TAR 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



TAX 





Tansy. See Tanacetnm. ' 



Tansy, Wild. See Potcntilla. 



Tapioca. See Jatrojtha Manihot. 



Tap Root. That sort of root which shoots directly down- 

 ward to a great depth. In the vegetable kinds of tap-rootetl 

 plants, they all require a deeply broken-down and prepared 

 soil, in order to grow them with any success, and to any 

 considerable sizes. And in the tree sorts, they mnst always 

 rise from the seeds where they are sown, as they cannot be 

 transplanted out with any propriety or advantage. Where 

 the land is not properly prepared to a suitable depth, they 

 arc usually short, forked, and of awkward growth ; and when 

 iraisetl by transplanting, very small and stinted; but some of 

 them cannot be at all grown in the last method. 



Tarchonanthus ; a genus of the class Syng-enesia, order 

 Polygamiii-jEqualis. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: com- 

 mon turbinate, one-leafed, commonly half seven-cleft, colour- 

 ed internally, shorter tliati the corolla, sharpish, permanent. 

 Corolla: compound uniform; florets about twenty; corollets 

 hermaphrodite, numerous, equal ; proper one-petalled, funnel- 

 forw, five-toothed. Stamina: filamenta five, capillary, very 

 'short; antheroe cylindric, tubular, length -of the corollet, 

 tailed ait the base. Pistil: germen inferior, -oblong; 'style 

 twice as long as the flower; stigma's two, ga'prng. Pericarp: 

 'none; the calix unchanged. Seeds: solitary, oblong. Dmvn : 

 hairy, investing the seed all round. Receptacle: hairy, very 

 small; hairs length of the calix. Observe. The down is 

 singular in this, Chat it does not crown, but invest the seed. 

 ESSKNTIXL CHARACTER. Calix : one-leafed, commonly half 

 seven-cleft, turbinate. Seeds: covered with down. Recep- 

 tacle: villose. The plants of this genus are too tender to'ltve 

 through the winter in the open air of England, but requiring 

 wo artificial heat, may be placed with Myrtles, Oleanders, &c. 

 in winter; and may be exposed in summer to the open air in 

 ia sheltered situation. They may be increased by cuttings, 

 planted in May, in pots filled with light earth; and if plunged 

 into a moderate hot-bed, it will promote their putting out 

 roots. Screen lliem from the sun until they have taken root, 

 the middle of July, and then transplant each into a 

 pot, which must be placed in the shade to-take root, 

 fle.r which they may stand with other hardy exotic plants in 

 * sheltered situation, to the middle or end of October, when 

 they should be removed into the green-house, placing them 

 where they may have a large share of air in mild weather. 

 (Being very thirsty planU, they must be very often watered. 



They require shifting into larger pots once a year. The 



species ure, 



1. Tarchormnthus Cmnphoratus; Shrubby African Flcabane. 

 Leuve< oblong, flat, densely downy beneath ; stem strong, 

 woody, rising to the height of twelve or fourteen feet, -sending 



t many woody brandies at the top, which may be trained 

 a regular head. The flowers are produced in spikes at 

 .6-extremity of the shoots, and being of a dull purple colour, 

 not make any great appearance. Native of the Cape. 



2. Tarchonanlhus Glaber; Smooth African Flealinnr. 

 Loaves smooth, entire, toothed. This very much resembles 

 the preceding species, but is void of smell, and entirely 

 ~ looth all over. It varies with wider and narrower, entire 



d toothed leaves. Native of the Cape. 



.'i. Taichonanthus Ericoides ; Heath-like African Fleabane. 



aves oblong, smooth, imbricated in furrows; calices four- 



ved. This is w stiff branching shrub, seldom attenuated 

 at ihe top; corollas few, minute, concealed within the snow- 

 white down of the receptacle, which is much larger than the 

 flower. Native of the Cape. 



Tare. See Ereum and View.. 



Targionia ; a genus of the class Cryptogamia, order Hepa- 

 tic. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth a continued 

 membrane, finely reticulated, enveloping the pistil, at length 

 bursting. Slamina: antherae numerous, roundish, s*ssil, 

 scattered over the inside of the perianth. Pistil : gerrnen 

 oval, nearly sessile, accompanied at the base by the rudi- 

 menta of others, with abortive styles; style terminal, awl- 

 shaped, tubular, deciduous ; stigma concave. Pericarp : 

 capsule sessile, nearly globose, of two hemispherical valves, 

 bursting vertically, and one cell. Seeds: very numerous, 

 minute, roundish, connected by five threads into a dense glo- 

 bular mass. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Capsule: globose, 

 of two concave valves, and one cell. Seeds: numerous, com- 

 bined by fibres into a globe. The only known species is, 



1. Targionia Hypophylla; Dotted Targionia. Fronds 

 oblong, inversely heart-shaped, three-quarters of an inch in 

 .length, growing nearly horizontally, in dense imbricated 

 patches, attached by copious fine fibrous roots ; their upper 

 surface dark-green, marked -with a slight longitudinal furrow, 

 and besprinkled with pale prominent points; the under side 

 black, becoming visible when, by drought, the margins are 

 curled in. Very common in heathy and rather moist places, 

 among Mosses, on old walls and rocks in Italy. It is said 

 also to have been found in Devonshire, and in Scotland. 



Taxits; a genus of the class Dioecia, order Monadelphia. 

 GENERIC CHA.RACTER. Male. Calix: none, except a 

 bud like a four-leaved perianth. Corolla : none. Stamina : 

 filamenta numerous, united at bottom into a column, longer 

 than the bud ; antherse depressed, blunt at the edge, eight- 

 cleft, gaping every way at the base, and when they have dis- 

 charged their pollen, flat, peltate, and remarkable for their 

 eight-cleft margin. Female, Calix: inferior, one-leafed, 

 close, undivided, entire. Corolla : none. Pistil : germen 

 ovate-acuminate; style none; stigma obtuse. Pericarp! 

 berry from the receptacle elongated into a preputium, globu- 

 lar, succulent, gapiSig at the top, coloured, at length wasting 

 from dryuess, and evanescent. Seed: one, ovate-oblong, 

 prominent at the top, beyond the berry. Observe. The 

 berry, strictly speaking-, ought not to be called a pericarp. 

 It is remarkable ; nor does a similar berry occur, except in 

 in Gualtheria. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. Calix: 

 none. Corolla: none. Stamina: many. Anthers: : peltate, 

 eight-cleft. Female. Calix: cup-shaped, entire. Corolla: 

 none. Style: none, Seed: one, in an entire berried calix. 

 The species are, 



1. Taxus Baccata; Common Yew Tree. Leaves linear, 

 approximating:, nearly flat. Trunk straight, with a smooth 

 deciduous bark ; wood very hard, tough, and of a fine grain : 

 flowers axillary, enveloped with imbricate bractes ; the male 

 on one tree, sulphur-coloured, without a calix ; the female 

 on another, with a small green calix, assuming the appear- 

 ance of a scarlet berry, sustaining the oval, flattish seed: it 

 in some degree resembles a small acorn whilst it is young; 

 but as it advances, the scarlet cup becomes more fleshy, and 

 is elongated till it covers the whole seed or nut, except a 

 round hole at the tip. The comparative value of a Yew with 

 other trees, in former times, may be seen from the following 

 table, taken from the ancient laws of Wales. 



A consecrated Yew, its value is a pound; 



An Oak, its value is sixscore pence ; 



A misletoe branch, its value is threescore pence; 



Thirty pence is the value of every principal branch in .the Oak; 



Threescore pence is the value of a sweet Apple-tree ; 



Thirty pence is the value of a sour Apple-tree; 



Fifteen pence is the value of a wood Yew-tree; 



Seven-pence half-penny is the value of a Thorn-tree; 



Four pence is the value of every tree after that. 



