PASC] 



CIjc &rea£urg of 23ntanw. 



850 



. a species of sunflower, and has nothing to 

 do with this genus. [A. A. B.] 



PASCO. The fruits of a species of Pachy- 

 lobus. 



PASCUOUS. Growing in pastures. 



PAS-D'ANE. (Fr.) Tussilago Farfara. 



PASPALUM. An extensive genus of 

 grasses belonging to the tribe Panicece. 

 The inflorescence is in simple racemes soli- 

 tary or fingered; inferior flower neuter, 

 one-paled, membranaceous ; superior flow- 

 er hermaphrodite, two-paled. Steudel de- 

 scribes 262 species, which have a wide geo- 

 graphical distribution, chiefly in the tro- 

 pical and subtropical regions. [D. M.] 



PASQUE-FLOWER. Anemone Pulsatilla. 



PASSAN-BATU. The Stone Oak, Litho- 

 carpus javensis. 



PASSE-FLEUR. (Fr.) Lychnis corona- 

 ria. 



PASSE-PIERRE. (Fr.t Crithmum ma- 

 rithnum, and Salicornia herbacea. 



PASSE-RAGE CULTIVE. (Fr.) Lepi- 

 di inn sativum. —, PETIT Lepidium gra- 

 minifolium. 



PASSE RINA. A genus of heath-like 

 shrubs of the order Tlunnelacece,u-dtives for 

 the most part of the Cape of Good Hope. 

 The flowers are closely aggregated together 

 towards the end of the branches, each 

 having a pinkish funnel-shaped perianth, 

 with a four-cleft limb and no scales ; and 

 eight stamens protruding from the tube of 

 the perianth, those opposite to its lobes 

 longer than the rest. The fruit is one- 

 seeded, not enclosed within the base of 

 the perianth, as that is deciduous. P.tinc- 

 toria is employed in the dyeing of wool 

 yellow. [M. T. M.] 



PASSE-ROSE. (Fr.) Althcea rosea. 



PASSEROUS. (Fr.) Valerianella coro- 

 nata. 



PASSE-TOUT. (Fr.) A fine variety of 

 EyacAnthus orientalis. 



PASSE-VELOURS. (Fr.) Celosiacristata. 



PASSIFLORACE^. (PassionwortsS A 

 natural order of calycifloral dicotyledons 

 belonging to Lindley's violal alliance of 

 hypogynous Exogens. They are herbs or 

 shrubs, often climbing, with alternate sti- 

 pulate or exstipulate leaves ; and are na- 

 tives chiefly of warm climates in America, 

 and in the East and West Indies. Sepals 

 five, combined below into a tube ; petals 

 five, perigynous, often with filamentous or 

 annular processes on their inside ; stamens 

 five, monadelphous, surrounding thegyno- 

 phore, rarely indefinite ; ovary one-celled, 

 with a gynophore ; ovules anatropal ; styles 

 three, stigmas dilated. Fruit often stipi- 

 tate, one-celled, sometimes three-valved, 

 opening by loculicidal dehiscence, or suc- 

 culent and indehiscent. Seeds indefinite, 

 arillate or strophiolate. There are upwards 

 of a dozen genera, as Passiflpra, Tacsonia, 

 &c, and more than 200 species. [J. H. B.] 



PASSI FLORA. The technical name of 

 the genus to which the popular name Pas- 

 sion-flower is applied. It constitutes the 

 typical genus of Passifloracece, and com- 

 prises a considerable number of herbaceous 

 or shrubby plants of climbing habit, pro- 

 vided with tendrils, and of a few erect 

 trees without tendrils. The leaves are lobed 

 or entire, with or without stipules, and 

 having axillary flower-stalks usually provi- 

 ded with three bracts, enveloping the base 

 of the flower. The perianth has a short tube 

 whose limb is divided into four or five 

 segments, or more generally into ten co- 

 loured segments, arranged in two rows ; 

 intermediate between the inner segments 

 of the perianth and the stamens are two 

 or more rows of coloured thread-like pro- 

 cesses, constituting the ' corona ; ' stamens 

 four or five, opposite to the outer segments 

 of the perianth, spreading widely apart 

 above, but below united together, and to 

 the stalk supporting the pistif,which is one- 

 celled, with three parietal placenta?, and ter- 

 minated by three cylindrical styles having 

 rather large button-like stigmas at their 

 extremities. The fruit is succulent within, 

 and has a more or less hard rind ; seeds 

 numerous, partly imbedded in pulp, and 

 provided with an arillus. 



These singular and beautiful plants are 

 chiefly natives of tropical America, a few 

 being indigenous in Asia. The name was 

 applied from the resemblance afforded by 

 the parts of the plant to the instruments 

 of our Lord's Passion and its attendant 

 circumstances : thus the three nails— two 

 for the hands, one for the feet— are repre- 

 sented by the stigmas ; the five anthers 

 indicate the five wounds; the rays of glory 

 or, some say, the crown of thorns are repre- 

 sented by the rays of the 'corona;' the 

 ten parts of the perianth represent the 

 Apostles, two of them absent,— Peter who 

 denied, and Judas who betrayed our Lord", 

 and the wicked hands of His persecutors 

 are seen in the digitate leaves of the plant, 

 and the scourges in the tendrils. 



On the leafstalks of these plants may 

 frequently be seen small glands, which may 

 possibly be the representatives of abortive 

 lobes. The tendrils emerge from the axils 

 of the leaves, and are probably to be con- 

 i sidered in the light of abortive flower- 



stalks ; at least it is byno means uncommon 

 to find flower-buds on them. The ray or 

 crown of these flowers has been the subject 

 of much controversy, and it can hardly be 

 said that its true nature is perfectly made 

 out. It has been considered to consist of 

 a series of modified petals or stamens, or 

 as a perfectly distinct organ originating 

 from the receptacle of the flower, between 

 the petals and the stamens. To the writer, 

 the crown of the Passion-flower appears to 

 consist of a series of modified stamens, for | 

 the following reasons. Anthers have been 

 occasionally seen on the end of the flla- ! 

 mentous processes, as also on the edge of I 

 the membranous tube that results from 

 their union in the adjacent genus Muru- I 

 cuja; again, the union of these filaments I 

 into a tube, in the genus just mentioned, | 



