NANODES discolor is a curious little 

 Brazilian and West Indian orchid, with 

 leaves and flowers very much alike in ap- 

 pearance. The plant, which is only an 

 inch or two high, has small rather fleshy 

 greenish-purple leaves, handed with purple, 

 set closely together on opposite sides of a 

 short stem, which is concealed by their 

 sheathing bases; and its little purple 

 flowers are borne solitary upon the sum- 

 mits of the branches, and almost hidden 

 amongst the leaves. The genus belongs 

 to the YmxdecE, and is distinguished by its 

 lip being adnate to the column, and co- 

 hering with the lateral sepals above which 

 it is placed, and by its four compressed 

 pollen-masses being sessile side by side on 

 an ovate gland. [A. S.] 



NAPiEA. Sida. 



NAPATAIN. An Indian name for the 

 Physic-nut. 



NAP-AT-NOON. Tragopogon porrifolius. 



NAPEANTHUS brasiliensis is the sole 

 representative of a genus of Cyrtandraceo?, 

 peculiar to Brazil, where it inhabits the 

 dense virgin forests of the Organ Moun- 

 tains. It is a small shrub, with opposite 

 unequal sessile, and towards the apex cre- 

 nated, leaves ; pink flowers arranged in 

 axillary umbels ; a tubular calyx, and a 

 funnel-shaped corolla ; four stamens, the 

 anthers of which are coherent ; an oblong 

 ovary not surrounded by any glandular 

 disk ; and a one-celled two-valved capsule 

 with an indefinite number of seeds. [B. S.J 



NAPELLUS. Aconitum Napellus. 



NAPHA-WATER. A delicious perfume 

 distilled from orange-flowers. 



NAPIFORM. Turnip-shaped ; having 

 the figure of a depressed sphere, as the 

 root of the turnip-radish. 



NAPOLEONA. A very singular genus 

 of shrubs, natives of Western tropical 

 Africa, whose place in the natural system 

 is a contested point among botanists. Dr. 

 Lindley places it in a separate oi'der, liel- 

 visiacece. They are shrubs of the size of 

 a pomegranate, with alternate leathery 

 leaves, and sessile axillary flowers in 

 groups of three. The calyx* is adherent, 

 leathery, five-cleft ; and the corolla of 

 three rows, the outer largest, concave, 

 strongly plaited, and many-toothed, bent 

 backwards so as to conceal the calyx when 

 fully expanded, the next row divided like 

 . the crown of the passion-flower into a 

 number of thread-like spreading segments, 

 and the innermost division erect cup- 

 shaped, with the margin bent inwards and 

 divided into numerous small tooth-like 

 segments : ten to twenty stamens are 

 inserted into the base of the corolla in a 

 single row, the filaments being united toge- 

 ther below. Within these is a cup-shaped 

 disk, surrounding the adherent ovary, 

 which latter has five compartments, with 

 two ovules suspended in each, a five-cor- 

 nered style, and a disk-shaped five-angled 

 stigma. The fruit is soft, much like a pome- 



granate, the rind very astringent, and con- 

 taining so much tannin that the natives 

 make a kind of ink from it. N. imperial/* 

 has produced its cream-coloured flowers in 

 this country. [M. T. MJ 



NARANJITAS DE QUITO. The berries 

 of Solanum quitoense, called Quito Oranges. 



NARASCALO. A hard Mexican wood, 

 probably Ironwood. 



NARAVELIA. A genus of Eanuncula- 

 cece, distinguished from Clematis by the 

 presence of petals ; from Atragene by the 

 petals being longer than the calyx ; and 

 from both by the carpels being each seated 

 on a thick hollow stalk. The only species 

 is JV. zeylanica, the Narawael of Ceylon, a 

 climbing shrub resembling a Clematis, but 

 having the leaves with only a single pair 

 of ovate acuminate leaflets, beyond which 

 the leaf-stalk takes the form of a tendril. 

 The flowers are yellow, with four sepals 

 and six to twelve linear petals. [J. T. S.] 



NARCISSE. (Fr.) Narcissus. — A. 

 BOUQUETS. Narcissus Tazetta. — AI- 

 AULT. Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus. — 

 D'AUTOMNE. Sternbergia lutea. — DE 

 PEROU. Ismene Amancaes. — DESPR^S, 

 or SAUVAGE. Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus. 



NARCISSUS. An extensive genus of bul- 

 bous plants belonging to the Amaryllida- 

 cea?. Their distinguishing features are a 

 hypocrateriform perianth having a straight 

 cylindrical tube, a six-parted equal spread- 

 ing or reflexed limb, and a funnel-shaped 

 bell-shaped or wheel-shaped cup or coronet ; 

 six included stamens inserted below the 

 coronet; a three-celled ovary, the ovules 

 in many series ; a simple style and obtuse 

 stigma; and a membranaceous capsule. 



The numerous species of Narcissus are 

 amongst the most beautiful of spring-flow- 

 ering bulbs. They have linear-lorate leaves, 

 and radical scapes bearing one or many 

 flowers, which are usually yellow but some- 

 times white, not unfrequently nodding, 

 and generally imbued with a powerful, and 

 when confined rather overpowering, odour. 

 They have been thrown into several groups 

 or subgenera, of which the principal are :— 



Ajax: the Daffodils, distinguished by 

 having the cylindrical cup longer than the 

 funnel-shaped tube, the filaments adnate 

 to the lower part of the tube, and the style 

 subulate and three-furrowed. The Common 

 Daffodil, N. Pseudo-narcissus, is an illustra- 

 tion of this group. 



Ganymedes : the Rush Daffodils, distin- 

 guished by the slender drooping tube, re- 

 flex limb, and short cup, the filaments very 

 unequally adnate to the upper part of the 

 tube, and the style slender. Example : N 

 triandrus. 



Hermione : the Polyanthus Narcissus, dis- 

 tinguished by the slender cylindrical tube 

 and shallow cup, the filaments unequally 

 adnate near the mouth, and the style 

 slender, as in N. Tazetta. 



Queltia : the Mock Narcissus, distin- 

 guished by the subcylindrical tube and 



