611 



&i)e Erca^tirr? of SSofcwg. 



[hype 



is sub-#lobose, fleshy, containing nume- 

 rous minute round seeds. The habit and 

 structure of this genus seem to place it in 

 Orobanchacece, where it would, without 

 doubt, remain, but for its two-celled ovary, 

 and axile placentas, characteristics of the 

 Scrophulariacece. [W. C] 



HYOPHORBE. Palms inhabiting the 

 island of Bourbon and Mauritius, and hav- 

 ing tall cylindrical stems marked with cir- 

 cular scars, and a crown of graceful pin- 

 nate leaves. The male and female flowers 

 grow on distinct trees, or a few males 

 are occasionally interspersed among the 

 females, the flower-spikes being simply 

 branched and growing out from beneath 

 the leaves, with a single spathe at their 

 base. Both sexes have a three-sided tbree- 

 lobed bell-shaped calyx, and a three-parted 

 corolla. The fruit has a fibrous fleshy 

 rind, and con tains a single seed. 



H. Gommersoniana, frequently called 

 E. indica, or Areca lutescens in English 

 gardens, a native of Bourbon, has a smooth 

 trunk thirty or forty feet high, and from 

 four to six inches in diameter, almost 

 cylindrical, except at the base where it 

 swells out to nearly double its usual diame- 

 ter. Its leaflets are about two feet long, and 

 two inches wide, divided at the top into 

 two sharp points. It has a nearly round 

 fruit covered with rough tubercles. E. 

 amaricaulis, a native of the Mauritius, 

 much resembles this, but is taller, and its 

 leaflets are narrower, and more densely 

 covered with chaffy scales ; its fruit, also, 

 is smooth and olive-shaped. [A. S.] 



HYOSCYAMUS. This name is the Lati- 

 nised version of the ancient Greek name 

 for the common Henbane, and literally sig- 

 nifies hog-bean. It is applied to a genus 

 of Atropacece or Solanacece, characterised 

 especially by the corolla, which is funnel- 

 shaped, and by the fruit which is enclosed 

 within the persistent calyx, and consists 

 of a capsule which opens by means of a 

 transverse valve, like the lid of a tankard 

 orpix. 



The most interesting species of this 

 genus is E. niger, the Henbane, an an- 

 nual or biennial plant, widely distributed 

 throughout Europe and Western Asia, fre- 

 quently found by roadsides, or in other 

 localities, whither it has most probably 

 been brought by the agency of man, the 

 plant having been long cultivated for its 

 medicinal qualities. In this country the 

 Henbane is found growing spontaneously 

 in the vicinity of old ruins, on rubbish 

 heaps, and not unfrequently by the sea- 

 shore. The whole plant is densely covered 

 with thickly woven hairs, and by a sticky 

 heavy-smelling exudation. The stem at- 

 tains a height of one to two feet, and has 

 oblong sessile, irregularly lobed leaves, 

 the upper ones clasping the stern. The 

 flowers are borne on very short sta'ks in 

 the axils of the leaves, and look all in the 

 same direction ; the calyx enlarges as the 

 fruit ripens ; the corolla is funnel-shaped, of 

 adull yellow colour, traversed by a network 

 of purple veins. A variety sometimes oc- 



; curs in which the corolla is not marked 



with these veins, but the above-mentioned 



I characteristics are amply sufficient for the 



1 determination of the plant. The leaves of 



this plant are employed in the form of ex- 



, tract, &c, for the purpose of tranquillising 



j and allaying irritability of the nervous 



system, to alleviate pain and procure sleep. 



', It is chiefly given in cases where circum- 



, stances render it undesirable to employ 



opium. Other species are grown in gar- 



dens or in greenhouses, all possessing more 



| or less of the same properties as the cora- 



I mon henbane. [M. T. M.] 



HYOSEE.IS. A small genus of annual 

 I composite weeds, having the habit and 



foliage of Taraxacum. The flower-scape 

 | is thickened and club-shaped upwards, 

 ! and bears a single yellow flower-head. 

 I From their near allies they differ in the 

 I achenes being of two sorts in each head ; 



the outer corky and cylindrical, the inner 

 ! with membranous wings, or vice versa. 

 I The pappus is biserial, and consists of nar- 

 I row chaffy and unequal scales. The three 

 I known species are confined to the Mecliter- 

 I ranean region. [A. A. BJ 



j HYOSPATHE. The only species belong- 

 j ing to this genus of palms, E. elegans, is a 

 I native of the forests in the vicinity of Para, 

 ! where it is called Ubim by the natives. It 

 is one of the reed-like palms common in 

 the underwood of tropical forests, its stem 

 j being about an inch in thickness, marked 

 I with rings, and growing five or six feet 

 | high. The leaves are from three to four 

 j feet long, nearly entire when young, hav- 

 i ing only a division at the point, but when 

 i full-grown they are more or less divided, 

 1 and become irregularly pinnate. The 

 i flower-spikes are produced below the 

 leaves, and bear both male 'and female 

 flowers. The fruit contains a single seed 

 and resembles an olive in shape, but is of 

 a violet colour. The only part of the plant 

 I applied to a useful purpose is the leaves, 

 I which are used for thatching, their large 

 j size and entire form rendering them pecu- 

 liarly suitable for that purpose. [A. S.] 



HYPANTHIUM. The fleshy enlarged 

 hollow of the end of a flower-stalk, such 

 as occurs in the rose, apple, or myrtle. 

 It was formerly regarded as the tube of 

 a calyx. 



HYPECOUM. Small annual herbs of the 

 order Papaveracere, allied to Clielidonium, 

 from which they are distinguished by 

 their four stamens and two stigmas. As in 

 Chelidonium, The seed-vessel simulates the 

 pod of a cruciferous plant, and the juice, 

 which is yellow, is said to have the same 

 properties as opium. The root leaves are 

 smooth glaucous and pinnate, and the 

 stem leaves much divided ; the flowers are 

 small and yellow. The species occur in 

 sandy places in the south of Europe and 

 some parts of Asia. French, Cumin cornu; 

 German, Lappenblume. [C. A. J.] 



HYPERB/ENA. A genus of South Ame- 

 rican and Mexican plants, belonging to 



