526 MESEMBRYACEyE. [Perigtnous Exogens. 



the Hottentot's Fig of the Cape colonists ; Mesembryanthemum emarcidum, when 

 bruised and fermented, acquires a narcotic property, and is chewed like Tobacco by the 

 Hottentots (Burnett); others yield an abundance of soda. M. crystallinum in Spain, 

 and M. copticum and nodiHorum in Egypt, are collected for the purpose of furnishing 

 alkali for glassworks ; the former is called Barilla Moradera by the Spaniards, who 

 import large quantities of its ashes from the Canaries, where the seeds are eaten as a 

 common food, according to Broussonet. Mesemhryanthemum nodifiorum is used in 

 the manufacture of Maroquin leather. M. crystallinum (the Ice-plant) is remarkable 

 for the abundance of watery pustules with which it is covered ; its juice is said to be 

 diuretic, and has been prescribed in dropsy and liver complaints. M. geniculiflorum is 

 used in Africa as a potherb, and its seeds are ground into flour. Lewisia rediviva is an 

 article of food among the natives of north-west America, who call it Spatulum or 

 SpaJt'luni. The roots, after the bark is stripped off, seem from the relation of travellers 

 to consist of little more than starch.— Gray and Torrey, 1. 678. The natives of Austra- 

 lia eat the fruit of M. sequilaterale (Pig-faces, or Canagong). The seed-vessel of this 

 plant is about an inch and a half long, of a yellowish, reddish, or green colour, and 

 somewhat obconical. The pulp is sweetish and saline.— Backhouse. 



GENERA. 



Mesembryanthemum, L. iGlinus, L. 

 llymenogyne, Haw. ] Rolofa, Adans. 

 Mesembryon, Adans. I Plenckia, Kahn 



Physa, Thouars. i Axonntechium , Fenz. 



Orygia, Forsk. \ Lewisia, Pursh. 



Corbichonia, Scop |?Beloanthera, Haiti 



Numbers. Gen. 5. Sp. 375. 



Cactacece. 



Position. Mesemkf.yace.-e.— Tetragoniaceae. 



Portulacea. 



Glinus is referred by Ach. Richard (Fl. Abyss., i. 48) to Mollugo, in Caryophyllaeea?. 



The Lewisia rediviva is said by Mr. Geyer to be the Racine anieYe of the Canadian 

 Voyageurs — pungent and spicy when raw- agreeable and wholesome when cooked. 

 It is also called Tobacco root, because when cooked it has somewhat the smell of 

 chewing tobacco. A long account of it will be found in the London Journal of 

 Botany, V. 306. 



