.XLIII, XEEOTIDE^. 861 



antiscorbutic qualities." The root of DianeUa odorata is used in Java, according to Blume, with other 

 aromatics, in the composition of pastilles for burning. The Dragon Tree (Dractma Draco), remarlcable 

 for its monstrous dimensions and prodigious longevity, exudes from its trunk a red resinous juice (one of 

 the many kinds of Dragon's Blood), used medicinally as an astringent. This resin has its analogue 

 amongst XantJiorr/iaas, which we have placed near Xerntidea. The Dragon Tree of Orotava is visited 

 by all travellers in the Canary Islands. Its trunk below the lowest branches is 80 feet in height, and 

 ten men holding hands can scarcely encircle it. When Teneritfe was discovered in 1402, tradition affirms 

 that it was already as large aa it is now ; a tradition confirmed by the slow growth of the young Dragon 

 Trees in the Canaries, of which the age is exactly known ; whence it has been calculated that the Dragon 

 Tree of Orotava is the oldest plant now existing on the globe. 



XLII. ROXBURGHIACEJS, Wallich? 



[Twining half-slirubby plants. Leaves alternate, petioled, ovate, coriaceous ; 



nerves parallel, with cross venules. Flotveks large, solitary, axiUarj, foetid. Perianth 



of 4 lanceolate petaloid segments. Stamens 4, hypogynous ; filaments very short ; 



anthers large, basifixed, 2-celled, dehiscence longitudinal, produced into a very long 



appendage. Ovaet 1-celled ; style ; stigma pointed ; ovules many, on 2 basal 



placentas, anatropous. Capsule 1-celled, 2-valved, many-seeded. Seeds narrow, 



obovoid, appendiculate, on v.ery long funicles, which form two fascicles, and have a 



whorl of vesicles round the apex below the seed ; testa thick, furrowed ; albumen 



fleshy. Embeto slender, axile. 



ONLY GENUS. 



Roxburghia. 



A genus of very few species, natives of Trans-Gangetic India and the Malayan Islands. The 

 tuberous root is candied in India. — Ed.] 



XLIII. XEROTIDE^, Endlicher. 



Perennial heees. Stem or very short. Leaves Grass-like or filiform, dilated 

 at the base, or reduced to radical sheaths {Aphyllanthes). Plowees ? , or dioecious 

 {Xerotes, Dasylirion), in a raceme, spike, head or umbel. Peeianth petaloid or sub- 

 coloured {Xerotes, Abama), with 6 equal leaflets or segments. Stamens 6, hypogy- 

 nous or perigynous ; anthers 2-celled, oblong or ovoid, sometimes peltate (Xeroies). 

 Ovaet free, with 3 1-2- rarely several-ovuled cells {Abama, Xanthorrhoea), sometimes 

 1-celled {Calectaeia); styles 3, usually united ; ovules attached near the base of the 

 cells, erect. Capsule with 3 loculicidal semi-septiferous valves, sometimes 1-seeded 

 and indehiscent {Eingia, Calectaeia); albumen fleshy or cartilaginous. EMbeto 



straight, basilar or axile. 



^ PEINCIPAL GENERA. 



Abama. Dasylirion. Sowerbeea, Apbyllantbes. 



Xerotes. Xanthon-hcsa. " Kingia. Calectasia. 



1 I am nnaWaiB of the authority for this statement.— Ed. ' This Otipt is omitted in the original.— Eu. 



