AND GENEKAL HORTICULTURE. 



365 



RAS 



armed, ringed trunks of no great height, and 

 bear gigantic, pinnate, spiny leaves, often 

 fifty or more feet in length, and erect, so that 

 the entire trees are sometimes sixty or seventy 

 feet high. The flower spikes are also of large 

 size and much branched, hanging down from 

 among the leaves, and measuring as much 

 as six feet in length, the branches being 

 arranged in two opposite rows, and the ulti- 

 mate ones bearing the flowers resembling flat- 

 tened catkins. Both sexes are borne on the 

 same spike. The fruit spikes sometimes 

 weigh as much as two or three hundred 

 pounds, and bear a large number of one-seeded 

 fruits rather larger than eggs, covered with 

 shining, bony, overlapping scales. These 

 Palms furnish material for a great variety of 

 useful purposes, such as the manufacture of 

 baskets, boxes, mats, rope, bags, etc., besides 

 thatch for houses and other uses. While one 

 (R. vinifera) produces Palm wine in abundance, 

 another (R. Ruffia) has furnished the gardener 

 with his best tying material. This species 

 was introduced from Madagascar into England 

 as long ago as 1820, but it has only been within 

 the past ten years that its great value as a 

 fibre-producing plant has been known outside 

 of its native home. Raffia, as a tying material 

 for plants, either in the green-house or the 

 garden, supersedes Cuba bast and Russia 

 matting to such an extent that these fibres 

 are now rarely used for this purpose. It may 

 be added here, that Dr. Von Martius, the 

 great authority on Palmaceous plants, re- 

 moved the above mentioned three species 

 from Sagus, and placed them together under 

 the generic name Raphia. Sagus Ruffia, and 

 Raphia Ruffia, are therefore; one and the same 

 plant. These Palms require a high, moist 

 temperature for perfect development. Propa- 

 gated by seeds. 



Raspberry. See Rubus. 



Raspberry-jam Tree. The Acacia acuminata, 

 of western Australia, from which is obtained 

 a hard, heavy wood, with an odor resembling 

 Raspberry -j am. 



Rattan Cane. A common name for Calamus 

 Draco, and other species. 



Rattan Palm. See Rhapis. 



Rattle. Red. A common name for Pedicularis 

 sylvatica. 



Rattle. Yellow. Rhinanthus Crista-galli. 



Rattlesnake Grass. Olyceria Canadensis. 



Rattlesnake Orchid. See Pholidota. 



Rattlesnake Plantain. A local name for Good- 

 yera pubescens. 



Rattlesnake Root. Nabalus albus. 



Rattlesnake's Master. Eryngium Yucccefolium ; 

 also a local name for Liairis scariosa and L. 

 squarrosa. 



Rattlesnake "Weed. Hieracium venosum. 



Ravena'la. Said to be the native name of the 

 plant in Madagascar. Nat. Ord. Scitaminece. 



A genus comprising two splendid orna- 

 mental stove plants very much resembling 

 the Musa. One is a native of northern Brazil 

 and Guiana, the other, R. Madagascariensis, 

 as the name implies, of Madagascar. This 

 noble plant is called by the French the 

 "Traveller's Tree" on account of the water 

 which is stored up in the large cup-like 



REG 



sheaths, and which is sought for by travelers 

 to allay their thirst. The seeds are edible, 

 and the blue pulpy aril surrounding them 

 yields an essential oil. Syn. Urania speciosa. 



Ravene'a Hildebrandtii. The only described 

 species is a neat, slender Palm, nearly allied to 

 Hyophorbe. It is a native of the Comoro 

 Islands, whence it was introduced in 1878. 

 It is a very graceful, ornamental species, in 

 habit like some of the Chamcedoreas. 



Ray. Parts diverging in a circle from a central 

 point. The outer flowers, when differently 

 formed from the inner in umbels. 



Ray Grass or Rye Grass. Lolium perenne. 



Receptacle. That part of the fructification 

 which supports the other parts. 



Reclinate. Turned or curved downwards so 

 that the upper part rests on the ground or 

 some other object, as the branches of many 

 trees. 



Recurved. Bent, but not rolled, backwards or 



outwards. 



Red Bay. Laurus Carolinensis. 

 Red Bud. Cercis Canadensis. 

 Red Cedar. See Juniperus Virginiana. 

 Red Gum Tree. Eucalyptus resiniflora. 

 Red-Hot Poker. See Tritoma. 

 Red Lac. Rhua succedanea. 



Red Root or Blood Root. Popular names for 

 the fleshy rhizomes of Sanguinaria Canadensis. 

 See also Ceanothus, and Lacnanthes. 



Red Spider. See Insects. 



Red Top. The common name of Agrostis w!- 

 garis, which see. 



Red Wood. An East Indian dye-wood, the 

 produce of Pterocarpus santalinus, which see. 



Reed. See Phragmites and Arundo. 



Reed. Indian, or Indian Shot. Common names 

 for Canna Indica. 



Reed-mace. Typha latifolia. 



Reeve'sia. Named for John Reeves, F. L. S., of 

 Canton, a zealous botanist. Nat. Ord. Ster- 

 culiacece. 



A genus of green-house trees, natives of 

 Eastern Asia. R. thyrsoidea, the only intro- 

 duced species, is a very handsome tree with 

 white or cream-colored flowers and alternate, 

 broadly-lanceolate leaves. Introduced from 

 China in 1826. 



Reflexed. Abruptly bent outwards, or back- 

 wards. 



Refracted. Bent suddenly, so as to appear 

 broken at the bend. 



Regelia. Named after Dr. E. Regel, Superin- 

 tendent of the Botanic Gardens at St. Peters- 

 burgh. Nat. Ord. Myrtacece. 



A genus of green-house shrubs, with the 

 habit of Beaufortia, natives of western 

 Australia. R. ciliata, the only introduced 

 species, forms a handsome spreading, more or 

 less pubescent or hairy shrub, with bright red 

 flowers in small dense globular heads. Propa- 

 gated by cuttings of the half-ripened shoots. 

 Introduced in 1874. 



Regular. Uniform and symmetrical in shape of 

 structure. 



