MENTJ 



Cfje Crra£urj? flf 2o0taug. 



'36 



flowers of some orchids, caused by the 

 extension of the foot of the column. 



MENTZELIA. A genus of Loasacece, 

 found principally in Mexico, California, 

 and the southern United States, one spe- 

 cies, however, extending as far as Panama 

 and the West Indies, while two others 

 belong to South America. All are annual 

 or perennial herbaceous plants, with the 

 leaves alternate upon the stem, but often 

 opposite upon the flowering branches. 

 The flowers are of an orange or yellow 

 colour and open only during sunshine ; 

 they have a long cylindrical calyx tube 

 divided into Ave "lobes ; Ave petals : an in- 

 definite number of stamens, often collected 

 into five or more bundles ; and a one-celled 

 ovary cohering with the tube of the calyx. 

 M. albicaulis, a low branching plant from 

 six to ten inches high, with white polished 

 stems, and deeply- cut lance-shaped rough 

 leaves, is found abundantly on the arid 

 sandy plains of Oregon and California, 

 where the oily somewhat cubical seeds, 

 from twenty to forty of which are con- 

 tained in each of its narrow cylindrical 

 fruits, are pounded by the Indians and 

 used as an ingredient in a kind of cake, 

 called Pinole mantica, forming part of their 

 food. [A. S.] 



i for Paspalam 



MENYA. An Indian 

 scrobicalatum. 



MENYANTHES. The beautiful Buck- 

 bean or Marsh Trefoil, is the only species 

 of this genus of Gentianacece, which is dis- 

 tinguished by its capsule bursting by two 

 valves, and by its ternately divided leaves. 



M. trifoliata is a water plant, extensively 

 diffused over the northern hemisphere, 

 having a creeping rootstock, whence pro- 

 ceed densely matted roots and tufts of 

 long stalked leaves, whose limbs are di- 

 vided completely into three oblong seg- 

 ments. The flowers are borne on a long- 

 stalked raceme, and have a five-parted 

 calyx, and a bell-shaped five-lobed corolla, 

 pinkish externally, white internally, and de- 

 licately fringed. Like the other members 

 of this family, this plant possesses bitter 

 tonic properties, and in large doses is 

 cathartic and emetic. It is little used at 

 present, but was formerly in request in 

 cases of fever, gout, and rheumatism. 

 Linnasus mentions that the leaves were 

 used in Sweden as a substitute for hops, 

 and a like use is made of them in Silesia 

 and other parts of Germany. In Lapland, 

 in times of scarcity, the roots are dried 

 and mixed with meal for making bread. 

 The elegance of the flowers, and the ease 

 with which it may be cultivated, render 

 the plant a most desirable acquisition to 

 ornamental ponds or lakes. [M. T. M.] 



MENZIESIA. A genus of heathworts, 

 having the calyx four or five-lobed ; the 

 corolla somewhat bell-shaped, with the 

 border four or five-lobed and reflexed ; the 

 stamens eight, enclosed in the corolla ; and 

 the stignto blunt. The species are hand- 

 some shrubs, natives of North America, 

 with alternate narrow or ovate leaves, and 



terminal flowers, solitary or several to- 

 gether. The name was yiven in honour of 

 the late Mr. Menzies, surgeon and natural- 

 ist to Vancouver's expedition. [G. D.] 



MERANGENE. (Fr.) Solatium esculen- 



I turn. 



{ MERCURIALE. (Fr.) Mercwrialis an- 

 nua. — DES BO IS. Mercwrialis perennis. 

 MERCURIALIS. Herbaceous plants be- 

 : longing to the Evphorbiacece, distinguish- 

 \ ed by having the barren and fertile flowers 

 separate, the former containing nine to 

 twelve stamens, the latter two simple 

 styles and a two-celled two-seeded capsule. 

 M. perennis, the Dog's Mercury, is a Am- 

 nion woodland plant, eight to twelve in- 

 ches high, with extensively creeping roots, 

 simple stems, and large ovate serrated 

 rough leaves. The barren flowers grow in 

 long lateral spikes near the summit of the 

 stem, and are conspicuous in early spring 

 by their greenish yellow stamens ; the fer- 

 tile flowers, on separate plants, also grow 

 in spikes but are less evident owing to 

 their being concealed among the upper 

 leaves. The whole plant is poisonous, and 

 being consequently rejected by cattle, may 

 often be seen forming dense patches of a 

 dark green hue in places where most other 

 herbage has been consumed. It turns dull 

 bluish green in drying, and maybe made to 

 furnish a deep blue dye— of a fugitive na- 

 ture, however. M. annua is taller and 

 more branched, with the barren and fertile 

 flowers on the same plant. French, Mercu- 

 riale ; German, Bingelkraut. [C. A. J.] 



MERCURIO DO CAMPO. A Brazilian 

 name for E rythroxylum suberosum. — 

 VEGETAL. A Portuguese name for Fran- 

 ciseea uniflora. 



MERCURY. Hercurialis. —, DOG. 

 Mercurialis perennis — , ENGLISH. Bli- 

 tum or Cliciiiipodiitm Bonus Ilenricus. — , 

 THREE-SEEDED. Acalypha. —, VEGE- 

 TABLE. Franciscea uniflora. 



MEREDICK. (Fr.) Cochlearia Armo- 

 racia. 



MERENCHYMA. Spherical cellular tis- 



MERENDERA. A genus of Melanthacem, 

 containing about a dozen species of pretty 

 bulbous crocus-like plants, spread over the 

 Mediterranean region and Abyssinia. The 

 pink flowers like those of a crocus, appear 

 above the ground in the autumn, and the 

 grassy leaves with the ovary (which is hid- 

 den under ground when the plant is in 

 flower) grow after the flowers wither, and 

 are mature in spring, when the ripe ovary 

 is elevated upon a stalk. The limb or flat- 

 tened portion of each of the six perianth- 

 segments is contracted abruptly into a long 

 narrow claw, and at the point of contraction 

 furnished on each side with a small tooth. 

 These teeth do not exist in Colchicum, 

 which isnearly allied. Theclawed portions 

 of the petals unite by their edges and form 

 a long slender tube, which bears at its apex 

 six stamens. The three styles are free 



