605 



Qifyz Crcatfurji of 33fltanu. 



[HYDE 



fully stewed or rubbed down into a puree. 

 Other species are occasionally eaten abroad. 

 H. auriscalpium is one of our most elegant 

 Fungi, and not uncommon on fir cones. 

 The spongy and corky species are only 

 slightly represented in Great Britain, 

 though numerous elsewhere. Of the resu- 

 pinate forms we have many good exam- 

 ples. [M. J. B.] 



HYDRANGEACEiE. (Hydrangeads, Bau- 

 eracece.) A natural order of calycifloral 

 dicotyledons, included in Lindley's saxi- 

 fragal alliance of perigynous Exogens. 

 Shrubs with opposite simple exstipulate 

 leaves. Flowers in cymes, the central ones 

 complete, the outer ones with large petals 

 and often barren ; calyx more or less ad- 

 herent to the ovary, four to six -toothed ; 

 petals four to six, deciduous ; stamens 

 eight to twelve in two rows, or numerous, 

 attached to the calyx ; ovary of two to five 

 carpels united ; ovules numerous, anatro- 

 pal ; styles two to five with kidney-shaped 

 stigmas. Fruit a capsule crowned by the 

 persistent styles, two to five-celled: seeds 

 . albuminous, minute. Natives of the tem- 

 ; perate part of Asia and America. About 

 ■ one half are found in China and Japan. 

 | Some species of Hydrangea are used for 

 ! tea. There are ten genera and nearly fifty 

 species. [J. H. B.] 



HYDRANGEA. Showy shrubs, referred 

 by some to the Saxifragacew, by others to 

 Hydrangeacece. The distinctive characters 

 are : calyx superior five-toothed ; petals 

 five ; stamens five ; pistils two ; capsule 

 two-beaked, two-celled, opening by a hole 

 between the beaks. The best known species 

 is 3. hortensis, introduced from China by 

 Sir Joseph Banks in 1790. It is distinguished 

 by its broad, smooth, strongly veined 

 leaves, which are toothed, and taper to a 

 point, and yet more strongly marked by its 

 almost globular clusters of large flowers, 

 the colour of which varies in the same 

 plant, from white to blue or pink, accord- 

 ing to the soil in which it is grown. The 

 part of the flower which appears to be the 

 corolla, is not so in reality, but a monstrous 

 expansion of the calyx leaves, the rest of 

 the flower being generally abortive. The 

 similarity between the balls of flowers of 

 this plant and those of the guelder rose 

 is obvious ; and it is worthy of remark 

 that the resemblance is owing to precisely 

 the same irregularity in each — an undue 

 development of the floral envelope to the 

 detriment of the essential parts of the 

 flower— stamens and pistils. These organs 

 are found only in a few flowers, which of 

 course are the only ones that can produce 

 seeds. [C. A. J.] 



HYDRANGELLE. (Fr.) Hydrangea. 



HYDRANTHELITJM. A genus of Scrophu- 

 lariocece, consisting of small aquatic an- 

 nuals, with the habit of Callitriche or of 

 Elatine. The leaves are opposite and cu- 

 neate or obovate, the flowers very minute 

 and axillary, with a three-cleft corolla, and 

 ] : three stamens. There are two species, 

 : ' natives of the mountainous districts of 



tropical America, one of which has also 

 been found in tropical Africa. 



HYDRASTIS canadensis is the only spe- 

 cies of a genus of Eanunculacece, found in 

 damp places in woods, in the Northern 

 United States and Canada, where it is called 

 Yellow Puccoon, Orange root, or Canadian 

 Yellow root. It is an herbaceous perennial, 

 with a thick knotty yellow underground 

 stem, or rootasitis more frequently called, 

 which in early spring sends up a simple 

 stem, about a foot high, bearing near the 

 top two (or rarely three) rounded hand- 

 shaped leaves, the upper leaf growing 

 close iipon the stem, while the lower one 

 has alongish stalk. At the top of the stem 

 is a solitary small greenish-white incon- 

 spicuous flower, entirely destitute of pe- 

 j tals ; the three-leaved calyx quickly falls 

 j away, leaving only the stamens and pistils. 

 The fruit is about the size of and greatly 

 j resembles a raspberry in its appearance, 

 having juicy flesh of a bright crimson 

 colour. The yellow root of this plant was 

 formerly employed by the American abo- 

 rigines for dyeing a bright yellow colour, 

 and it is occasionally employed for the 

 same purpose at the present day. It has 

 a strong narcotic odour, with a bitter 

 pungent taste, and possesses tonic proper- 

 ties, on which account it is sometimes 

 used medicinally ; it was at one time sup- 

 posed to be a remedy for cancer. [A. S.] 



HYDRILLA. A genus of Hydrocha- 

 ridacem, allied to Anacharis. A slender- 

 stemmed aquatic herb, with whorled ses- 

 sile leaves, growing in the rivers of India, j 

 China, and America. The spathes are ax- 

 illary and single-flowered, with a six-cleft 

 reflexed perianth, and three stamens which 

 become detached and float on the surface. 

 The female, with a spreading perianth, 

 has a long thread-like tube adhering to 

 the ovary, permitting the stigmas to reach 

 the top of the water. [J. T. S.] 



HYDROCERA. A genus of Balsamina- 

 cece, consisting of aquatic Indian herbs, 

 with alternate linear or Ian ceolate glaucous 

 leaves, and solitary axillary two or three- 



I flowered peduncles, the pedicels longer 

 than the common peduncle. They have a 



i calyx of five coloured unequal sepals, the 

 two lateral smaller, and the lowest larger 



; and gibbous at the base, unequal petals, 

 and five stamens, with the filaments united 

 at the apex. The fruit is a drupe, with a 

 five-celled hard interior, each cell contain- 

 ing one seed. [J. T. S.] 



HYDROCHARIDACE.E. {Vallisneriacece, 

 Anacharidece, Hydrocharads, Frogbits.) A 

 natural order of epigynous monocotyle- 

 I dons belonging to Lindley's hydral al- 

 tlianceof Endogens. Aquatic plants with 

 flowers in spathes, often incomplete ; 

 perianth of six leaves, the three inner pe- 

 taloid; ovary one-celled, or spuriously 

 three to nine-celled ; stigmas three to 

 nine ; placentas parietal. Fruit dry or 

 fleshy, and opening ; seeds albuminous ; 

 embryo straight, orthotropal. Natives 

 chiefly of Europe, Asia, and North America, 



