733 



CTjc Crcatfurg at 33otant). 



[melo 



Roxburgh under the name of Millingtonia, 

 and probably includes also the Ophiocaryon 

 or Snake-nut of Guiana, so called from the 

 very much twisted embryo, compared to a 

 snake coiled up within the nut. 



MELISSA. A genus of labiate plants, 

 having the calyx two-lipped, the upper 

 three-toothed and spreading, the lower 

 bifid ; the tube of the corolla is somewhat 

 inflated ; and the two upper stamens are 

 at times imperfect. The different species 

 are widely diffused, having representatives 

 in Europe, middle Asia, and North America. 

 The name is from the Greek word signify- 

 ing bee, indicative of the attraction the 

 flowers have for the insects, on account of 

 the honey they produce. [G. D.] 



MELISSE DE MOLDAVIE. (Fr.) Dra- 

 cocephalum Moldavica, — DES BOIS. Me- 

 litbis Melissophyllum. 



MELITTIS. A genus of labiates, cha- 

 racterised by its membranous bell-shaped 

 calyx, the lower lip of which is bifid, with 

 round lobes ; the tube of corolla wide, its 

 upper lip round, entire, slightly concave, 

 the lower three-lobed ; the divisions of.the 

 style ovate. M. Melissophylhim, the only 

 species, widely diffused in Europe', is a na- 

 tive of the southern parts of England : it 

 is a handsome plant, with ovate serrated 

 leaves, and large showy flowers. [G. D.] 



MELKHOET. The hard durable wood 

 of the South African Sideroxylon inerme. 



MELLAGHOO. An Indian name for 

 Pepper. 



MELLA-ROSA. Citrus Bergamia ; also 

 a variety of Citrus Limetta. 



MELLEOE8. Having the taste or smell 

 of honey. 



MELLIGO. Honey-dew; a disease of 

 plants in which an unnatural secretion of 

 sweet matter appears on their surface. 



MELLINUS. The colour of new honey. 



MELLOCA. The Melluco or Ulluco, ex- 

 tensively cultivated throughout the ele- j 

 vated regions of Bolivia, Peru, and New 

 Grenada on account of its esculent roots, i 

 which resemble littleyellowpotatos, forms 

 the present genus of Basellacece. This 

 plant, M. tuberosa, also called Ullucus tube- 

 rosus, has weak fleshy stems from one to [ 

 two feet long, lying upon the ground or 

 twining round neighbouring bushes, fur- l 

 nished with fleshy entire somewhat heart- 

 shaped roundish leaves, and bearing short J 

 spikes of inconspicuous yellow flowers, all ! 

 the parts being smooth. The flowers have 

 an outer calyx of two roundish lobes, and 

 an inner deeply five-parted one with taper- 

 pointed segments ; five stamens having 

 very short filaments, and uniting at the . 

 base into a ring which combines with the 

 inner calyx ; and a roundish ovary which j 

 bears a short style and undivided stigma, \ 

 and ultimately becomes a berry-like fruit j 

 surrounded by the unchanged calyx. 



The tuberous roots of the Melloca, called [ 

 Oca quina, in Bolivia, to distinguish them ' 



from other Ocas belonging to the genus 

 Oxalis, are largely used as food in the ele- 

 vated regions of the Peruvian Andes, prin- 

 cipally in the vicinity of Potosi and La 

 Paz in Bolivia, but extending as far north 

 as Popayan in New Grenada; and during 

 the famine caused by the failure of the 

 potato crops, they were, in common with 

 many other roots, recommended as a sub- 

 stitute for that esculent, but upon trial 

 were found to be unpalatable on account 

 of the quantity of earthy slime contained 

 in them. In the elevated regions of the 

 Andes, where the boiling point of water is 

 scarcely high enough to allow of the roots 

 being cooked in the ordinary way, the in- 

 habitants prepare them by alternately 

 freezing and steeping them, by which pro- 

 cess they are rendered amylaceous. [A. S.] 



MELOBESIA. A genus of coralline 

 seaweeds, in which the mineral element 

 abounds so much, and the resemblance to 

 corals is so great, that the species at first 

 sight resemble anything rather than vege- 

 tables. They either consist of a few thick 

 branches or nodules, or of an expanded 

 simple or variously imbricated crust. Se- 

 veral species occur in deep water on our 

 coast, one has been found as high as 74° 

 north latitude, and nine are figured by Dr. 

 Harvey in the Phycologia Britannica. Dr. 

 Johnson believed them to be mere states of 

 Corallina officinalis, but there is no reason 

 to think this correct. Their medical Quali- 

 ties are those of common chalk. [M. J. BJ 



MELOCACTIDiE. A suborder of Cacta- 

 ceoe, characterised by the globose melon- 

 like form of the stem of the plants, which 

 bear sessile flowers. It includes the genus 

 Melocactus, Discocactus, Anlialonium, and 

 Mamillaria. [J. H. B.] 



MELOCACTUS. The principal character- 

 istic of this genus of Cactacece resides in 

 the flowers being produced in a hemisphe- 

 rical or cylindrical head at the top of the 

 plant, consisting of a dense mass of bristly 

 wool and slender spines, from amongst 

 which the small ephemeral flowers scarcely 

 emerge. The plants themselves consist of 

 simple fleshy stems of a somewhat globu- 

 lar or conical form, with numerous promi- 

 nent ribs armed with fascicles of stiff spines 

 placed at regular distances. The flowers 

 closely resemble those of Mamillaria, but 

 the divisions of the perianth are fewer, ! 

 and nearly all petal-like, and the thread- ( 

 like style has a five-rayed stigma. The I 

 oblong smooth berries crowned with the j 

 withered flower, contain numerous small | 

 seeds with minute globose cotyledons. 

 There are numerous species, principally 

 natives of the West Indies and tropical 

 America; the best known, however, and 

 the one usually found in our gardens, is 

 M. communis, the Turk's-cap Cactus, so 

 called from the flowering portion on the 

 top of the plant being of a cylindrical form 

 and red colour like a fez cap, but some- 

 times called Englishmen's Head, or Pope's 

 Head. It is common in South America and 

 also in many of the West Indian Islands, 



