314 DICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES PARTRIDGE 



but cultivated its roots become succulent, forming a nourishing 

 and useful vegetable ; it is extensively cultivated in Jersey for 

 feeding swine, and makes excellent pork. It contains sugar, 

 and a kind of wine is made from it called Parsnip Wine. 



Partridge Berry. {See Shallon.) 



Partridge Wood, a common name for tlie wood of one or 

 more not well ascertained trees. Heisterict coccinea is a tree 

 15 to 20 feet high, of the Olacad family (Olacacese), native of 

 the West Indian Islands, particularly Martinique. The fleshy 

 fruit affords abundance of food to pigeons and other birds, hence 

 the French call it Pois ^9c?Y?ri?;, signifying Partridge Pea ; they 

 also call it Bois i^erclrix, Partridge-wood; it is, however, considered 

 not to be identical with the Partridge-wood of commerce, which 

 is, by some, supposed to be the wood of Anclira inermis, a tree 

 of the Bean family (Leguminos^e), native of the West Indies. 



Passion Flowers. — Passiflora, the name of an extensive 

 genus of climbing shrubs of the Passion-flower family (Passi- 

 floracete) ; there are about two hundred, the greater number 

 of which are natives of Brazil and the West Indies, as well as 

 other parts of tropical America, where they climb from tree to 

 tree, interlacing in the most complex manner, and beautifying 

 the scene by their showy flowers and fruit. {See Granadilla.) 

 A few are found in Xorth America, one or two in the East 

 Indies, two in Norfolk Island and Australia. The stems of 

 some of the climbers attain the thickness of the arm, and look 

 like ropes ; their vascular structure is very open, containing a 

 large quantity of water. A stem of P. actina, at Kew, when cut 

 yielded nearly a gallon of clear water in about one minute. A 

 great many are cultivated in hothouses for the sake of their 

 showy flowers, and the common Passion Flower {P. cmrulea) is 

 hardy in the open air when trained against walls. 



Patchouli, a name for Pogostemon Patchouli, an erect plant 

 of the Mint family (Labiatse), growing to a height of 2 or 

 more feet, having broad oval leaves 3 or 4 inches in length. 

 The dry leaves have a peculiar perfume, and are extensively 

 used for many purposes ; the scent of Patchouli was at one time 



