zo s 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



ZO Y 



839 



two, lanceolate, uniform ; bractes ovate, ribbed, fringed, 

 imperfectly reticulated, shorter than the legume, marked 

 with glandular dots ; prickles of the legume rough. Root 

 annual, tapering, warty ; stems several, diffuse, from four 

 or five inches to a foot long, round, slender, zigzag, smooth, 

 leafy, with short alternate branches; leaves simply conjugate, 

 alternate; stipules half arrow-shaped, ribbed, entire, pointed 

 at each end ; flowers yellow, in axillary, solitary, stalked, 

 lax, bracteated spikes, longer than the leaves ; each spike of 

 from three to eight alternate flowers. Native of the East 

 Indies, in a sandy soil. 



2. Zornia Reticulata; Reticulated Zornia. Leaflets two, 

 lanceolate, the lower ones elliptical ; bractes ovate, as long 

 as the legume, strongly reticulated and fringed, without glan- 

 dular dots ; legume and its prickles downy. The root, though 

 said to be annual, is somewhat woody; herb larger than the 

 last, and quite specifically distinct ; the stems are straight, a 

 foot long, scarcely branched ; spike many-flowered; flowers 

 yellow, the standard sometimes purplish. The bractes also 

 afford a clear specific distinction in their strongly marked, 

 elevated, veiny reticulations, and the total want of resinous or 

 glandular dots, though their whole surface is minutely gra- 

 nulated, something like those of the preceding species. 

 Native of the savannas of Jamaica. 



3. Zornia Conjugata ; Ovate Zornia. Leaflets two, ovate, 

 uniform ; bractes ovate, ribbed, fringed, imperfectly reticu- 

 lated, shorter than the legume, without glandular dots; 

 legumes fringed ; its disk and prickles smooth ; flowers yel- 

 low. This is the size of the preceding, but differs essentially. 

 Native of Ceylon and Tranquebar. 



4. Zornia Latifolia ; Broad-leaved Zornia. Leaflets two, 

 roundish-ovate, the lower ones orbicular; bractes linear- 

 lanceolate, ribbed, somewhat hairy, longer than the downy 

 legumes. Root woody, annual ; stems several, prostrate, from 

 six inches to a foot long, straight, round, downy; corolla 

 yellow. Found in Guiana. 



5. Zornia Heterophylla; Various-leaved Zornia. Leaflets 

 three or four, lanceolate ; stipules half arrow-shaped ; base 

 of the bractes elongated and acute. Stem herbaceous, 

 decumbent, thread-shaped, smooth, a foot or more in length ; 

 footstalks rather longer than the leaflets ; spikes axillary, 

 many times longer than the leaves, at least the lower spikes, 

 and consisting of ten or twelve flowers, concealed by the 

 ovate three-ribbed bractes, each of which is elongated at the 

 base into an ovate-acute appendage, nearly half its own 

 length. Native of the Cape. 



6. Zornia Tetraphylla; Four-leaved Zornia. Leaflets four, 

 lanceolate ; stipules ovate ; base of the bractes somewhat 

 elongated, obtuse. This is about a foot high, much branched ; 

 flowers yellow. Perennial. Native of the sandy fields of 

 Lower Carolina. 



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

 GENERIC CHARACTER. General and partial Umbel: of 

 many unequal rays. General and partial Involttcrum : of 

 many, linear-lanceolate, acute, unequal, villous, permanent 

 leaves. Perianth: of five unequal, very short, permanent 

 teeth. Corolla : universal, nearly regular, and uniform ; 

 flowers partly perfect and fertile ; the central and lateral 

 ones, in each umbel, male: partial of five, nearly equal, 

 spreading, inversely heart-shaped, deflexed petals, rather 

 concave on each side at the keel, tapering at the base, ob- 

 liquely inflexed at the point, which is linear-lanceolate, acute, 

 involute, channelled. Stamina: filamenta five, spreading- or 

 deflexed, straight, longer than the involute corolla, dilated at 

 the base; antheree versatile, roundish, two-lobed. Pistil, in 

 the perfect florets; germen inferior, ovate, compressed, villous; 

 VOL. ii. 13G. 



styles two, thread-shaped, channelled, their tumid base wavy 

 and crenate at the margin, at length reflexed and permanent; 

 stigmas simple, obtuse. Pericarp : fruit roundish-obovate, 

 compressed, finely downy, bordered; the border externally 

 tumid, and somewhat corrugated, internally striated, emar- 

 ginate at the summit, crowned with the styles on their short, 

 nearly sessile, crisped base, thickened at the bottom ; the disk 

 elevated and striated. Seeds; two, of a similar shape, con- 

 vex in the middle, with three elevated narrow central ribs, 

 and two marginal ones ; their interstices in the upper half 

 occupied by four coloured stripes. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 General and Partial Involucrum : of many permanent leaves. 

 Corolla: uniform; some flowers male. Calix : tumid, five- 

 toothed. Petals: nearly equal, obovate, inflexed. Fruit: 

 roundish-obovate, compressed, villous, with a corrugated 

 border; the disk ribbed. The only known species is, 



1. Zosima Orientalis ; Oriental Zosima. Leaves opposite, 

 stalked, thrice pinnate, hoary with short pubescence ; leaflets 

 small, wedge-shaped, lobed, entire at the edges ; umbels two 

 or three inches in diameter, on long stalks, terminal ; partial 

 ones of from twelve to fifteen milk-white or yellowish-green 

 flowers; stem erect, nearly two feet high, cylindrical, fur- 

 rowed, somewhat branched and slightly leafy, about the thick- 

 ness of a swan's quill ; root biennial, tap-shaped, milky. The 

 whole herb, when bruised, smells like Smallage. Native of 

 Persia, Georgia, and other countries about Mount Caucasus, 

 flowering in the early part of summer. 



Zostera; a genus of the class Monandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: spadix linear, flat, 

 sheathed by the base of a leaf, bearing an indeterminate 

 number of flowers on one side ; perianth none. Corolla : 

 none. Stamina : filamenta none ; anther sessile, erect, 

 closely pressed to the spadix, simple, cylindrical, a little 

 wavy, tapering at the end. Pistil: germen solitary, parallel 

 to the anther, and of nearly a similar shape; style one, ob- 

 liquely curved, shorter than the germens ; stigmas two, linear, 

 acute, spreading. Pericarp: capsule pendulous, elliptical, 

 membranous, of one cell, not bursting. Seed: solitary, ob- 

 long, striated. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Spadix: linear, 

 sheathed by the base of a leaf, bearing the flowers on one 

 side. Perianth and Corolla: none. Anther: sessile. 



Stigmas: two, linear. Capsule: with one seed. The 



species are, 



1. Zostera Marina; Common Grass-Wrack. Leaves entire, 

 obscurely three-ribbed ; stem slightly compressed. Root 

 perennial, fibrous; stems roundish, smooth, trailing to a great 

 extent, throwing out fibres here and there ; their branches 

 floating and leafy. Though the whole herb is flaccid and ten- 

 der, yet it is said to be used by the Swedes for thatching; 

 but answers better, like other sea-weeds, for manure. Native 

 of the sea-shore, or salt muddy ditches and creeks through- 

 out Europe, flowering in autumn. There are many varieties, 

 some of which, it is suspected, will prove distinct species 

 when examined. 



2. Zostera Uninervis ; Single-ribbed Grass-Wrack. Leaves 

 entire, single-ribbed ; stem compressed, swelling at the joints. 

 Found on the coast of the Red Sea, near Mocha, growing 

 under water, and resembling overflown grass. 



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

 GEXERIC CHARACTER. Calix: glume of one valve, single- 

 flowered, ovate-oblong, compressed, cartilaginous, smooth, 

 rigid, keeled, incurved, gaping at the apex of one edge, con- 

 vex on the one side, flattish on the other. Corolla : glume 

 of two thin membranous valves, enclosed within the calix, 

 awnless; nectary none. Stamina: filamenta three, capillary, 

 short; antherse hastate. Pistil: germen superior, linear, 

 10 D 



