WEN 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



WES 



807 



Welt Root. A term signifying the dying away or falling 

 off of wheat crops, in some instances, during the winter or 

 early spring seasons. It has been supposed to infest the corn 

 most frequently where the Wheat crops have been put in on 

 Clover leys. Some incline to think, that it depends upon 

 the want of a sufficient degree of closeness and firmness in 

 the soils on the beds of mould, into which the crops have 

 been put; as, where they lie too open and in too porous a 

 state, proper nourishment is not supplied to the young Wheat 

 plants from below, so that of course they do not form their 

 roots in a proper manner. 



Wendia ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Digynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: general involucrum 

 none ; partial of a few short, unequal, lanceolate or linear, 

 deciduous leaves. Perianth : of five unequal teeth, two of 

 them, in the radiant florets, twice as large as the rest, ovate, 

 acute. Corolla : universal irregular ; flowers of the radius 

 perfect, fertile, except a few males which are interspersed ; 

 partial of five petals, with long claws ; the outer ones in the 

 radius very large, the middle one divided almost half way 

 down into two divaricated, linear-oblong, obtuse, slightly 

 falcate, equal lobes; lateral ones rather smaller, unequally 

 cloven, falcate, one lobe three or four times the length of the 

 other ; inner ones much the smallest, about equal to the 

 petals of the disk, two-lobed from their incurvation : their 

 point ovate-lanceolate, acute, channelled. Stamina: filamenta 

 five, simple, equal, spreading, the length of the smaller petals, 

 longer than the petals in the flowers of the disk ; antherae 

 nearly ovate, two-lobed. Pistil : germen oval, compressed, 

 striated, hairy; styles two, erect, at length widely spreading, 

 tapering, their base conical, winged with a membranous crisp- 

 ed border, running down from each style ; stigmas capitate, 

 obtuse, at length somewhat globular. Pericarp : fruit almost 

 perfectly smooth, obovate, nearly orbicular, compressed, bor- 

 dered, striated and striped, entire at the edges. Seeds : two, 

 uniform, emarginate, crowned, in the terminal notch, with the 

 conical, winged, sessile base of the two deflexed permanent 

 styles ; dorsal ribs three, slender, slightly elevated, converg- 

 ing at each end ; marginal ones two, parallel ; stripes four, 

 descending from the top of the seed between the ribs, obtuse, 

 club-shaped, brownish, not half the length of the seed ; bor- 

 der convex, terminating in a thin, flat, sharp edge, which is 

 channelled externally, emarginate at the bottom. Observe. 

 The want of a general involucrum, and the slightness of the 

 partial one, added to the more orbicular form of the seeds, 

 and their smoothness, appear to afford the chief marks of 

 distinction between this genus and Heracleum. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. General Involucrum : none ; partial obso- 

 lete. Flowers: radiant. Calix : unequally toothed. Fruit: 

 nearly orbicular, compressed, notched, with three ribs, and 

 four short intermediate stripes ; crowned with the styles, the 

 base of which is winged. The only species known is, 



1. Wendia Chorodanum ; Long-leaved Wendia. Root bien- 

 nial ; leaflets two pair, with an odd one ; general and par- 

 ticular involucrum scarcely discernible ; flowers snow-white, 

 those of the radius remarkably unequal ; seeds, when bruised, 

 agreeably fragrant. It flowers in July, and is a native of the 

 grassy declivities surrounding the Caucasian mineral waters 

 of Nartsana. 



Wendlandia; a genus of the class Hexandria, order Hexa- 

 gynia. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: of six leaves. 

 Petals: six, succulent. Styles: reclining. Capsules: six, 

 of one cell. Seeds: solitary. The only known spe- 

 cies is, 



1. Wenlandia Populifolia; Poplar-leaved Wendlandia. 

 Stem twining, with round branches, striated and downy when 

 VOL. ii. 133. 



young ; leaves alternate, heart-shaped, or broadly-ovate, entire, 

 tipped with a small point, rarely three-lobed, an inch and 

 half or two inches long, with three or five radiating ribs, 

 downy beneath ; footstalks round, downy, about an inch in 

 length ; flower-stalks axillary ; those of the male flowers, 

 which are generally distinct from the female, racemose, sim- 

 ple; those of the female three-cleft; flowers very small, green- 

 ish-white; berries red. Found in hedges and woods, from 

 Carolina to Florida; flowering in June and July. It is a 

 hardy plant, and flowers in European gardens in August. 



Westringia ; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Gym- 

 nospermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth in- 

 ferior, of one leaf, tubular, somewhat bell-shaped, with five 

 sides, and five prominent angles, but no furrows, divided 

 about half way down into five equal, erect, lanceolate, beard- 

 less, permanent segments. Corolla : of one petal, ringent, 

 twice as long as the calix; tube the length of the calix, 

 hairy in the throat; border two-lipped; the upper lip flat, 

 erect, divided, rather the longest; lower in three, oblong, 

 equal, spreading, entire segments. Stamina: filamenta 

 four, shorter than the border, divaricated, the two upper 

 ones longest; antherte of the two upper stamina roundish, 

 halved, those of the two lower divided, imperfect. Pistil: 

 germen in the bottom of the calix, four-lobed ; style thread- 

 shaped, the length of the longer stamina ; stigma small, cloven, 

 acute. Pericarp : none, except the hardened calix. Seeds : 

 four, obovate, naked. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. CaUx : 

 five-cleft half way down, five-sided. Upper lip of the Corolla : 

 flat, cloven ; lower in three deep equal segments. Stamina .- 

 distant, the two upper with halved antheree ; two lower with 

 divided abortive ones. The species are, 



1. Westringia Rosmariniformis ; Rosemary-leaved Westrin- 

 gia. Leaves four in a whorl, lanceolate, revolute, shining, 

 and nearly smooth above, silky beneath ; calix silky, its teeth 

 longer than the tube. The stem is shrubby, several feet high, 

 very much branched; branches either opposite or four to- 

 gether, square, silky with white close hairs, densely leafy ; the 

 leaves are spreading, an inch or rather less in length, acute, 

 single-ribbed, entire, dark green, and polished above, under- 

 neath white with silky hairs ; footstalks broad, and very short, 

 silky, without stipules ; flowers about the upper part of the 

 branches shorter than the leaves ; their corolla spreading 

 nearly an inch, white, dotted about the mouth with violet 

 spots ; antheree violet. The plant is slightly bitter, but not 

 aromatic. Native of New South Wales, near Port Jackson. 



2. Westringia Dampieri ; Dampier's Westringia. Leaves 

 four in a whorl, linear, strongly revolute, nearly smooth 

 above, hoary and opaque beneath ; calix hoary and opaque, 

 its teeth half the length of the tube. It flowers from May to 

 July in our green-houses, and was found on the southern 

 coast of New Holland. 



3. Westringia Rigida; Rigid Westringia. Leaves three 

 in a whorl, linear-lanceolate, divaricated, sharp-pointed, 

 revolute, smoothish above, hoary beneath ; calix hoary, its 

 teeth half the length of the tube. Native of New Holland. 



4. Westringia Cinerea ; Gray Westringia. Leaves three 

 in a whorl, linear, spreading, pointed, revolute, hoary on both 

 sides ; culix hoary, its teeth scarcely a quarter the length of 

 the tube. Found in the southern parts of New Holland. 



5. Westringia Angustifolia ; Narrow-leaved Westringia. 

 Leaves three in a whorl, linear, spreading, revolute, roughish 

 on the upper side, hoary beneath ; calix hoary, its teeth half 

 the length of the tube. Found in Van Diemen's Land. 



6. Westringia Longifolia; Long-leaved Westringia. Leaves 

 three in a whorl, linear, revolute, rough, with minute points 

 on the upper side, slightly hairy beneath ; calix rather hairy, 



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