S35 



2H)c Crcagurg of Statang. 



[PJESI 



A Brazilian name for 



Ba- 



PACOVA. 

 nana, 



PACUL. A wild variety of Plantain, 

 from which some of the so-called Manilla 

 hemp is obtained. 



PADDLE- WOOD. A strong light elas- 

 tic wood obtained in Guiana from Aspido- 

 sperma excelsum. 



PADDOCK-PIPES. Equisetum, especially 

 E. lunosum. 



PADDOCK-STOOLS. Boletus ; also Ago- 

 ricus. 



PADELIOX. Alchemilla vulgaris. 



PADDY. Lnhusked rice. 



PADINA. A beautiful genus of dark- 

 spored Algce, of which P. pavonia, our Tur- 

 key-feather Laver or Peacock's Tail, is one 

 of the most remarkable species, if indeed 

 all are not reducible to that. The broadly 

 fan-shaped frond, often proliferous, and 

 circled round into a cup marked with con- 

 centric lines fringed at their upper mar- 

 gin, with heaps of spores between them, 

 and partially covered beneath with chalky 

 powder, at once indicate the species. It is 

 common in tropical countries, extending 



Padma pavonia. 



to our southern coasts without any change 

 of size or colour. CM. J. B.J 



PADOUK. A kind of Rosewood obtain- 

 ed in Burmah from Pterocarpus indicus. 



P.EDERIA. A genus of Cinchnnacere, 

 consisting of four or Ave species, all Asiatic 

 and mostly tropical, except one species 

 which exte ids as far north as Japan. They 

 are climbing snrubs with twining stems, 

 opposite leaves with solitary stipules on 

 each side, and small flowers disposed in 

 loose two or three-forked cymes produced 

 either from the angles of the leaves or at 

 the ends of the branches. The flowershave 

 a calyx with five small persistent teeth, 

 a funnel-shaped corolla with short valvate 

 lobes folded in the bud, five stamens in- 

 cluded within the tube of the corolla, and 

 a style with two short stigmas. The fruits 

 are small berries covered with a thin brittle 

 rind, and contain two one-seeded cells. 



P. /cetida is a widely spread plant, com- 

 mon in most parts of India and all through 

 the Malayan Archipelago, extending from 

 the Mauritius northward to China and 

 Japan. All parts of the plant give off a 

 most offensive odour when bruised. Ite 

 leaves are usually heart-shaped at the base, 

 but of variable width and outline ; and its 

 flowers white or pale-pink marked with a 

 pink star-like spot on the spreading limb. 

 In Assam the plant is called Bedolee Sutta, 

 and has lately been brought into notice as 

 a fibre-yielding plant, its flexible stems 

 yielding a tough fine fibre fit for spinning 

 purposes. The Hindoos use the roots as an 

 emetic. [A. S.] 



The chopped branches are known in China 

 under the name of Jung-gala, and are used 

 to destroy aphides on cabbages. 



PJEDEROTA. A genus of Scroplndaria 

 cece, scarcely differing from Veronica in 

 their more irregular almost two-lipped co- 

 rolla. The habit is also that of the moun- 

 tain species of Veronica, with terminal 

 spikes. There are two species, both in- 

 habiting the mountains of Carinthia, Car- | 

 niola, and Upper Italy : P. Ageria, an erect 

 perennial of about six inches to a foot in 

 height, with pale-yellow or straw-coloured 

 flowers ; and P. Bonarota, a much lower 

 but very ornamental plant, with blue or 

 pink-coloured flowers. 



P.EONIA. An extensive genus of hand- 

 some herbaceous plants, occasionally some- 

 what shrubby, belonging to the Banuncu- 

 laceaz, among which they are distinguished 

 by producing their seeds in many-seeded 

 follicles, and by bearing their stamens on 

 a glandular disk. One species, P. coralllna, 

 h s long been known to grow on an island 

 railed the Steep Holmes in the mouth of 

 the Severn, but it is scarcely considered 

 indigenous. P. /estiva, or officinalis, is the 

 Common Peony, with large single or double 

 red or blush flowers, which decorates every 

 cottage garden. P. albiflora, distinguished 

 by its smooth recurved follicles, is a na- 

 tive of Siberia and the whole of Northern 

 Asia ; the roots of this are sometimes 

 boiled by the natives, and eaten in broth ; 

 they also grind the seeds and put them 

 into their tea. French, Pivoine; German, 

 Pdonie. See Moutan. [C. A. J.] 



P/EONY, or PEONY. Pceonia. 



PJESIA. A genus of Brazilian ferns, 

 probably confined to one species, P. viscosa, 

 a plant with large tripinnate glandular- 

 pubescent fronds, and the general aspect 

 of Pteris aquilina ; with which, moreover, 

 it agrees so closely in its fructification as 

 to have been named Pteris scalaris. The 

 sorus of this plant, which was for a long 

 time apteridological puzzle, is either linear 

 or roundish, with a double or two-valved 

 indusium such as occurs in the bracken, 

 which latter and its allies will probably 

 have to be dissociated from Pteris, and 

 combined with Pcesia. The latter has been 

 generally referred to the Dicksoniew, but 

 it seems to fall rather in the vicinity of 



