a point. Seeds: kidney-form, oblong- 

 compressed. ESSP.XTIAI, CHARACTER. Keel: with the sta- 

 mina and styles spirally twisted. The seeds of the tenderest 

 species, which are cultivated either for curiosity or ornament, 

 should be sown in a moderate hot-bed in the spring ; and 

 when the plants come up, they must be carefully transplant- 

 ed into pots, filled with light fresh earth, and plunged into 

 a hot-bed to facilitate their taking root; after which they 

 should be inured to bear the open air by degrees, and may 

 be Removed into it at the end of June or beginning of July, 

 in a sheltered situation. As they advance in growth, the 

 perennial sorts must be removed into larger pots. Srme 

 that are less tender may be sown on a warm border at the 

 end of April ; and when the plants run up, they must be sup- 

 ported. -The species are, 



* Climbing. 



1. Phasdolns Vulgar-is; Common Kidney Bean. Stem 

 I twining; flowers racemed, in pairs; bractes smaller than the 

 calix; legumes pendulous; leaves ternate, acuminate, rounded 

 at the base, rough, on long petioles; corolla white, yeltow, 

 purple, or red; legume oblong, swelling a little at the seeds, 

 when ripe one-celled; seeds several, ovate or oblong, kidney - 

 shapod, smooth, and shining: they vary exceedingly in shape 

 and size, but particularly in colour, being white, black, blue, 

 red, and variously spotted. The varieties of this species are 

 very numerous; the principal are the small White Dwarf, 

 the Black Dwarf or Negro, and the Liver-coloured Bean for 

 early crops. There is also the Battersea and Canterbury, 

 I and the large Dutch, which last grows very tall. Also the 

 | Scarlet Bean, the twining stalks of which, if properly sup- 

 i ported, will rise to the height of twelve or fourteen feet; its 

 leaves are smaller than those of the Common Garden Bean; 

 the flowers grow in large spikes, are much bigger, and of a 

 deep scarlet colour, the pods arc large and rough; and the 

 seeds are purple, marked with black, though sometimes pure 

 white. Native of the East Indies; but is much cultivated 

 in our gardens for the use of the table: it is the young 

 shells, or pods, that are eaten, and these are very whole 

 some, but when they crow old they are apt to occasion fla- 

 tulencies and indigestion. They are reported to be of a 

 diuretic nature, and to cleanse flic kidneys and ureters of 

 gravel and sabulous concretions; but they are little regarded 

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