PEDl] 



CIjc ®rsa£?urj> of SSotani?. 



856 



constituting a genus of Thymelaceee. The 

 flowers are terminal umbellate, perfect, 

 with a coloured perianth, dilated below, 

 contracted above, and having a four or 

 five-cleft limb ; stamens eight to ten ; 

 scales of the disk combined into a shallow 

 tube surrounding the base of the ovary, 

 which latter contains two pendulous 

 ovules. Fruit succulent. [M. T. MJ 



PE DE PERDTS. A Brazilian name for 

 the diuretic decoction of Croton perdicipes. 



PEDICEL, PEDICULE (adj.. PEDICEL- 

 LATE, PEDICULATE). A peduncle of a 

 second or higher order, as in the raceme, 

 where the principal flower-stalk is the 

 peduncle, and the lateral secondary ones 

 are pedicels. Pediculus antherce is the fila- 

 ment of the stamen. 



PEDICULARIS. A genus of herbaceous 

 plants belonging to the Scrophulariacece, 

 the characters of which are : calyx five- 

 cleft, or unequally two to three-cleft, the 

 segments sometimes leafy; corolla ringent, 

 the upper lip flattened vertically. There 

 are two British species— P. palustris, the 

 Marsh Lousewort, an erect much-branched 

 herbaceous plant, nine to twelve inches 

 high, of a singularly pyramidal growth 

 and purplish tinge, the leaves pinnate, and 

 the flowers dull crimson ; and P. sylvatica, 

 the Pasture Lousewort, common on heaths 

 and marshy meadows, which has prostrate 

 or spreading stems, only branched near 

 the base, the segments of the calyx leafy, 

 and the flowers rose-coloured. Both these 

 plants were formerly considered to be pro- 

 ductive of thedisease in sheep from which 

 they derive their names ; but in reality the 

 localities in which they are abundant are 

 little adapted for pasture-ground, being 

 from their dampness unproductive of 

 nourishing food. Upwards of fifty foreign 

 species are described by botanists. P. Scep- 

 trum Carolinian, or Charles's Sceptre, so 

 called by Rudbeckin honour of Charles II., 

 king of Sweden, from its manner of growth 

 like a sceptre, attains the height of three 

 or four feet, and bears golden-yellow flow- 

 ers one inch long, the lower lip tinged 

 with purple. It is common in Norway, 

 Denmark, and Lapland. French, Pedicu- 

 laire ; German, Lausekraut. [C. A. J.] 



PEDILANTHUS. A genus of Euphor- 

 Macece, very closely allied to Euphorbia 

 itself in the structure of its flowers, and 

 chiefly distinguished by the singularly irre- 

 gular shape of the involucres, assuming 

 almost the appearance of a slipper or shoe. 

 There are two or three species, thick-stem- 

 med half-shrubby plants with an acrid 

 milky juice, natives of the warmer regions 

 of America. 



PEDILONIE. (Fr.) Wachendorfla. 



PlSDIVEAN. iFr.) Caladium. 



PEDUNCLE (adj. PEDUNCULATE). 

 The stalk of a flower. Pedunculares cirrhi 

 are tendrils proceeding from a peduncle. 



PEERGRUG. An Indian name for Cis- 

 sampelos glabra. 



PEETHA. An Indian name for Benin- 

 casa cerifera. 



PEETSAL. An Indian name for Ptero- 

 carpus Marsupium. 



PEGANUM. The Greek word for rue, 

 (Rata graveolens), and apparently also ap- 

 plied by Dioscorides to the rue-like plant, 

 which now bears thename, and constitutes 

 a genus of Rutacece. P. Harmala is a com- 

 mon plant in Southern Europe and Asia 

 Minor, and may now and then be met with 

 in English gardens. It is a powerfully 

 smelling herb, with alternate sessile entire 

 or divided leaves, provided at the base 

 with two hair-like stipules, but destitute 

 of the pellucid dots generally seen among 

 rueworts. The flower-stalks are opposite 

 the leaves, and bear a terminal white 

 flower with greenish nerves; stamens fif- 

 teen, with filaments dilated at the base : 

 ovary on a short stalk surrounded by a 

 large disk, and having three compartments 

 in the interior, each containing numerous 

 ovules; style thread-like, becoming twisted. 

 The fruit is capsular and opens by three 

 valves, which have the partitions attached 

 to them, and the albumen of the seed is 

 horny. This plant derives its specific 

 name from the Arabic word applied to it, 

 and is interesting botanically, as combin- 

 ing in itself the characteristics of the 

 order Zygophyllacece, in its stipulate not 

 dotted leaves, and in the nature of the 

 fruit ; and those of Rutacece in the alter- 

 nate arrangement of the leaves, the con- 

 sistence of the albumen, and the general 

 appearance of the plant. The seeds are 

 used in Turkey as a vermifuge ; they are 

 collected by the Tartars in the Crimea for 

 that purpose. [M. T. M.] 



PEIGNE-DE-VENUS. (Fr.) Scandix 

 Pecten-Veneris. 



PELARGONIUM. A very extensive ge- 

 nus of Gcraniacece, almost confined to tlie 

 Cape of Good Hope, though a few occur in 

 Australia, one in the Canary Islands, and 

 another fine species (P. Endliclierianum) in 

 Asia Minor. They are known in gardens 

 as Geraniums, though very different from 

 the genus of that name, in their spurred 

 calyx, usually irregular corolla, and the 

 number of perfect stamens, which varies 

 from seven down to four 



The greater number of forms cultivated 

 in gardens are hyhrids, which are pro- 

 duced with great facility in this genus. 

 The species possess more or less of the as- 

 tringent properties of the order, but one 

 species at least (P.triste) has tubers, which 

 are eaten at the Cape ; while some have 

 fragrant foliage from which an essential 

 oil may be extracted, as P. roseum and ca- 

 pitatum. They vary much inhabit; some 

 have a turnip-shaped rhizome and no 

 proper stem ; others have a distinct leafy 

 stem, and a good number are undershrubs 

 with thick fleshy stems. The leaves are 

 opposite or the upper ones alternate, en- 

 tire or variously divided, with leaf-like or 

 scarious stipules at the base. The pedun- 

 cles grow opposite the leaves or axillary ; 



