GLOSSARY. 123 



to 30 feet in height. Its flowers are of a dark purplish red. 

 It is commonly found in the damp forests. 



Fungus. — Pp. 57, 59. — Applied to a large family of 

 flowerless plants (Fungi), including mushrooms, toad- 

 stools, mould, mildew, smut or rust in corn, and the ex- 

 crescence, known as Punk, on Gum trees. The Fungi 

 have by some eminent botanists been divided into more 

 than a dozen natural orders. There are 600 genera and 

 between 4000 and 5000 described species. Many of the 

 diseases affecting plants and animals are caused or accom- 

 panied by species of Fungi. There is yet much to learn 

 in this branch of botany. Some of the Fungi present very 

 beautiful forms when viewed under the microscope. By 

 far the greater proportion are of a poisonous nature ; but 

 some, as the Mushroom and the Truffle, are used as food or 

 as condiments. 



G 



Garden Celery.— APIUM GRAVEOLENS. (Natural 

 Order, Umbellifer^e.) Pp. 38, 182. — A well-known 

 esculent. Cultivation has removed certain poisonous 

 qualities peculiar to the plant in its wild state. 



Garden Parsley. — PETROSELINUM SATIVUM. 

 (Natural Order, Umbellifeile.) Pp. 38, 183. — A com- 

 mon biennial herb, largely used for culinary purposes. 



Garden Sage.— SALVIA OFFICINALIS. (Natural 

 Order, Labiate.) P. 18. — A small shrub, in extensive 

 use as a pot-herb. 



Giant Gum.— EUCALYPTUS AMYGDALINA, var. 

 REGNANS. (Natural Order, Myrtace/e.) See chapter 

 ' Australian Vegetation.' 



