not united into one as in Bulbocodium. 

 The name is given by Spaniards to Gol- 

 chicum. [A. A. B.] 



MERIANE. (Fr.l Watsonia. 



MERICARP. One of the half fruits of 

 an umbellifer ; it is a carpel ripened and 

 separated from a common axis or growing 

 point. 



MERINGEANNE. (Fr.) Solanum escu- 

 lentum. 



. MERISIER. (Pr.) Cerasus avium. — 

 A GRAPPES. Cerasus Padus. 



MERISMATIC. Separating by the for- 

 macion of internal partitions. Cellular tis- 

 sue is often thus multiplied. 



MERMAID- WEED. An American name 

 for Proserpinaca. — , FALSE. Florkea. I 



MERMAN'S SHAVING BRUSHES. A'- 

 name given in North America to different 

 species of Chamwdaris and Penicillus. The 

 root is much branched, with matted fibres, 

 and generally penetrates deeply into the 

 sand on which the plant grows, while the 

 seem is more or less coated with carbonate 

 of lime, and is either annulated or. com- 

 posed of a multitude of closely placed and 

 densely interwoven longitudinal one-celled 

 threads, which send off laterally through- 

 out their length short level-topped branch- 

 lets. [M. J. B.] 



MERGS. In Greek compounds = the parts 

 of a flower. Thus, pentamerous means 

 composed of parts arranged in fives, tri- 

 merous in threes, &c. 



MERRY. The small wild black fruit of 

 Cerasus avium. 



MERTENSIA. Thename of that section 

 of Gleichenia, in which the segments are 

 elongated, and the sori are medial or axil- 

 lary, consisting of several (five to twelve) 

 spore-cases. They have a different aspect 

 from the species with orbicular segments, 

 and terminal sori of two to four spore- 

 cases, and are by some authors regarded 

 as distinct, but the difference is hardly to 

 be regarded as of generic value. [T. MJ 



This name has also been applied to two 

 other genera. One i3 a genus of Vlmacew 

 from tropical America, now called Momisia 

 or included in Celtis, and consisting of 

 spiny trees with alternate leaves; and ax- 

 illary panicles of polygamous flowers, with 

 a five-parted perianth, five stamens, and 

 a one-ceiled ovary becoming a drupe. The 

 other is a genus of Boraginacece sometimes 

 called Steenhammera. [J. T. S.] 



MERULTUS. A genus of Fungi belong- 

 ing to the pore-bearing Hymenomycetes, 

 distinguished by the waxy soft bymenium 

 which forms porous reticulate or sinuous 

 toothed depressions. It borders, in fact, 

 very closely on the gill-bearing fungi, and 

 more especially on Cantharellus. One spe- 

 eds, M. lacrymans, is unfortunately too 

 well known, being the grand agent of the 

 ' i decomposition of domestic and naval tim- 

 | ' ber when composed of the wood of coni- 

 1 1 — . 



fers, and known by the name of Dry Rot. 

 It is not, however, confined to such wood, 

 but attacks other timber when it comes in 

 its way, and, when once established, pene- 

 trates even thick waUs to the destruction 

 of the mortar. In wine-cellars it not only 

 destroys the shelves and laths, but creeps 

 amongst the sawdust, and ultimately at- 

 tacks the corks, and spoils the wine. Saw- 

 dust should never be used in cellars sub- 

 ject to rot, and if laths are used, they 

 should be injected with a solution of some 

 metallic salt. Creosote, which is the most 

 effectual agent in the prevention of Dry 

 Rot, might not be admissible from its 

 powerful smell. [M. J. B.] 



MERTTA (including Botryodendrum). A 

 genus of Araliacece, comprising six species 

 inhabiting Tahiti, Samoa, Norfolk Island, 

 New Zealand, and the New Hebrides, and 

 somewhat resembling Gustavia in habit. 

 Their stem is arboreous, twelve to twenty- 

 four feet high, generally simple, and crowd- 

 ed on the top with simple entire more or 

 less oblong leaves, of a thick leathery con- 

 sistence, shining, and from two to four 

 feet long. Their fine foliage has procured 

 for two species, M. Denhami and M. macro- 

 phylla, a place in our conservatories, for 

 their polygamous flowers are green and in- 

 significant ; these are collected into heads, 

 and arranged in panicles. The calyx is 

 divided into three to nine segments, the 

 corolla is entirely wanting, and the num- 

 ber of stamens and cells of the ovary cor- 

 responds with that of the calyx-lobes. The 

 oldest species is M. lanceolata, also called 

 Botryodendrum taitense, discovered by 

 Forster at Tahiti in 1771, and, like all the 

 other species of the genus, extremely local 

 in its geographical range. [B. S.] 



MESEMBRYACE.E. {Ficoidca?,Lewisiea=, 

 Ficoids.) A natural order of calycifioral 

 dicotyledons belonging to Lindley's fi- 

 coidal alliance of perigynous Exogens. 

 Succulent shrubs or herbs with opposite 

 simple leaves and often showy flowers. 

 Sepals definite, four to eight, more or less 

 combined, with valvate or imbricate aesti- 

 vation ; petals indefinite, sometimes want- 

 ing ; stamens perigynous, distinct, the 

 anthers oblong, incumbent ; ovary usually 

 many-celled ; stigmas several, distinct ; 

 ovules anatropal or amphitropal ; placenta 

 central or parietal. Fruit a many-celled 

 capsule, opening in a stellate or circumscis- 

 sile manner at the apex, or an indehiscent 

 nut ; seeds numerous, rarely definite or 

 even solitary. They are found in warm 

 regions chiefly, the preater part of them 

 at the Cape of Good Hope. Some are used 

 as articles of diet, as the leaves of the 

 Hottentot's fig (Mesembryanthemum edule) 

 and the New Zealand spinach (Tetragcmia 

 expansa). Others yield soda, and have been 

 employed in the manufacture of glass. 

 The flowers of many of them exhibit the 

 phenomenon of opening only under the 

 influence of sunshine, and closing in dull 

 weather. There are sixteen genera, and 

 upwards of 400 species. [J. H. B.] 



