AST 



AST 



.—Brown Prodr. Nov. HoU. v. i. 291 Clafs and order, 



Hexandria Trigynia. Nat. Ord. between the AJphodeli and 

 Junci of Juff. Brown. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. none, unlefs the corolla be fo called. Cor. 

 of one petal, in fix deep, equal, ovate, half-membranous, 

 permanent fegments. Stam. Filaments fix, awl-fhaped, 

 about the length of each fegment, and inferted into its bafe ; 

 anthers roundifh, of two lobes. Plft. Germen fuperior, 

 ovate, pointed ; ftyles none ; ftigmas three, obtufe. Peru. 

 Berry ovate, more or lefs perfecHy three-celled. Seeds 

 numerous, eUiptic -oblong, fomewhat triangular, pohfhed. 

 Receptacles three, attached longitudinally to the coat of the 

 berry. Some powers have impeT^effi^amens, and others, on 

 a feparate plant, an imperfeft pijii/. 



EfT. Ch. Calyx none. Corolla in fix deep, equal, half- 

 membranous fegments, bearing the ftamens. Styles none. 

 Stigmas obtufe. Berry fuperior, with manyy^^d^r. 



The habit of the plants of this genus refembles Til- 

 LAXDSIA, (fee that article,) and they in like manner fome- 

 times grow on the living or dead trunks of trees. The 

 roots are fibrous. Radical /eaves imbricated in three rows, 

 either linear -lanceolate, or fword-(haped, keeled, furnilhed, 

 on one or both fides, with clofe, comprefled, fiiaggy hairs ; 

 their bafe v^ath filky wool. Stem very (hort or none, with few 

 leaves. Flowers fmall, filky externally, racemofe, or pani- 

 cled, rarely almoft folitarj' ; their partial Jlalks without a 

 joint, and having each a folitary brahea at its bafe. 



Mr. Brown thinks AJlel'ta not nearly alHed to any other 

 genus, though fomewhat approaching Tillandfia, The New 

 Zealand plants, upon which fir Jofeph Banks and Dr. So- 

 lander founded this genus, differ from the folitary fpecies 

 which grows hi Van Diemen's ifland, in having a berry of 

 three cells : two fpecies moreover have a pitcher-fhaped 

 fix-cleft calyx, {^corolla, as we term it,) which in another is 

 pulpy. Should the genus therefore be divided? Melak- 

 THiuM pumihim (fee that article n. 9.) appears to be an 

 AJleUa. Bro'wn. 



The learned author defines one fpecies only. 

 A. alp'ma. Alpine Aftelia. Br. n. I. — " Leaves ftraight, 

 filky on both fides. Clufter divided in the lower part ; its 

 branches bearing few flowers. Berries oval, fingle-celled. 

 Flowers with fix deep fegments." — Gathered by Mr. Brown, 

 on mountains in the ifland of Van Diemen. 

 To this we are enabled to add the following. 

 A. MenzieJIana. Many -flowered Aftelia. — Leaves 

 ftraight ; filky beneath. Stalk fliagg)'. Clufters panicled, 

 many-flowered. Berry ovate, three-celled. Flowers in fix 

 deep fegments. — Gathered in the Sandwich iflands, by Mr. 

 Menzies, to whom we are obliged for a fpecimen. The 

 leaves are all nearly, or quite, radical, eighteen inches long, 

 a half or three-quarters of an inch broad, taper-pointed, 

 entire, ftrongly ribbed ; fmooth and green above ; pale, 

 and filky with (hining clofe hairs, beneath. Stalk folitary, 

 nearly as tall as the leaves, round, denfely clothed with pale, 

 fhaggy, ftiining wool ; fimple below ; panicled at the top, 

 with many hairy clufters, each two or three inches long. 

 Segments of the corolla hairy at the back. Berries the fize 

 of a currant, pointed, each containing feveral large, black, 

 (timing feeds. 



To thefe are to be added the New Zealand fpecies, not 

 yet publiflied, which, by Mr. Brown's remarks, appear to 

 be at leaft three in number ; and probably alfo the above- 

 mentioned Melanthium. 



ASTEPHANUS, from a, without, and rE<?»yo-, a crown, 

 becaufe of the want of the crown to the ftamens, ufual in 



ihis order Brown in Wern. Tranf. v. i. 54 — Clafs and 



6 



order, Pentandria Digynia. Nat. Ord. Contorts, Linn. 

 Apocinex, Jufl". Afclepiadett, Brown. 



Efl". Ch. Corolla nearly bell-fhaped ; mouth and tube 

 without fcales. Crown of the ilamens none. Anthers tipped 

 with a membrane. Malfes of pollen pendulous. Folli- 

 cles 



Perennial, generally twining, plants, of fouthem Africa, 

 with oppofite leaves. Umbels lateral, between the footftalks. 

 Flowers fmall. 



This genus is founded on Apocynum triflorum and lineare, 

 Linn. Suppl. 1 69, with two new fpecies in the Bankfian 

 colleftion. A. cordatum and lanceolatum, Thunb. Prodr. 47, 

 probably belong to it. The charafter is alfo modified fo as 

 to admit a very remarkable plant, found by Mr. Maflbn in 

 the fame country-, whofe Jlem is fhrubby, with fpinefcent 

 branches ; leaves extremely minute, oppofite, diftant, and 

 heart -fhaped. Corolla rather urceolate than bell-ftiaped ; 

 the orifice of the tube furniftied with deflesed hairs. Mafles 

 of pollen fixed by their tapering fummits. Stigma blunt. 

 Follicles nearly cyhndrical, fmooth. The whole genus differs 

 from MiCROLOMA chiefly in the want of fcales within the 

 tube. Mr. Brown thinks they might be imited, but this 

 would lead to the jundion alfo of Met astelma, which being 

 of Weft Indian origin, he was unwilling to join it with Cape 

 plants. We fliould have thought the laft objeftion might 

 have been overruled by fo near an agreement of charafter. 

 See the two articles in queftion. 



ASTERABAD, in Geography, a fmall province of the 

 Perfian empire, fometimes included in Mazanderan, which 

 it refembles in appearance, climate, and produftions. It is the 

 ancient Hyrcania ; bounded on the W. by the Cafpian fea ; 

 on the S. feparated by a lofty ridge of mountains from the 

 diftrifts of Damgan and Biftan ; extending to the E. as 

 far as longitude 58°, and divided from Daheftan by the 

 river Aflior. The capital of the fame name is fituated near 

 the mouth of the river Efter, on a bay of the Cafpian fea. 

 E. of the capital, in which much treafvire is faidto bedepo- 

 fited, and 25 furfungs from Biftan, is the town of Jorjan, 

 the ancient Hurkaun, from which the name Hyrcania may 

 probably be derived. See Astrabad. 



ASTROLOMA, in Botany, fo called from ar^i, ajlar, 

 and Xijua, a fringe, alluding to the five tufts of hair, which 

 form a ftar, near the bottom of the tube of the flower, in- 

 ternally. — Brown Prodr. Nov. Holl. v. i. 538. (Vinte- 

 natia ; Cavan. Ic. v. 4. 28. ) — Clafs and order, Pentandria 

 Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Erica. Jufl". Epacridea, Brown. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth iriferior, permanent, double ; 

 inner of five elliptic-lanceolate, acute, equal, ereft leaves ; 

 outer of four or more, much fhorter, concave, imbricated 

 fcales. Cor. of one petal, tubular ; tube twice the length 

 of the calyx, inflated, furnilhed on the infide, near the baie, 

 with five tufts of foft hairs ; Umb in five deep, fpreading, 

 lanceolate, acute, hairy fegments, ftiorter than the tube. 

 Neftar\^ a cup-(haped undivided gland, furrounding the bafe 

 of the germen. Stam. Filaments five, linear, inferted into 

 the tube, and enclofed within it ; anthers oblong, in the 

 mouth of the tube. Pijl. Germen fuperior, roundifti, of 

 five cells ; ftyle capillary, the length of the tube ; ftigma 

 " globofe, denfelv downy." Cavan, Peric. Drupa glo- 

 bular, flightly juicy. Seed. Nut of five cells, hard and folid, 

 not burfting, with a pendulous oblong kernel in each cell. 



Efl". Ch. Outer calyx of feveral imbricated leaves. Co- 

 rolla tubular ; tube fwelling, twice as long as the calyx, 

 with five internal tufts of hair at the bafe ; tube ftiorter, 

 fpreading, bearded. Filaments linear, within the tube. 



Drupa almoft dry, of five cells- 



'^ This 



