980 



MAXGIFERA 



than the ovary; petals inserted at the liase of the disk, 

 5, rarely 4, with 1-5 veins, wliifh are prominent on the 

 upper side but scarcely so at the apex; ■^ "" -*■■-"- ■■ 

 1-2, inserted at the base of the disk. B. 



MANGO. 



gik'i-d. 



fertile stamens 

 M. 4ol0. 



W. M. 

 Consult Man- 



MANGOSTEEN. Gar- 



fluid Maiiijostd no. 



MANGROVE (probably an 

 alteri^'d Mah-iyan name) is a 

 iia]iie applied to species of 

 iiliizopliora (Ureek, root- 

 bi'driiif/}. The Rhizophoras 

 are perhaps 5 or G in num- 

 lier. and are widely distri- 

 liuted on tropical shores. 

 The genus s'ives name to 

 tlie family l^hLiophoraccc/, 

 which Bentham <te Hooker 

 1362. The beg-inning of g-ermi- place in ch)se relation to 

 ' nation in the Mangrove, tbn Contbr/daceo; and iMyr- 

 iiit.-fii'. The common Man- 

 grove, li. Maii;il>\ Linn., is one of the commonest 

 plants on the swampy shores of tropical and subtropi- 

 cal seas. It is not in cultivation, but its strange meih- 

 ods of propagation make it one of the most interesting 

 of plants. The following account is reprinted from 

 Bailey's "Lessons with Plants:" 



The Mangrove grou's on the low shores of tropical 

 lands. It extends as far north as the twenty-ninth par- 

 allel in Florida, and occurs at the njoutb of the Missis- 

 sippi and on the coast of Texas. It is a spreading bush, 

 reaching a height of 15 to J5 feet upon the shores, but 

 becoming a tall tree in various places. It is an important 

 agent in the extension of land into the sea. The means 

 by which this result is accomplished are two. The fruit 

 is small and capsuledike, but does not fall from the tree 

 at maturity. A fruit is shown natural size in Pig. 1302. 

 The seed is germinating, sending its caulicle out through 

 the apes of the fruit. In Fig. 1IJG3 the germination is 

 further progressed. In Fig. i;_lG4, germination is nearly 

 completed. The seed has endosperm. The cotyledons do 

 not unfold in germination, but a woody tube grows from 

 them and projects from tlie fruit to the point a. Inside 

 this tube is the plumule. The liypocotyl continues to 

 elongate, becoming thick and heavy at its lower end. 

 When 6 inches or a foot long, it breaks away from the 

 joint n, carrying the liberated plumule with it, and strikes 

 TOOt-end down in the mud. Roots push out from the 

 lower end, and the epicotyl rapidly elongates and lears 

 itself al>ove the water. A piece of a Mangrove brant h is 

 shown natural size in Fig. 

 l.'jfio. An ai-'rial root is push- 

 ing through the thick Ijark. 

 The root makes a strong 

 curve when it strikes off the 

 branch, and then growls di- 

 rectly downward towards the 

 water. The branch from which 

 it springs may be only a few 

 inclres above the water, or it 

 may ))e 10 feet; but the root 

 pushes on until it inserts it- 

 self in the mud, and there 

 makes a root system of its 

 own. These long, lithe, de- 

 scending roots (Fig. l.'.!6fj|, 

 swaying in the wind, are char- 

 acteristic featuresof the M;in- 

 grove swamp. Usually the 

 hanging roots are un- 

 branrhed, but now and then 

 the tip Itreaks up into shoi't 

 l)r-;(nciic.s( > jg 1367) before it readies the water. These 

 long roots remain attached at the upper end, and become 

 trunks. The Mangrove phtiit;ilioii, therefore, lieconjes 

 ;in interwoven mass, and thus mnn-hi's on into the tidal 

 rivers uud the or*ean, cati'hin;:; the llolsaui and jetsam of 

 the sea; and thereiiy it huihis land and extends the 



1363. 



""he hypocotyl 



en'.arging. 



MANIHOT 



shores. In the quiet recesses of the Mangrove swamp 

 aquatic and ampliibious lifetinds refuge. The shell-fish 

 cling to the trunks and at low tide they are exposed, tlius 

 giving rise to the stories of the early explorers that 

 oysters grow on trees. All this will recall the accounts 

 of tlie banyan tree, and there are wild fig trees (the 

 banyan is a tig) in Florida and southward which behave 

 in a similar way. It seems strange that roots should 

 strike out into the air, but the reader may have observed 

 the "brace roots" near the ground on Indian corn; and 

 many plants, as the ivy and trumpet-creeper, climb by 

 means of roots. 



MANIHOT (native Brazilian name). ISiiphorhidcfiP. 

 About 80 species of perennial herbs or shrubs, with 

 milky juice, occurring in tropical America, mostly in 

 Brazil. Nearly always smooth and blue-green colored; 

 Ivs. alternate, entire or palmately lobed or divided: 

 rts. large for tlio or-l^r, racemose or paniculate, terminal 

 or axilhiry, uhuhim rous; calyx imbricate in the bud, 

 campanulate or rndiatf. often petal-like, 5-lobed; petals 

 none; stamens fnw, in 2 whorls in the angles of tlie 

 disk: cupsules 3-celled, 3-seeded. Not much grown in 

 greenhouses. L-'xcept in tovms of M. jui/nm/ft . Tho eco- 

 uoniir spiM'irs nuiy do woll in the tropical parts of the 

 Unilrd Stains, wlien^ they ;ire being introduced. Ac- 

 cni'diui;- 1o Nir.holsoii . tlicy are bpst growTi in peat loam 

 and sand, and pro[>agated liy cultings of young, rather 



