324 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



PHY 



South America. P. pictu&, is one of the most 

 deiicately-beautiful objects which the re- 

 searches of modern botanists have furnished 

 to our collections. Its leaves are a rich, 

 tender green, reticulated with numberless 

 silvery-looking veins, of the most exquisite 

 markings, having the appearance of a net- 

 work of silver on a ground of bright green 

 velvet. It requires the same treatment as 

 Ancectochilus, to which it is nearly allied. 



Phyte'lephas. Vegetable Ivory Nut. From 

 phyton, a plant, and elephas, ivory ; buttons 

 and toys are made from the hard albumen of 

 the nuts. Nat. Ord. Palmacece. 



P. macrocarpa, the Ivory Plant of South 

 America, 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 account are regarded by some bota- 

 nists as the type of a separate natural order, 

 PhytelephantetB. The separation, however, 

 has not yet been made. There are two 

 species, similar in all respects, except in the 

 size of the fruit, and both inhabit the same 

 locality. P. macrocarpa, 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 regions, as at Darien, but also on 

 mountains rising 3,000 feet above the level of 

 the sea. It is generally found in detached 

 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 Pandanus, to which it is allied. It 

 thus forms a creeping stem, which is fre- 

 quently 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 flow- 

 ers are produced in axillary clusters, and 

 emit a powerful perfume. The fruit, a col- 

 lection of six or seven drupes, forms clusters, 

 which are as large as a man's head, at first 

 erect, but ultimately hanging down when the 

 weight increases. A plant bears at one time 

 from six to eight of these heads, each weigh- 

 ing, when ripe, about twenty-five pounds. 

 Each drupe contains from six to nine seeds or 

 nuts. The seed at first contains 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 suffi- 

 ciently long to make their purchases, and are 

 compelled to return to their vessels at 

 night. 



Fhyte'uma. Horned Eampion. Linnaeus 

 adopted this name from Dioscorides ; mean- 

 ing unknown. Nat. Ord. Campanulacece. 



An extensive genus of hardy herbaceous 

 plants, the majority of which are interesting 

 aids in the embellishment of rock work or 

 similar places, where they speedily extend 

 themselves. They are mostly natives of the 



PIE 



temperate parts of Europe and Asia, and have 

 long been under cultivation. Propagated by 

 seeds or by division. 



Fhytola'cca. Poke Weed, or Scoke-berry. 

 From phyton, a plant, and lacca, lac ; the crim- 

 son color of the fruit. Nat. Ord. Phytolac- 

 cacece. 



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 

 cultivated for the berries, the juice of which 

 is used to color Port wine. The root has 

 medical qualities. The young shoots in 

 spring are often used by country people as a 

 substitute for Asparagus. 



Phytolacca'ceae. A natural order of under- 

 shrubs or herbs, with alternate, entire, often 

 dotted leaves, natives of America, Asia, and 

 Africa. There is frequently much acridity in 

 the plants of this order, and some of them 

 act as irritant emetics, and purgatives. The 

 order which was long confounded with 

 Chenopodiacece, contains twenty known 

 genera, including Phytolacca, and Rivinia, and 

 about eighty species. 



Piassaba or Picaba Fiber. See Leopoldinia. 



Pi'cea. Silver Fir. From pix, pitch ; the trees 

 produce abundance of resin. Nat. Ord. Con- 

 iferce. 



A genus of mostly hardy evergreen trees 

 formerly included in the genus Abies. The 

 difference in the genera is very slight, con- 

 sisting only in the shape of their cones, and 

 the bracts not falling away from the axis at 

 maturity, as in Abies. As no two works on 

 Coniferce agree, and the genera Abies and 

 Picea, are generally transposed, we follow the 

 names generally accepted by nurserymen in 

 this country and England. P. pectinata, the 

 Silver Fir, has rich green foliage, silvery 

 underneath. It is a vigorous grower and 

 stands pruning well. P. Cephalonica, bush- 

 like when young, but eventually pyramidal, is 

 a beautiful species, and generally hardy. P. 

 firma, the Japanese Silver Fir, is one of the 

 most vigorous and hardy, and is a distinct 

 and interesting species. P. Nordmanniana, 

 introduced from, the Crimea in 1818, is one 

 of the most stately and symmetrical as well 

 as effective of evergreen trees. It is of slow 

 growth, with dark-green, massive foliage, 

 silvery underneath ; the contrast between its 

 old and new growth being most charming. 

 P. Pichta, the Siberian Silver Fir, has very 

 dark green leaves, soft and rich to the touch. 

 P. Pinsapo, is a very handsome densely- 

 branched species, resembling P. Cephalonica, 

 but not entirely hardy in this latitude. There 

 are many other desirable species, such as, 

 P. Veitchii, P. nobilis, P. amabilis, P. pec- 

 tinata compacta, etc., for descriptions of which 

 see nursery catalogues. 



Piceus. Black, changing to brownish black. 



Pickerel Weed. See Pontederia. 



Picotee. One of the florist's varieties of Dian- 

 thus Caryophyllus. See Dianthus. 



Picrorhi'za. From pikros, bitter, and rhiza, a 

 root ; in allusion to the bitterness of the root. 

 Nat. Ord. Scrophulariacece. 



P. Kurrova is a hardy perennial plant, a 

 native of the Himalayas, the thick root of 

 which is used in Hindoo medicine. 



Pie'rcea. A synonym of Rivinia. 



