617 



WAyt CreaAirg of 23otauw. 



They are mostly large trees, sometimes a 

 hundred feet in height, and nearly all 

 abound in balsamic or resinous juice. 

 Their leaves are either pinnate with a ter- 

 minal leaflet, or ternate, the leaflets being 

 of a leathery texture, and without the dots 

 usual in some plants of the same order. 

 The flowers are small, usually white or 

 yellowish-green, and borne in racemes or 

 crowdechheads at the angles of the leaves ; 

 > they have a small four or five-toothed 

 I calyx, and an equal number of petals, 

 I which, along with the eight or ten sta- 

 mens,- are inserted under the cup-shaped 

 I fleshy disk. The fruit is a berry contain- 

 I ing from one to five hard stones covered 

 I : with pulp, and containing one seed each. 

 I I. altxssima, attaining, in the forests of 

 J Guiana, a height of one hundred feet, 

 I \ is preferred by the Indians for making 

 ; their canoes, not only from its large size 

 i ; but on account of its durability and the 

 l , facility with which it is worked. It is 

 I called Cedar-wood in consequence of its 

 j fragrant odour, and is used for the inside 

 i fittings of houses, for book-cases, &c, its 

 i odour preserving books from injury by 

 1 insects. The balsam obtained from the 

 i trunks of many of the species is highly 

 | odoriferous, and is commonly used as a 

 I perfume in South America. That of I. 

 iKutaphyUa, called Hyawa in Guiana, is 

 I used as a remedy against dysentery, and 

 , also for coughs. Balsam of Acouchi, 

 I yielded by J. heterophyllous employed as a 

 j vulnerary-. These balsams remain fluid for 

 i, a considerable time, but ultimately harden, 

 ' and are then commonly used for burning 

 as incense in churches. So highly charged 

 with resin are the trees, that the branches 

 ! : of one species are used in British Guiana 

 I for torches : and the wood of I. heptaphylla 

 [ is called Incense wood. [A. S.] 



I ICONES. Pictorial representations of 

 plants. 

 ICOS. In Greek compounds = twenty. 



ICOSAEDRAL. Having twenty sides ; as 

 the pollen of Tragopogon. 



ICTERUS. A name given to the yellow 

 condition assumed by wheat and some 

 other plants, under the influence of pro- 

 longed wet and cold. More genial wea- 

 ther generally improves the condition 

 of the plants. The disease is, therefore, 

 distinct from chlorosis, which is more fre- 

 quentlyconstitutional,and, in consequence, 

 past cure. Vine leaves become yellow from 

 their roots being placed under unfavour- 

 able circumstances ; the remedy, there- 

 fore, must be directed to the point from 

 whence the evil is derived. Yellowness 

 is sometimes produced by Fungi, and is 

 then irremediable. The golden hues of 

 autumn belong clearly to another cate- 

 gory. [M. J. BJ 



IDES, or IDETJS. In terminating Greek 

 compounds = similar : as petaloideus, like 

 a petal. 



IDIOGYNOUS. Not having a pistil. 



|ILEX 



IDIOTHALAMUS. Having a different 

 colour or texture from the thallus ; a term 

 used among lichens. 



IDOTHEA. A genus of Liliacece, from 

 the Cape of Good Hope, allied to Drimia, 

 but differing in the perianth being deci- 

 i duous. It is also near Uropetalum and 

 j JJrginea, but is distinguished from the 

 '. former by the sepals being united at the 

 j base, forming a bell-shaped tube, and from 

 ; the latter by the deciduous one-nerved pe- 

 rianth segments. They are herbs with 

 ! scaly or more rarely coated bulbs. [J. T. S.] 



IF (Fr.) Taxus baccata. — NTJCI- 

 FERE. Podocarpus nucifer 



| IFE. An Indian name for Sanseviera 

 cylindrica. 



j IGNAME. (Fr.) Dioscorea sativa. 



j IG1SATIA. A genus described by the 

 younger Linnaeus as belonging to the 

 Strychnos family, but since suppressed by 

 Mr Bentham, who has shown it to becom- 



■ posed of the leaves and flowers of a species 

 of Posoqueria, and the fruits of a Strychnos, 



i the former a plant of Guiana, the latter 

 from the Philippines. The seeds are called 

 ; by old writers, St. Ignatius' Beans, and 

 I are held up by them as a remedy against 

 | cholera. They are supposed to belong to 

 ! Strychnos multiflora, but are quite unknown 

 to modern botanists. [A. A. BJ 



IGNEUS. Very lively scarlet, fiery red. 



ILEODICTYON. A genus of phalloid 

 Gasteromycetes, nearly allied to Clathrus, 

 but distinguished from it by the hollow 

 branches of the receptacle, which are, 

 moreover, not porous. The gelatinous 

 volva of I. cibarium was formerly eaten in 

 New Zealand, before the English habits had 

 gained ground, and was known by a name 

 equivalent to Thunder-dirt. [M. J. B.] 



ILEX. A genus of shrubs and trees 

 belonging to the Aqirifoliacece, inhabiting 

 Europe, Asia, and America, and charac- 

 terised by having an inferior calyx with 



I small teeth; a corolla which is monope- 

 talous but scarcely so, it being divided 



i into deep spreading concave segments ; 

 stamens inserted upon the corolla and 

 alternate with its segments ; a four or 



I five-celled ovary, with nearly sessile stig- 



' mas; and a berried fruit containing one- 

 seeded nuts, the parts being all in fours or 



■ fives. The species are very numerous, I. 

 ! Aquifolium, common Holly, employed so 



much for purposes of decoration at Christ- 

 I mas, and /. paraguayensis, Paraguay Tea, 

 I are the most remarkable. 



I. Aquifolium is distinguished from other 

 ! species by its peculiar smooth, wavy, shin- 

 i ing, spinous leaves, and its short axillary 

 I many-flowered peduncles. The leaves are 

 ; stated on good authority to be equal to 

 Peruvian bark in the cure of intermittent 

 fevers. The root and bark are said to be 

 j deobstruent, expectorant, and diuretic, 

 ! agreeably to which Haller recommends the 

 ' juice of the leaves in jaundice. The berries 



