XER 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



XI P 



panicles lanceolate, rather dense, with opposite branches ; 

 flower-stalk flattish; flowers more numerous and crowded 

 than in the twelfth species, with long taper-pointed bractes ; 

 capsule ovate, acute, thrice as long as the calix, chestnut- 

 coloured, pale yellow at the base, its coat separating in 

 irregular fragments ; antherae uniform. Found near Port 

 Jackson and at Cape Diemen. 



16. Xerotes Hystrix; Porcupine Xerotes. Stem none; 

 leaves elongated, linear, lax, smooth-edged, somewhat toothed 

 at the extremity, a foot and half or two feet long, spreading; 

 stalk rather convex on both sides ; male panicles repeatedly 

 compound, with whorled branches ; flower-stalks of the male 

 plant numerous, erect, two-edged, though convex at each 

 side, from one to one and a half feet high, somewhat zigzag 

 occasionally, each bearing a flattish panicle, from six to four- 

 teen inches long, composed of numerous triangular branches, 

 from four to eight in a whorl, beset with numerous tufts or 

 whorls of sessile flowers, accompanied by several chaffy 

 inner bractes, and subtended by about three long, spreading, 

 external ones, with needle-like points ; bractes leafy, rigid, 

 spinous, pointed. Found near Port Jackson. It deserves a 

 place in the green-house for its fragrance and singular 

 appearance. 



17. Xerotes Arenaria; Sand Xerotes. Stem none; leaves 

 elongated, linear, smooth-edged, jagged, and toothed at the 

 end ; male panicle simple, with opposite branches ; tufts of 

 flowers globose ; bractes awl-shaped, reflexed ; flowers ob- 

 tuse. Discovered in the tropical parts of New Holland. 



"* Male Panicle whorled; Flowers stalked, in drooping tufts ; 

 Capsule rugged; Leaves entire at the point. 



18. Xerotes Distans ; Distant-flowered Xerotes. Stem 

 none ; leaves very long, channelled, very rough at the edges ; 

 male panicle with undivided branches, and distant tufts of 

 flowers; partial stalks shorter than the calix. The male 

 panicles are a foot long ; calix about a line and half. Native 

 of the tropical part of New Holland. 



19. Xerotes Media; Intermediate Xerotes. Stem none; 

 leaves very long, channelled, smooth-edged ; branches of the 

 male panicle undivided ; flowers five or six in each tuft, their 

 partial stalks scarcely so long as their very short calix; 

 female spike divided in the lower part, each branch bearing 

 one head of flowers ; calix only one third of a line in length ; 

 male panicle six inches. Native of New Holland. 



20. Xerotes Decomposita; Compound Xerotes. Stem 

 none; leaves very long, channelled, smooth-edged; male 

 panicle repeatedly compound ; tufts of few flowers ; partial 

 stalks hardly so long as the calix ; male panicles a foot long. 

 Native of the tropical part of New Holland. 



21. Xerotes Multiflora; Many flowered Xerotes. Stem 

 none; leaves very long, channelled, smooth at the back and 

 edges ; male panicle with undivided branches, each bearing 

 from one to three many-flowered tufts; partial stalks longer 

 than the calix. Found in the tropical parts of New Hol- 

 land. 



22. Xerotes jEmula; Rough Long-leaved Xerotes. Stem 

 none; leaves very long, channelled, erect, rough at the back 

 and edges ; male panicle with undivided branches, each bear- 

 ing from one to three many-flowered tufts ; partial stalks 

 longer than the calix. The roughness of the leaves distin- 

 guishes this from the preceding species. Found in the 

 country near Port Jackson. 



23. Xerotes Banksii; Banhsian Xerotes. Caulescent: 

 leaves two-ranked, flat, rough-edged; female panicle dense, 

 about the length of its two-edged stalk; branches quadran- 

 gular, very short. Found in the tropical part of New Hol- 

 land. 



'* Flowers of each sex in a cylindrical catkin-like Spike. 



24. Xerotes Hastilis ; Spear-stalked Xerotes. Stem none ; 

 spike very long; stalk round; leaves elongated. Native of 

 the southern coast of New Holland. 



Ximenia ; a genus of the class Octandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth inferior, 

 of one leaf, very small, in four pointed permanent segments. 

 Corolla: petals four, oblong, hairy internally, their lower half 

 erect, forming a tube, their upper part revolute. Stamina : 

 filamenta eight, erect, short; antherse erect, longer than the 

 filamenta. Pistil: germen superior, oblong; style thread- 

 shaped, the length of the stamina; stigma obtuse. Pericarp: 

 drupe nearly ovate. Seed: nut solitary, roundish. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Calix: four-cleft. Petals: four, hairy 

 internally, revolute at the upper part. Drupe: superior. 

 Nut : solitary. The species are, 



1. Ximenia Americana; Thorny Ximenia. Branches spi- 

 nous, round, striated; leaves oblong, two or three together, 

 in alternate tufts, from buds of many years' duration, stalked, 

 elliptic-oblong, obtuse, with a minute point, rarely emargi- 

 nate, entire, single-ribbed, smooth on both sides, about two 

 inches long ; footstalks a quarter of an inch long, smooth ; 

 thorns lateral, erect, longer than the footstalks, awl-shaped, 

 stout, but sparingly produced ; flower-stalks axillary, or rather 

 from the same bud as the leaves, not half their length, de- 

 flexed, round, divided into from three to five smooth, single- 

 flowered, partial stalks ; calix spreading, quadrangular ; 

 petals four, whitish, shaggy from the base almost to the apex, 

 on the inside, smooth externally ; fruit the size of a small 

 apple, yellow when ripe : the pulp, being sweet, is eaten by 

 negroes and children. The flowers smell like burnt frank- 

 incense. The stem is shrubby or arboreous. It is a native 

 of the island of Hispaniola, and ripens its fruit there in De- 

 cember. This, and the third species, are propagated by seeds, 

 which must be procured from the countries where they na- 

 turally grow. They should be sown in pots filled with light 

 earth, and plunged into a good hot-bed of tanners' bark. If 

 the seeds be fresh, the plants will appear in six weeks or 

 two months. When they are about three feet high, they must 

 be each carefully transplanted into a separate small pot, filled 

 with light earth, and plunged into a good hot-bed of tanners' 

 bark, shaded from the sun, till they have taken new root. 

 During the first summer they may be kept in the tan-bed, 

 under frames, where they will thrive better than in the stove, 

 but in autumn, when the nights grow cool, they must be 

 plunged into the tan-bed, where they must be always kept, 

 observing to shift them into larger pots when it is required. 

 They require a large share of free air in warm seasons ; but 

 do not flower readily in this country. 



2. Ximenia Elliptica; Elliptical Ximenia. Thorns none; 

 leaves elliptic-lanceolate; stalks many-flowered. Native of 

 New Caledonia. 



3. Ximenia Inermis ; Jamaica Ximenia. Thorns none ; 

 leaves ovate ; stalks single-flowered. It is a bushy tree, not 

 above eight or nine feet high, with a trunk of about four 

 inches and a half in diameter. -Native of Jamaica. 



Xiphidium; a genus of the class Triandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: none. Corolla: 

 inferior, of six petals, regular, permanent, the three outer ones 

 largest. Stamina: filamenta three, linear, opposite to the 

 three inner petals ; antherse ovate. Pistil: germen superior, 

 globose; style thread-shaped; stigma simple. Pericarp: 

 capsule at first fleshy, then dry, roundish, with three furrows, 

 and three cells. Seeds: numerous, roundish, pointed, insert- 

 ed into a fleshy, central, nearly globular receptacle. Observe. 

 The regularity of the flower at once distinguishes this genus 



