MAGO] 



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710 



a prolonged receptacle. The fruit consists 

 of anumber of follicles, in a compact spike, 

 and opening along their outer edge to allow 

 of the escape of the scarlet or brown seeds, 

 which are suspended from the carpels by 

 long slender threads. 



Most of the species have aromatic tonic 

 properties, which has led to their employ- 

 ment in fevers, rheumatism, and other 

 complaints. The beauty of the foliage and 

 flowers of these trees givesthem yet greater 

 claims to our regard than their medicinal 

 properties, which, although not slight, are 

 excelled by those of other plants. The 

 noblest of all is perhaps M. grandiflora, a 

 native of North Carolina, where it forms a 

 tree sixty to one hundred feet high. In 

 this country it is commonly grown against 

 a wall, and has generally proved hardy in 

 the south of England, in such a situation, 

 with little or no other protection. But the 

 severe winter of 1860-61 proved fatal in 

 many cases to this, as to so many other 

 reputedly hardy plants. The leaves of this 

 species are evergreen, nine to ten inches 

 long, much like those of a cherry-laurel, 

 but rusty-brown on the under surface. 

 The flowers are large, cup-shaped, white 

 or pale lemon-coloured, and having an 

 exquisite fragrance ; they bloom in the 

 latter part of the summer, and occasionally 

 produce their rich brown spikes of fruit in 

 October. There are several varieties of 

 this tree in cultivation, differing in the 

 shape of the leaves, the period of flower- 

 ing, &c. 



M. glauca is a low-growing deciduous 

 tree, called in America Swamp Sassafras, 

 from the nature of the localities in which 

 it grows, and from the resemblance in its 

 properties to Laurus Sassafras. It is also 

 known by the name of Beaver-tree, because 

 the root is eaten by beavers, which animals 

 also make use of the wood in constructing 

 their nests. M. tripetala has A^ery large 

 leaves and flowers, the latter with so po- 

 tent a perfume as to produce sickness; 

 fever and gout even have been attributed, 

 doubtless erroneously, to the strong smell 

 of the flowers. The young wood is of a dark 

 brown colour. M. acuminata and M. Fra- 

 seri are called Cucumber-trees in America, 

 on account of the appearance of the unripe 

 fruit. M. conspicua, or M. Yulan, is a tree 

 attaining a height of forty to fifty feet in 

 China, but not more than half that height 

 in this country. It is remarkable for pro- 

 ducing its white flowers in spring, before 

 the leaves are developed. M. purpurea, a 

 Japanese species, has deciduous leaves and 

 fragrant flowers, the outer segments of 

 which are purple, the inner white. It forms 

 a splendid bush in the south of England. 

 M. Campbellii, a native of Sikkim, is de- 

 scribed by Dr. Hooker as a superb species, 

 flowering before the leaves appear, and at- 

 taining a height of 150 feet. 



There are a few species and varieties that 

 need the protection of a greenhouse in this 

 country ; that most frequently met with is 

 M.fuscata, a low-growing shrub with ever- 

 green leaves, and dull purple flowers of ex- 

 quisite fragrance. [M. T. M.] 



I MAGONIA. A genus of Sapindacea, con- 

 1 sisting of two trees, natives of Brazil, oc- 

 cupying extensive tracts of land to the 

 exclusion of other trees, and forming what 

 the Brazilians term Catingas, i.e. woods 

 consisting entirely of deciduous trees. 

 They are middle-sized trees, with abruptly 

 pinnate leaves, and large panicles of perfect 

 and imperfect flowers mixed together, ap- 

 pearing before the leaves. The fruit is a 

 large woody three-sided three-celled cap- 

 sule, containing six or eight broad flat 

 winged seeds in each cell, and opening lon- 

 gitudinally through the middle of the cells 

 when ripe. 



M. glabrata, which usually attains the 

 height of thirty or forty feet, covers tracts 

 of land some miles in extent in the pro- 

 vince of Ceara. It is called Tingi by the 

 Brazilians, who employ an infusion of the 

 bark of its root for poisoning or stupefying 

 flsh, while that of the bark of the stem they 

 use for curing old ulcers, or the sores in 

 horses caused by the stings of venomous 

 insects. From the broad flat seeds they 

 manufacture a kind of soap, which answers 

 very well for washing clothes ; it is pre- 

 pared by soaking the seeds in water until 

 they are soft, and then boiling them with 

 a smalt quantity of tallow, till a homoge- 

 neous mass is formed. [A. SJ 



MAGUAY, or MAGUAT DE COCUYZA. 

 Agave americana. — DE COCAY. Agave 

 cubensis. — METL. Agave americana, and 

 A.mexicana. 



MAGYDARIS. An umbelliferous genus 

 of about three species, found in Spain, 

 Sicily, and North Africa, technically dis- 

 tinguished from Conium by its seeds being 

 covered on both sides with numerous very 

 thin vittse. They are hoary plants, with 

 pinnately cut leaves, the segments of which 

 are lobed and toothed. [A. SJ 



MAHALEB. (Fr.) Cerasus Mahaleb. 



M AHARANGA. The three species form- 

 ing this genus of Boraginacece, at onetime 

 included in Onosma, are small hairy or 

 bristly herbaceous plan ts, natives of North- 

 ern India, with entire leaves and terminal 

 racemes of clustered flowers. These latter 

 have a five-parted calyx, and a corolla with 

 a short cylindrical tube widened out sud- 

 denly, and having five deep longitudinal 

 furrows, and as many clefts round the 

 closed mouth, the inside of the tube above 

 its insertion being furnished with a plaited 

 coronet, which distinguishes the genus 

 from its congeners. 



The Nepalese apply the name Mahnranga 

 to M. Emodi only, but botanists have adopt- 

 ed it as a generic name. The word is said 

 to signify ' a strong or intense colour,' in 

 allusion to the dyeing properties of the 

 roots. These are thick, and of a tapering 

 form, of a deep purple colour outside, and 

 yield a brilliant red to oil, but only a dirty 

 brown to water ; they are the same as the 

 Rutton root of the Indian bazaars, used 

 for colouring oils for staining wood of a 

 mahogany colour. [A. S.] 



