X A N 



copious, fmaJi, hooked prickles. The wild plant makes 

 a confpicuous appearance in winter, on banks about 

 Montpellier. 



For A' frutkofum, Linn. Suppl. 418, fee FranseRIA. 



Xan thium, in yli'i-.-ulture, a term under which the leflcr 

 burdock is fometimes known by writers, and which is 

 found to be a very tronblefome weed. See Weed. 



XANTHOCHYMUS, v\ Botany, received that name, 

 either from Dr. Roxburgh or Mr. Dryander, in allufion to 

 the remarkable ycl.ow juice of its fruit ; the word being 

 compounded of ^-•.;%:, yello'w, and x^f"-! juice. — Roxb. 

 Coromand. v. 2. 51. Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 4. 420. — Clafa 

 and order, Polyadelphia Polyandria. Nat. Ord. Guttifem, 

 Juff. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of five roundifh, un- 

 equal, obtufe, (lattifh, fprtading, flightly imbricated, perma- 

 nent leaves. Cor. Petals five, orbicular, nearly feflile, op- 

 pofite to the calyx-leaves, and twice as long. Neftary of 

 five broad, (hort, abrupt, porous glands, oppofite to the 

 petals, alternate with the ftamens, inferted into the receptacle 

 u.-^.dcr the germen. Stam. Filaments twenty, united into five 

 oblong, linear, flat bodies, alternate with the neftaries, and 

 above twice as long ; anthers ftalked, roundifh, of two lobes 

 and two cells. Pijl. Germen fuperior, globofe ; ftyle 

 fcarcely any ; ftigmas five, fpreading horizontally, obtufe, 

 deciduous. Perk. Berry globofe, fucculent, with five ovate 

 feeds, immerfed in the pulp, fome of which are generally 

 abortive. 



Eir. Ch. Calyx of five leaves. Petals five. Neftaries 

 five, abrupt. Stamens united into five fets, alternate with 

 the neftarics. Berry with from one to five feeds. 



I. X. p'ltlorius. Painter's Golden-apple. Roxb. Coro- 

 mand. v. 2. 51. t. 196. Ait. n. I. — Nativeofmoift valleys, 

 among theCircar mountains of Hindooftan, flowering in the 

 hot feafon, and ripening fruit in November, December, and 

 January. A large tree, whofe tall trunk is covered with dark 

 rough bark, and whofe numerous, fmooth, rather angular 

 tranche] form an ample evergreen iiead. Leaves oppofite, 

 ftalked, about a foot long and two or three inches broad, 

 elliptic-oblong, acute, entire, coriaceous, fmooth, and fhining, 

 with a ftrong mid-rib, and many tranfverfe, parallel, fine, 

 interbranching veins. Footjialhs an inch in length, angular, 

 channelled, corrugated. Stipulas none. Flowers an inch in 

 diameter, five or fix together, in ftalked umbels, each umbel 

 oppofite to a leaf, or fituated nearly where a laft-year's leaf 

 has been. Partial Jlalks fin^ple, fmooth, near two inches 

 long. Petals white. Stamens and P'tjl'tl green. NeSar'ies 

 and Anthers yellow. Fruit globular, drooping, fomewhat 

 pointed, orange-coloured, fmooth, two inches or more in 

 diameter. Seeds about the fize and fliape of almonds. 



" The ripe apples," fays Dr. Roxburgh, " are eaten by 

 the natives. They are very inviting to the eye, and in tafte 

 little inferior to many of our apples in England. I have no 

 doubt, if meliorated by culture, they would prove a deli- 

 cious fruit." The green, but full-grown, fruit yields a large 

 quantity of a gum, very hke Gummi Gutte, Gamboge. The 

 beft way to obtain it is by cutting the apples acrofs, and to 

 fcrape off the juice, as it rapidly ilTues. When recent, it is 

 of ihe confiftence of very rich cream, bright yellow, con- 

 fidernbly acrid, and fomewhat naufeous to the tafte. In a 

 few diys it hardens, and becomes lefs acrid. It makes a 

 pretty good water-colour, either by itfelf, as a yellow, or 

 ir.ixed with other colours, to form green, i:c. It has no 

 particular fmell when burnt. A milky juice exudes from 

 the bark of this tree when wounded, which foon thickens, 

 and in thickening afTumes a yellow tint. It has no fmtll, 

 6 



XAN 



and, when firft taken into the mouth, little tafte ; but after 

 a wliile, a fenfe of drynefs and acrimony extends a little way 

 down the throat. This juice, like that obtained from the 

 fruit, is imperfectly foluble in fpirils. Roxburgh. 



The tree above defcribed is no very remote relation of 

 the Mangofteen, the moft delicious fruit of India ; fo that 

 Dr. Roxburgh's advice of improving it by culture may be 

 well worthy the attention of horticulturiils, if any be found 

 in that part of the world where fuch experiments are prac- 

 ticable. The moft obvious would be to obtain pollen of 

 the Mangofteen, which, like that of many other plants, 

 would probably bear carriage, and to impregnate with it 

 fome flowers of the Xanthochymus, whofe progeny might 

 thence perhaps be much altered. 



XANTHON, a name given by fome of the ancients to 

 a fpecies of marble of a yellowifh-green colour, much ufed 

 in ornamenting the inner parts of houfes ; and from its equal 

 hardnefs with the Taenarian marble, and the equal high 

 polifh it was capable of, fuppofed by the workmen to be of 

 the fame fpecies. 



The word xanthon is of very dubious meaning, but is 

 fuppofed as the name of this marble to have expreffed a 

 green colour, as this was otherwife called marmor herbofum. 

 See T^NARiUM and Herbosum Marmor. 



X ANTHOR RHIZA, in Botany, received its name front 

 the late M. L'Heritier ; ^jciio;,yello':i', and p'l^ct, a root, allud- 

 ing to the colour of that part. We follow Marftiall, Schrc- 

 ber, and Martyn, in correfting the original orthography. 

 — Sthreb. Gen. 727. Mart. Mill. Dift. v. 4. Lamarck 

 Illuftr. t. 854. (Zanthorhiza ; L'Herit. Stirp. Nov. 79. 

 WiUd. Sp. PI. V. I. 1568. Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 2. 199. 

 Purfh2i2. Juff. 234. DeCand. Syft. V. I. 386. Poiret 

 in Lamarck Dift. v. 8. 838.) — Clafs and order, Pentandr'ia 

 Polygynia. ( Polygamia Monoecia ; Schreb.) Nat. Ord. 

 Multifiliquie, Linn. Ranunculacet, Jufl^. De CandoUe. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. none ; unlefs, with the French botanifts, 

 we take the corolla for fuch. Cor. Petals five, ovate, acute, 

 fpreading, deciduous. Neftaries five, abrupt, two-lobed, 

 fpreading, inferted into the receptacle, alternate with the 

 petals, and about half as long. Slam. Filaments five to ten, 

 avl-fiiaped, very fliort ; anthers rour.difh. PiJl. Germens 

 feveral, feven to eleven, fuperior, oblong ; ftyles awl-ftiaped, 

 incurved; ftigmas acute. PfWc. Capfules as many, inflated, 

 ovate-oblong, bluntifti and compreffed at the top, where 

 they burft, terminated obliquely by the ftyles, each of one 

 cell and two valves. Seeds folitary, oblong, comprefled, 

 fmall, pendulous from the top of the capfule. 



Obf. Many of the flowers want either the ftamens or 

 piftils. 



Eff. Ch. Calyx none. Petals five. Neftaries five, ab- 

 rupt, ftalked. Capfules five, or more. Seeds folitary, 

 pendulous. 



1 . X. apiifolia. Parfley -leaved Yellow-root. (Zanthorhiza 

 apiifolia ; L'Herit. Stirp. Nov. 79. t. 38. Willd. n. i. 

 Ait. n. I. DeCand. n. I. Purfhn.i.) — Native of ftiady 

 banks of rivers, from Virginia to Georgia, flowering in May. 

 Purjh. Mr. Aiton fays it was introduced, about the year 

 1766, by John Bufti, efq. into the Englilh gardens, where 

 it is hardy, flowering in the early fpring. Here it flowered 

 unnoticed, or at ieaft undefcribed, till M. L'Heritier pub- 

 lidicd his magnificent and learned work. The/7fm is ftirubby, 

 buftiy, about a yard high, each branch crowned with a tuft 

 of daik green, fmooth, fiiining, long-ftalked, pinnated 

 leaves, whofe leajlets, an inch or an inch and half long, are 

 acute, rhomboid-lanceolate, ftiarply and unequally ferrated 

 in their fore-part. Floivcrs in long panicled clvjlen, from the 



fame 



