170 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



PHY 



Physurus. From physa, a bladder, and oura, a 

 tail. Linn. Gynandria-Monandria. Nat. Ord. 

 Orchidacece. 



A small genus of lovely little Orchids, both 

 epiphytal and terrestrial. They are natives of 

 South America. P. pictus is one of the most deli- 

 cately-beautiful objects which the researches of 

 modern botanists have furnished to our collec- 

 tions. Its leaves are a rich, tender green, retic- 

 ulated with numberless silvery-looking veins, 

 of the most exquisite markings, having the ap- 

 pearance of a net-work of silver on a ground of 

 bright green velvet. It requires the same treat- 

 ment as AnaictocMus, to which it is nearly al- 

 lied. 



Phy telephas. Vegetable Ivory Nut. From phy- 

 ton, a plant, and elephas, ivory; buttons and toys 

 are made from the hard albumen of the nuts. 

 Linn. Polygamia-Digynia. Nat. Ord. Palmacea>. 

 P. inacrocarpa, the Ivory Plant of South Amer- 

 ica, is the representative of a curious genus 

 closely allied to the Palms, and having their 

 habit; but they differ from them in having an 

 indefinite number of stamens, and on that ac- 

 count are regarded by some botanists as the type 

 of a separate natural order, Phytelephantece. The 

 separation, however, has not yet been made. 

 There are two species, similar in all re- 

 spects, except in the size of the fruit, and 

 both inhabit the same locality. P. macrocar- 

 pa, the large-seeded species, is a native of 

 the northern parts of South America, and was 

 known to botanists long before the nuts had a 

 commercial value. It inhabits damp localities, 

 such as valleys and banks of rivers, and is found 

 not only on the coast region, as at Darien, but 

 also on mountains rising 3,000 feet above the 

 level of the sea. It is generally found in de- 

 tached groves, seldom intermixed with other 

 trees. The trunk is always pulled down, partly 

 by its own weight, and partly by its aerial roots, 

 which it possesses in common with the Panda- 

 nus, to which it is allied. It thus forms a 

 creeping stem, which is frequently twenty feet 

 long, but is seldom higher than six feet. The 

 top is crowned with from twelve to twenty leaves, 

 from twelve to eighteen feet long. The male 

 and female flowers are on separate trees, and 

 the trunk of the male plant is always more erect 

 and taller than that of the female. The flowers 

 are produced in axillary clusters, and emit a 

 powerful perfume. The fruit, a collection of six 

 or seven drupes, forms clusters, which are as 

 large as a man's head, at first erect, but ulti- 

 mately hanging down when the weight increases. 

 A plant bears at one time from six to eight of 

 these heads, each weighing, when ripe, about 

 twenty-five pounds. Each drupe contains from 

 six to nine seeds or nuts. The seed at first con- 

 tains a clear, insipid fluid, with which travelers 

 allay their thirst; afterward this liquor becomes 

 milky and sweet. When matured, it is almost as 

 hard as ivory. These nuts are gathered in large 

 quantities by the natives, and sold to traders, 

 who are allowed on shore only sufficiently long 

 to make their purchases, an d are compelled to 

 return to their vessels at night. 



Phyteuma. Linnaeus adopted this name from 

 Dioscorides; meaning unknown. Linn. Pentan- 

 dria-Mbnogynia. Nat. Ord. Campanulacece. 



An extensive genus of hardy herbaceous 

 plants, the majority of which are interesting 

 aids in the embellishment of rock-work or sim- 

 ilar places. They speedily extend themselves. 

 They are mostly natives of the temperate parts 



PIL 



of Europe and Asia, and have long been under 

 cultivation. Propagated by division. 



Phytolacca. Poke Weed. From phyton, a plant, 

 and lacca, lac; the crimson color of the fruit. 

 Linn. Decandria-Decagynia. Nat. Ord. Phytolac- 

 cacecK. 



P. decandria, our common Virginia Poke 

 Weed, is the type of the genus. At home it is a 

 rank weed. In Portugal it is said to be culti- 

 vated for the berries, the juice of which is used 

 to color Port wine. The root has medicinal 

 qualities. The young shoots in spring are of- 

 ten used by country people as a substitute for 

 Asparagus. 



Piassaba or Piacaba Fiber. See Leopoldinia. 



Pickerel Weed. Sae Pontederia. 



Picotee. One of the florist's varieties of Dianthus 

 Caryophyllus. See Dianthus. 



Pilea. From pileos, a cap; alluding to one divi- 

 sion of the perianth. Linn. Moncetia- Tetrandria. 

 Nat. Ord. Utricacece. 



An extensive genus of annual or perennial 

 herbaceous plants, most of which may be de- 

 scribed as mere weeds. P. serpyllifolia is known 

 as the Artillery Plant. This species is a na- 

 tive of the West Indies, and is a useful, low- 

 growing, mossy-looking plant, remarkable for 

 the manner in which it discharges its pollen 

 grains. When the flowers are ready to expand, 

 the least moisture causes the calyx to expand, 

 and the pollen is thrown out with great force to 

 the distance of nearly a foot. By putting a 

 plant, when in flower, quickly in a vessel of 

 warm water, these discharges will be rapidly 

 kept up for some minutes, a perfect representa- 

 tion of miniature artillery, both in sound and 

 smoke. The plants are well adapted for bas- 

 kets, stands, or rockeries. P. muscosa, is now 

 extensively used for massing with Echeverias 

 and other plants used in "carpet bedding." 

 Propagated freely by cuttings. 



Pilocereus. From pi!os, wool, and cereus ; allud- 

 ing to the long hairs upon the spine cushions. 

 Linn. Icosandria-Mbnoqynia. Nat. Ord. Cactacew. 

 The well-known Old Man Cactus, and a few 

 allied species, have been separated under this 

 name from the genus Cereus, but, as in other 

 genera of Cactacece, the distinguishing charac- 

 ters are scarcely of generic importance. All the 

 species are natives of Mexico and tropical Amer- 

 ica. P. senilis, the Old Man Cactus, the one met 

 in our green-houses, but by no means common, 

 is usually seen from one to two feet high, and 

 rarely three, but in Mexico, its native country, it 

 attains a height of from twenty to twenty-five 

 feet, with a diameter of nine or ten inches, and 

 its fluted character gives it somewhat the ap- 

 pearance of an architectural column. The stem 

 is divided into thirty or forty narrow furrows 

 with corresponding ridges, which are furnished 

 at very short distances with tufts of white spines, 

 surrounded by numerous long, flexible white 

 hairs, resembling the gray hairs of an old man's 

 head; hence has arisen not only the common 

 name of the plant, but also its scientific appel- 

 lation. When young the stems are fleshy and 

 succulent, but when they get old their tissue 

 becomes filled with an extraordinary quantity of 

 small sand-like grains, composed of oxalate of 

 lime, not less than from sixty to eighty per cent, 

 having been found in individual stems. This 

 genus requires the same culture as other Cacti, 

 and is increased in the same manner. 



Pilogyns suayis. A very beautiful climbing 

 plant belonging to the Nat. Ord. Cucurbitacece. 



