r 39 



Clje Creagurg of 230tattg. 



[meth 



perianth, enclosing nine to twelve stamens, 

 the three innermost sterile, and sometimes 

 altogether wanting ; some of the fertile 

 stamens have glands attached to them, and 

 all have four-celled anthers. The fruit is 

 included within the thickened persistent 

 base of the perianth, the upper part of 

 which ultimately falls off. M. pretiosa yields 

 a hark whose properties are similar to 

 those of cinnamon. [M. T. M] 



ME8PILUS. A genus of Rosacea of 

 the tribe Pomacece, originally intended to 

 include all the Cratcegi ^.Tith five styles, but 

 now generally restricted to the Medlar, 

 M. germanica, which has the calyx-lobes 

 more leafy, and leaving between them a 

 broader and more open disk than in other 

 species. The wild Medlar, the origin of 

 our cultivated varieties, is common as a 

 shrub in the hedges of a great part of 

 Continental Europe. The Medlar has been 

 found wild in various parts of England, 

 especially in hedges about Minshull in 

 Cheshire, and Ashburnham in Sussex ; but 

 as it is not found commonly in the woods 

 of this country, it is supposed that the 

 seeds have been those of introduced plants, 

 and disseminated chiefly in hedgerows by 

 birds. 



There are several varieties of Medlar cul- 

 tivated for their fruit. Some of them grow 

 tolerably upright, but generally they are 

 of spreading habit, forming low deciduous 

 trees, the branches of which are elbowed, 

 turning at nearly right angles in any di- 

 rection (especially those of the large Dutch 

 Medlar) so that the tree has a very rustic 

 appearance. Indeed, on this account it 

 may be very properly introduced where 

 rustic scenery is an object. The leaves are 

 oval-lanceolate, but in the variety just 

 mentioned they are large, and broader 

 than those of the other kinds. It blossoms 

 late, not before June or the beginning of 

 July, the flowers being solitary and produ- 

 ced at the ends of the shoots or of short 

 side spurs; the petals are roundish and 

 white ; the calyx is green and leafy, but as 

 the fruit approaches maturity it withers 

 and dies back till at last only the fleshy 

 stubs at the base remain. The skin of the 

 fruit is brown, and the flesh firm and aus- 

 tere, not at all fit to eat when first gathered, 

 and requiring to be kept till it begins to de- 

 cay, but when it becomes completely dis- 

 organised, and its green colour has entirely 

 gone, the pulp, in its incipient state of 

 decay, has, to many tastes, an agreeable 

 acidity. The change which takes place is 

 called bletting. Some persons, again, have 

 the fruit prepared and glazed with sugar. 

 Tastes are different, and persons who are 

 very fond of Medlars, prefer them, in their 

 naturally mollified state, to the finest melt- 

 ing pears. In this state they will keep fit 

 for use for several weeks, if in a dry airy 

 situation ; and there is a stoneless variety, 

 Xeflrer a fruit sans noyeau, which keeps 

 longer than the other kinds. The best as 

 regards Quality is the common small-fruit- 

 ed or Nottingham Medlar, which has, to 

 medlar fanciers, a rich brisk subacid fla- 



vour ; but from the large size of the fruit 

 and the rustic appearance of the tree, the 

 large Dutch is the one generally preferred. 

 The Medlar has been successfully grafted 

 on the pear, and even on the common 

 hawthorn, notwithstanding their external 

 dissimilarity. [R. TJ 



MESQUITE. A French name for Ame- 

 rican Oak ; also a kind of gum. 



MESTJA. A genus of Guttiferw of the 

 tribe Calophyllece, characterised by having 

 four imbricate sepals, four petals, numerous 

 stamens with oblong anthers, a long style 

 with a peltate stigma, and a two-celled ova- 

 ry with two ovules in each cell ; and by the 

 seeds having thick fleshy cotyledons and a 

 small radicle. There are three species, all 

 trees from tropical Asia, with narrow co- 

 riaceous leaves, elegantly marked with nu- 

 merous parallel veins diverging from the 

 midrib, and large axillary flowers. M. fer- 

 rea, common in East India, is a very hand- 

 some hard-wooded tree. Its highly fra- 

 grant flowers are sold in the Indian ba- 

 zaars, both for sachets and for their sup- 

 posed medical properties, under the name 

 of Kaghas or Kagkesur, and the wood is 

 said to be one of those known under the 

 name of Iron-wood. 



METABASIS. A genus of Composite, of 

 the tribe Cichoracew, proposed for Seriola 

 octneiisis and cretensis, two Mediterranean 

 species, in which the outer achenes have 

 a shorter beak than the inner ones, and a 

 pappus of short scales only, instead of all 

 the achenes having a plumose pappus as in 

 other Seriola?. They are herbs, with the 

 aspect of hawkweeds. 



METAXYA. Amphidesmium. 



METHEE-SEED. An Indian name for 

 Trigonella fcenum grcecum. 



METHONICA. A genus usually placed 

 among Liliacece, but referred to Melantha- 

 cece by Dr.Wight, from its affinity with Uvu- 

 lario?, forming another example of the dif- 

 ficulty of separating the orders in a satis- 

 factory manner. It consists of climbing 

 tuberous herbs from India and tropical 

 Africa, with branched stems and scattered 

 leaves, which, however, are opposite or 

 verticillate by threes under the branches ; 

 in shape they are lanceolate acuminate or 

 terminating in a tendril. The flowers are 

 solitary on axillary or terminal peduncles, 

 and have a coloured withering perianth 

 of six nearly equal crimped reflexed seg- 

 ments, and six stamens with anthers fixed 

 by themiddle. The ovary is three-celled, and 

 the style obliquely bent, with a three-cleft 

 stigma. The capsule is roundish, splitting 

 into three segments, thus showing the 

 relation to Melanthacece ; seeds roundish, 

 with a spongy red seed-coat. The flowers 

 are mostly yellow or crimson. The species, 

 which are better known under Linnams's 

 name of Gloriosa, are of very ornamental 

 character; they are, however, extremely 

 poisonous. M. superba, grand! flora, and 

 virescens are all favourite plants amongst 

 cultivators. [J. T. SJ 



