AEG 



Efl". Ch. Petals five. Calyx five-cleft, inferior. Berrj- 

 coated, of numerous cells. Seeds many. 



I. Ae. Marmelos. Thorny Aegle, or Bengal Quince. 

 Correa as above, 223. Willd. n. i. Roxb. Coromand. 

 V. 2. 23. t. 143. (Cratava Marmelos ; Linn. Sp. PI. 637. 

 WiUd. Sp. PI. v. 2. 853. Cydonia exotica; B&uh. pin. 

 435. Cucurbitifera trifolia indica, fruftus pulpa Cydonii 

 •jemula; Raii Hift. v. 2. 1665. Pluk. Phyt. t. 170. f. 5. 

 Bilacus ; Rumph. Amboin. v. I. 197. t. 81. Covalam ; 

 Rheede Hort. Mai. v. I. 37. t. 37. Maredoo of the Te- 

 lingas. ) — Native of the mountainous parts of the coaft of 

 Malabar, fometimcs of the low lands, flowering during the 

 hot feafon. This is a rather large tree, whofe trunk is nearly 

 eretl, clothed with afh-coloured bark. Branches fcattered. 

 Spines ftipulary, in pairs, awl-fhaped, pungent, ftrong, an 

 inch in length, fometimes wanting. Leaves irregularly 

 fcattered, on downy Jlalks, ternate ; leaflds elliptic-oblong, 

 with a blunt point, ferrated, fingle-ribbed, veiny, fmooth ; 

 tapering at the bafe ; unequal in fize ; the odd one largeft, 

 about three inches long. Fhiuers of a dirty white, in ftiort, 

 aggregate, terminal and axillary, clufters. Fruit the fize 

 of a large orange, with a hard fmooth greyifli (hell, from 

 which the Dutch in Ceylon are faid to prepare a perfume. 

 Dr. Roxburgh fpeaks of this fruit as delicious to the tafte, 

 and exquifitely fragrant, of a laxative quality, which renders 

 it particularly ferviceable in habitual coftivenefs. A clear 

 tenacious gum, enveloping the feeds, makes a good cement. 

 The wood of the tree is hard and durable, of a light cho- 

 colate colour, variegated with dark veins, and ferves for 

 many purpofes. Mr. Correa mentions another, hkewife 

 arboreous, fpecies of Aegle, found in the Eaft Indies, and 

 preferved in fir J. Banks's herbarium, but of this he has 

 unfortunately neglefted to give either a name or defcription, 

 nor have we feen any fpecimens. See Feronia for a genus 

 next akin to the above. 



AEGOPOGON, already mentioned and explained, in 

 its proper place, as a fynonym of the Spiraa Ulmaria, or 

 rather perhaps S. Aruncus, is now adopted for the generic 

 appellation of a South American genus of graffes, by Will- 

 denow, after Kumboldt and Bonpland. — Willd. Sp. PI. 

 V. 4. 899. Palifot de Beauvois Agroft. 122. t. 22. f. 3, 4. 



Kunth Nov. Gen. et Sp. v. I. 132 Clafs and order, 



Polygamia Monoecia. (Rather Triandria Digyiiia.) Nat. 

 Ord. Gramiria. 



EfT. Ch. Calyx of two valves, fingle-flowered ; the 

 valves cloven, with an intermediate awn. Corolla of two 

 valves ; the outer with three awns ; inner with two. Seed 

 folitary, unconnefted with the glumes. One or two lateral 

 male flowers. 



I. Ae. cenchroides. Spreading Aegopogon. Willd. n. i. 

 Palif. de Beauv. as above, f. 3. Kunth n. i. t. 42. — 

 duller lax. Flowers all equally ftalked. — Gathered by 

 Humboldt and Bonpland, on the expofed fummit of mount 

 Avila, near the town of Caraccas ; alfo in Quito ; flowering 

 from January to April. Root perennial. Stems numerous, 

 branched at the bafe, forming a tuft ; thofe which do not 

 flower, about as long as the finger ; the reft a fpan in height, 

 nake^ above, denfely leafy below. Leaves linear ; the 

 lowermoft an inch, or an inch and a half long ; the upper 

 ones ftiorter. Sheaths ftriated, fmooth, flightly membranous 

 at the edges. Stipula divided. Chijler fimple, rather turned 

 to one fide, but fpreading loofely. This grafs has the afpeft 

 of Cenchrus ciliaris, or of Lappago racemofa. IVilldenoiu. 

 We know it only from this author's defcription, and the 

 ijgures cited. From M. de Beauvois onr knowledge of the 

 ibllowing fpecies is entirely derived. 



A E R 



2. Ae.^7?//a. Small Aegopogon. Palif. de Beauv. as 

 above, i. 4.— Clufter denfe, turned one way. Perfed 

 flower fefllle.— Native country not recorded. The perfeft 

 fowers of this fpecies, whofe clujler is reprefented about half 

 the fize of the foregoing, are feffile, their calyx apparently 

 ot two equal, awl-fhaped, undivided glumes. The two 

 lateral, or male, Jo'wers are elevated on equal, flender, pa- 

 rallel ftalks, twice their own length, though but half as 'long 

 as the mtcrmediate perfeft fewer. The inner valve of their 

 calyx feems entire, though awned. Their corolla confifts of 

 two entire, not cloven, valves, one of which only is awned. 

 We do not pretend, without the inveftigation of fpecimens, 

 to reconcile thefe contradiftions of the generic charaftcr, nor 

 to judge how far M. de Beauvois is right in uniting with 

 this genus Mr. Brown's Amphipogon, hereafter to be 

 noticed in its proper place. 



$. Ae.geminijorus. Twin-flowered Aegopogon. Kunth 



as above n. 2. t. 43.— Male flower folitary Gathered by 



Humboldt and Bonpland, on the banks of the river Orinoco, 

 between Cerro Duida and Rio Tamatama, near Efmeraldam, 

 flowering in May. Habit nmch Uke the firft fpecies, but 

 the /pikelets are confiderably fmaller, while the central awn 

 of one valve of the perfeft jower is remarkably long, ftout, 

 and rough. Exh Jomer is fupported by a fliort partial 

 ftalk, and there are only two to each /pikelet, not three as in 

 the two foregoing fpecies. 



jEOLUS, in Mechanics, fubjoin, fee Ventilator. 

 ^ON, 1. 4, add— Homer n. v. 453. Pindar Olym. A. 

 V. 18. Hence by an eafy figure it is ufed to denote the 

 cuftoms and manners of life. Efper. ii. 2. 



AERIDES, in Botany, from ar.^, air, air ; becaufe one 

 of the principal plants of this genus has long been celebrated, 

 under the name of Flos aeris, for liring entirely, as was 

 fuppofed, upon air. This plant, and fevcral others agreeing 

 with it in habit, though not all perhaps in generic charafter, 

 have been fent from the Eaft Indies to Europe, in bafliets, 

 without eartli or any other apparent fource of nutriment, 

 and have not only furrived, but bloffomed during their 

 voyage, as well as after their arrival. Their ftout fibrous 

 roots, always more than half naked as they run over "the 

 branches of trees, having entwined themfelves among the 

 fticks of the bafliet, might perhaps imbibe fuftenance from 

 the air in thofe cii-eumftances, as readily as in their natural 

 fituation ; juft as a pea will germinate and grow in moift 

 cotton. — Loureir. Cochinch.525. Swartz in Schrad. Joum. 

 V. 2. 233. t. 2. f. 4. Ejufd. Neues Journ. v. i. 88. Kon. 

 Trafts 195. t. 8. f. Y. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 4. 130. Ait. Hort. 

 Kew. v. 5. 213. — Clafs and order, Gynandria Alcnogynia. 

 Nat. Ord. Orchidci. 



Gen. Ch. reformed. Cal. Perianth of three equal, fpread- 

 ing, coloured leaves, gradually dilated upwards, fomewhat 

 wavy, rather obtufe. Cor. Petals two, mucii like the calyx- 

 leaves in colour, fize, and figure. Neftary a lip without a 

 fpur, (horter than the petals, inferted into the bafe of the 

 ftyle, gibbous underneath like a bag, often reverfed over the 

 column. Stam. Anther a vertical, hemifpl-.erical, moveable, 

 deciduous lid, of two or four cells ; mafles of pollen glo- 

 bular, ftalked, in pairs. Pijl. Germen inferior, oblong ; 

 ftyle ereft, femi-cylindrical, concave in front ; ftigma in front, 

 near the anther. Peric. Capfule obovate-oblong, with three 

 large and three intermediate angles, of one cell and three 

 valves, feparating between the angles. Seeds numerous, 

 minute, each invefted with a chaffy tunic. 



Eft. Ch. Calyx and corolla fpreading, nearly uniform. 

 Lip pouch-hke, without a fpur. Anther a vertical move- 

 able lid. 



The 



