others to Australia, and one occurs in 

 South Africa. [T. MJ 



NIPHOPSIS. Xiphobolus. 



NIPPLEWORT. Lapsana. — , DWARF. 

 Arnoseris pusilla. 



NIRA. A Malay name for the saccharine 

 juice obtained from Xipa fruticans. 



NIR BIKHI, or NIR BISHI. The Bikh 

 poison, Aconitum ferox. 



MSA. A genus of shrubs natives of 

 Madagascar, and belonging to the family 

 Homaliacece. The leaves are alternate ; the 

 flowers in spikes occasionally concealed by 

 large coloured bracts ; the perianth top- 

 shaped, its limb divided into ten or twelve 

 segments, the inner of which are petaloid ; 

 the stamens five or six in number, alter- 

 nate with as many glands; and the ovary 

 partly adherent to the perianth, and having 

 two or three styles. [M. T. M.] 



NISSOLIA. A genus of Leguminosce of 

 the tribe Hediisarece, distinguished by its 

 five-toothed calyx, and its one-seeded pod 



I ending in a ligulate -wing. It comprises 

 a few South American trees and shrubs of 

 twining habit, with pinnate leaves, and 



i axillary racemes of white or yellowish 

 flowers. Also Lathyrus Xissolia. [T. M.] 



NITELLA A genus of Characece, distin- 

 guished from Cliara by the component cells 

 being simple and not coated with second-' 

 ary cells, a circumstance which makes the 

 species peculiarly adapted for observing 

 the curious phenomena of the circulation. 



j Nitella was supposed, moreover, to differ 

 from Cliara in having the antheridia se- 

 parate from the spore-cases, on distinct 

 plants, or at the tips of the branchlets, while 

 in Chara they are placed immediately be- 

 neath the spore-cases ; but these characters 

 do not hold good. Ruprecht has made of 



j those Xitellm which agree in fruit with 

 Chara, a genus Charopsis, while in his Lych- 

 nothamnus the antheridia are placed by 

 the side of the spore-cases. The simpler 



i plan, perhaps, is to consider Nitella rnerelv 

 as a subgenus, since even in Chara parts of 

 the fronds are uncoated. The species are 

 not so common in this country as those of 

 Chara. In Australia most of the Characece 

 are Xdellm. pn. j. b.] 



NITID. Having a smooth even polished 

 surface; as many seeds. 



NITRARIA. A genus of Malpighiaceo?, 

 by some considered to constitute a distinct 

 order Nitrariacece. The species are natives 

 of salt plains in Central Asia and Northern 

 Africa. They are generally thornv shrubs, 

 with fleshy leaves, and solitary or clustered 

 white flowers. The calyx is five-cleft, small, 

 persistent ; the petals five, concave ; the 

 stamens fifteen, with anthers opening by 

 an oblique cleft ; and the ovary free, ses- 

 sile, three to six-celled, with a single pen- 

 dulous ovule in each compartment, and a 

 stnrt thick style, terminated bv three to 

 , six stigmas. The fruit is fleshy externally, 

 , bony internally, one-celled, one-seeded by 



abortion, and opening at the top by six 

 valves of unequal size. The generic name 

 was given to these plants from their having I 

 been first found in the vicinity of some 

 Siberian nitre-works. Thefruits are eaten 

 in the Caspian desert, despite their salt 

 taste. Camels also browse on the young 

 shoots. N. tridentata has been supposed to 

 be the true Lotus tree of the ancients. N. 

 Billardieri, an Australian species, is said to 

 produce fruit of the size of an olive, of a 

 red colour, and with an agreeable flavour 

 much relished by the natives. [M. T. M.] 



NITTA-TREE. Parkia africana. 



NIVALIS. Growing near snow, or ap- 

 pearing at a season when snow is on the 

 ground. 



NIVENIA. A genus of Proteacece having 

 a regularly four-cleft calyx, the concave 

 segments of which bear a nearly sessile 

 anther and a filiform silky style with a club- 

 shaped stigma. The fruit is a nut contain- 

 ing a single shining seed. They are large 

 shrubs, natives of the Cape of Good Hope, 

 with simple or much-divided leaves, the 

 segments of which are filiform and sharp- 

 pointed. Flowers in terminal or axillary 

 spikes : florets in fours within a persistent 

 hairy involucre of four leaves. [R. H.] 



NIVEOLE. (Fr.) Leucojum. 



NIVETTE. (Fr.) A kind of Peach. 



NIVEUS. Snow-white, the purest white. 



NOBLE-EPINE. (Fr.) Crataegus Oxya- 

 eaniha. 



NODE. That part of a stem from which 

 a leaf, whether complete or incomplete, 

 arises. 



NODOSE, NODULOSE. Knotted ; an ir- 

 regular form of necklace-shaped. These 

 terms are chiefly applied to roots. 



NODOSITAS. A knot ; a woody swelling 

 of any kind. 



NOIRPRUN. (Fr.) Ehamnus catharti- 

 cus. 



NOISERAIE. (Fr.) A grove of Walnut 

 trees. 



NOISETIER. (Fr.) Corylus Avellana. 



NOISETTIA. A genus of tropical Ame- 

 rican shrubs of the violet family. Some 

 of the species are erect, others climbing. 

 Their flowers are in clusters or rarely so- 

 litary, sometimes nodding, and with joint- 

 ed stalks ; the three anterior segments of 

 the calyx are larger than the other two: 

 the five petals are very unequal in size, the 

 posterior one largest and prolonged at the 

 base into a long spur : and the five sta- 

 mens have the anthers adherent, crested, 

 two of the filaments prolonged at the base, 

 and concealed within the spur of the hind- 

 most petal. The fruit is a three-valved 

 capsule. [M. T. M.] 



NOIX. (Fr.) A general term for Nut. 

 — DACAJOU. The Cashew nut, Anacar- 

 diurn occidentale. — DE BANCOUL. 



