749 



Cfje €r*a£urg at aSntanj). 



[mona 



moors, where the better sorts of grasses 

 refuse to flourish. [D. MJ ! 



MOLLE. (Fr.) Schinus. 



MOLLLSBDIA. A genus of Monimia- 1 

 C€<e, distinguished from Citrosma, chiefly 

 by the perianth falling off from the fruit 

 as it ripens. About twenty South Ameri- 

 can species or varieties, and an Austra- 

 lian one, hare been referred to it. They are 

 trees or shrubs, with coarse usually downy 

 or hairy opposite leaves, and insignificant 

 green flowers in their axils. Several spe- 

 cies are highly aromatic like the nutmegs, 

 with which the genus has several points of 

 affinity. It has been described by some 

 botanists under the name of Tetratome. 



MOLLUGIXE. (Fr.) Mollugo. 



kOLLUGINE^!. A suborder of Caryo- 

 phyllacecB, in which the sepals are distinct 

 or nearly so, and alternate with the sta- 

 mens, when the flowers are isostemonous. 

 In the suborders Alsinecz and Silenem, the 

 stamens are opposite the sepals, when the 

 flowers are isostemonous. By some bota- 

 nists the Molluginece are placed as a section 

 ef PortulacacecB. [J. H. B.] 



MOLLTTGO. A genus of Caryophyllacece, 

 comprising inconspicuous annuals found 

 in the warmer regions of both hemispheres, ; 

 and having dichotomously branched stems, j 

 with verricillate (rarely opposite) leaves, ; 

 obsolete stipules, and small inconspicuous I 

 flowers in axillary dichotomous cymes, or 

 axillary sessile umbels. The species have 

 somewhat the habit of Galium. [J. T. SJ 



MOLOP03PERMOI. A genus of the 

 nmbellifer order, having the border of the 

 calyx in five leafy divisi ns ; each half of 

 the fruit with five wing-like ribs, the three 

 middle of which are broadest ; and in each 

 furrow a single brown vitta. M. cicuta- 

 rium, the only species, is a native of South- 

 ern Europe. The name, from the Greek sig- 

 nifying 'stripe 'and 'seed,' is given in allu- 

 sion to the yellow colour of the ripe fruit, 

 contrasted with the brown oil-cells. [G. DJ 



MOLTJCCELL A. A genus of Verbenacecp, 

 having the calyx somewhat beli-shaped, 

 its border broad with sharp teeth ; the 

 corolla with the upper lip entire or bifid, 

 the lower having its middle lobe broad 

 and inversely heart-shaped ; and each piece 

 of the fruit with three sharp edges and 

 blunt at the top. The species are annuals, 

 natives of the Eastern Mediterranean 

 z- me. The name was given by Linnasus in 

 the belief that the one known to him was 

 a native of the Moluccas. [G. D.] 



MOLT. AUiumMoly. -, DWARF. Al- 

 lium Cliamcemoly. — , HOMER'S. Allium 

 magician. 



MOLYBDOS. In Greek compounds = 

 lead-coloured. 



MOMEEA. A Xepalese name for Chur- 

 rus, the resinous exudation of the hemp 

 plant. I 



MOMOB.DICA. A small genus of cucur- ' 



bitaceous annual or perennial climbing her- 

 baceous plants, with lobed or compound 

 leaves, and solitary white or yellow flow- 

 ers of separate sexes. They are natives 

 of the tropical and subtropical regions 

 of both hemispheres. The two kinds of 

 flowers are borne on the same or on diffe- 

 rent plants. Both kinds have a campanu- 

 late five-lobed calyx, and five distinct 

 largish petals. The males contain three 

 stamens with short free filaments and 

 zigzag anthers, two of which are two- 

 celled, and the third one-celled ; and the 

 females an ovary contracted at the top and 

 bearing a short style "with three two-lobed 

 stigmas. Its fruits are fleshy, prickly or 

 warted externally, and burst when ripe, 

 generally with elastic force, into irregular 

 valves. The genus gets its name from 

 mordeo, to bite, in reference to the singu- 

 lar jagged or bitten appearance of its seeds. 

 Several species are commonly grown in 

 hothouses, and are very ornamental when 

 in fruit, particularly when the ripe fruits 

 burst and show the seeds covered with 

 their fleshy generally red aril. Of these 

 the handsomest is M. Charantia, a widely- 

 spread East Indian species, which has 

 bright orange-yellow oblong fruits, from 

 four to six inches long, tapering to both 

 ends and covered all over with little wart- 

 like protuberances, some irregular and 

 others in lines along which they split 

 when ripe. M. mixta, another Indian spe- 

 cies, has large creamy flowers, and red 

 fruits shaped like a bullock's heart, and 

 covered with little triangular prickles ; 

 and M. Balsamina, pretty little orange- 

 coloured warted fruits about as large as 

 walnuts. [A. SJ 



MOMOItDIQUE. (Fr.) Ecbalium agreste. 



MONACHANTHTJS. The name formerly- 

 given to certain orchids, now very proper- 

 ly regarded as forming a section of Catase- 

 tum, from the type of which they are distin- 

 guished by their column having no cirrhi 

 at the top. The untenableness of the genus 

 is abundantly proved by the occasional 

 occurrence of plants which bear upon 

 the same spike the flowers of a species of 

 Catasetum, those of a so called species of 

 Monachanthus, and those of a species of 

 another spurious genus named Myanthus 

 —three genera upon one plant ! Well in- 

 deed might it be said, that ' such cases 

 shake to the foundation all our ideas of the 

 stability of genera and species.' [A. SJ 



MONADELPHOUS. Having all the sta- 

 mens united by their filaments intoatube. 



MOXARDA. A genus of herbaceous 

 plants belonging to the labiate order, and 

 distinguished by their ringent corolla, the 

 upper lip of which is very narrow and con- 

 ceals the two anthers. The leaves are 

 downy and variously notched, and the 

 flowers, which grow in whorls and heads, 

 are made conspicuous by their coloured j 

 calyces and bracts. M. didyma, called Os- ' 

 wego Tea from the use sometimes made of 

 its leaves in America, bears bright scarlet 

 flowers and bracts, and the leaves emit a 



