pare] 



&\)t STreaSttrj? of 3Satann. 



846 



ensiform leaves, and branching flower- 

 stems bearing orange-coloured flowers 

 spotted with purple. These consist of a 

 six-leaved rotate perianth, with equal seg- 

 ments; three snbsecund stamens, with 

 subulate filaments and connivent anthers; 

 a clavate style with three petaloid stig- 

 mas; and a three-celled ovary with nume- 

 rous ovules. [T. MJ 



PARECHITES. A genus of Apocynacem, 

 better known under the name of Bhyncho- 

 spermum, which, however, must give place 

 to that of Parechites, as it is already ap- 

 plied to a genus of Compositce. The spe- 

 cies are found in India, China, Japan, and 

 Borneo, and are woody climbers with op- 

 posite elliptical or lance-shaped leaves, and 

 yellow white or rosy jasmine-like flowers, 

 arranged in axillary or terminal cymes. 

 They have a five-parted calyx, with a ring 

 of glands inside ; a jasmine-like corolla 

 with five arrow-headed stamens inserted 

 about the middle of the tube; and a fruit 

 consisting of two linear nearly cylindrical 

 follicles or pods, four to nine inches long, 

 each containing numerous beaked seeds 

 with a tuft of silky hairs at their apex. 



P. Tlmnbergii, well known in gardens as 

 Rhyncliospermum jasminoides, and culti- 

 vated in greenhouses for the sake of its 

 sweet-scented white flowers, is a native of 

 China and Japan. Its leaves are in size and 

 form like those of the privet, only more 

 rigid ; while the flowers, which are pro- 

 duced in great profusion at the ends of 

 the branches, are not unlike those of a jas- 

 mine, but with a shorter tube. [A. A. B.] 



PAREIRA BRAVA. Cissampelos Parei- 

 ra. — , WHITE. A name given by the 

 natives of Cayenne to Abuta rufescens. 



PARELLE. (Fr.) Ramex Patientia. — 

 DES MARAIS Rumex Hydrolapathum. 



PARENCHYMA (adj. PARENCHYMA- 



TOSE). Cellular tissue which has a spheroi- 

 dal, not tubular form. 



PARI^TAIRE. (Fr.) Parietaria offici- 

 nalis, 



PARIETAL. Growing to the walls or 

 interior surface of an ovary. 



PARIETARIA. A genus of herbaceous 

 perennials belonging to the Urticacece, 

 and distinguished from Urtica by having 

 the calyx of the fertile flowers four-cleft, 

 and the style prominent. It is represented 

 in Britain by P. officinalis, the Common 

 Pellitory-of-the-wall, a bushy plant from 

 twelve to eighteen inches high, with red- 

 dish brittle stems, oblong ovate dull-green 

 leaves, and tufts of small greenish flowers 

 in the axils of the upper leaves. The 

 structure of the flowers is very remarkable. 

 The stamens in their early stage are curved 

 inwards, but when ripe for discharging 

 the pollen expand under the action of the 

 sun or the irritation produced by the intro- 

 duction of any foreign body, and discharge 

 the pollen in the form of a little cloud of 

 dust. The ashes of the plant are said to 



contain a quantity of nitre. French, Parier 

 taire; German, Glaskraat. [C. A. J.] 



PARIETES. The inside walls of any- 

 thing. 



PARINARIUM. One of the genera of 



Chriisobalanacece : it is divided into four 

 sections, characterised by the form of the 

 calyx, and the number of fertile stamens 

 contained in the flowers. The calyx has a . 

 long or short tube ar.d is five-cleft; the 

 petals are five in number ; the fertile sta- 

 mens vary from seven to fifteen or an in- 

 definite number, and are either disposed in 

 a complete circle or in a semicircle with 

 sterile ones opposite ; and the ovary, which 

 is two-celled, with its stalk adhering to 

 the calyx-tube, ripens into a dry fruit 

 with a thick rind surrounding a two-celled 

 hard rough stone containing two seeds. 

 About twenty species are known, all large 

 treeswith feather-veined leaves, and near- 

 ly all found in Guiana, Western Africa, 

 and the Malayan Islands. 



The fruit of P. excelsum is about the 

 size of an Imperatrice plum, covered with 

 a rough skin of a greyish colour, and com- 

 monly called the Rough-skin or Grey Plum. 

 It is brought into the markets on the West 

 Coast of Africa, but is not much esteemed 

 on account of the small quantity of eatable 

 matter it contains, which is only the dry fa- 

 rinaceous substance surrounding the large 

 stone. P. macrophyllum, another West 

 African species, with a larger fruit than 

 the last, is called the Gingerbread Plum. 

 The leaves of P. lanrinum, a native of the 

 Feejee and other Polynesian islands, supply I 

 the chief material used by the natives for 

 covering the side-walls of houses , its 

 stems also afford them tough spars for 

 their canoes, and from its seeds they ob- 

 tain a much-esteemed perfume. [A. S.] 



PARIPINNATUS. The same as Equally- 

 pinnate. 



PARIPOU. Guilielma speciosa. 



PARIS. An herbaceous perennial be- 

 longing to the Trilliacew, distinguished 

 by having six to ten spreading or reflexed 

 sepals, anthers with their cells fixed one 

 on each side of an awl-shaped filament, 

 and a three to five-celled berry, P. quadri 

 folia, Herb Paris, a native of moist shady 

 woods in many parts of Great Britain, sends 

 up, to the height of a foot, a simple stem, 

 bearing near its summit four whorled large 

 ovate acute leaves, and a single terminal 

 large green flower. The leaves and stems 

 were formerly used in medicine, and the 

 juice of the berry, though considered poi- 

 sonous, has been employed in curing in- 

 flammation in the eyes. French, Parisctte ; 

 German, Einbeere. [C. A. J.] 



PARISHIA. A beautiful Malayan tree 



with pinnate leaves, and large terminal 



panicles of small flowers, forming a genus 



of Anacardiacem, remarkable for the calyx- 



I lobes which after flowering are very much' 



I enlarged and foliaceous. In this respect 



it resembles at first sight HelanorrUcea, 



i but in the latter genus it is the petals, not 



