PELO] 



Cfje ^rca^urj? at JSotanp, 



858 



gularity to regular form, as in Linaria vul- 

 garis. 



PELOTTES DE NEIGE. (Fr.) The 

 Gueldres Rose, a sterile variety of Vibur- 

 num Opulus. 



PELTA. A target-like shield, found on 

 the species of Peltidea; also a bract at- 

 tached by its middle, as in peppers. 



PELTANDRA. A North American genus 

 of Aracece, represented by an herbaceous 

 plant, with a thick fleshy rootstock, from 

 which are sent up arrow-shaped leaves, 

 borne on long sheathing leafstalks. In 

 the blade of the leaf the veins are nume- 

 rous, and closely arranged in a somewhat 

 parallel manner. The spadix emerges from 

 between the sheaths of the leaves, and is 

 invested by a green spathe, the lower por- 

 tion of which is tubular and the upper 

 portion expanded, with the point reflexed. 

 The spadix itself is short, almost entirely 

 covered with densely crowded flowers, ex- 

 cept for a short space at the top. The up- 

 permost and lowermost flowers are imper- 

 fect, while the central ones are perfect. 

 The anthers are adherent one to another 

 by means of their club-shaped large con- 

 nectives. The ovaries taper into a very 

 short style terminated by a depressed but- 

 ton-like stigma; they contain a small num- 

 ber of erect ovules placed on short ascend- 

 ing stalks. The rootstock of P. virginica, 

 formerly Arum virginicum, contains a con- 

 siderable amount of starch. [M. T. M.] 



PELTARIA. A genus of Cruciferce, na- 

 tives of Central Europe and Syria, and con- 

 sisting of smooth erect perennials with 

 ovate entire stalked root-leaves, and sessile 

 arrow-shaped cauline ones. The racemes 

 are numerous, disposed in a corymbose 

 manner ; the flowers small and white. Pouch 

 indehiscent orbicular flat, with flat valves 

 without wings, the partition vanishing ; 

 seeds two to four, or solitary by abortion. 

 One species, P. alliacea, from Central 

 Europe, has the odour of garlic. [J. T. S] 



PELTATE. Fixed to the stalk by the 

 centre, or by some point distinctly within 

 the margin ; as the leaf of Tropceolum. Pel- 

 tattftd is applied to a peltate leaf cut into 

 subdivisions ; and peltato-digitate to a digi- 

 tate leaf with the petiole much enlarged at 

 the setting on of the leaflets. 



PELTIDEA. A genus of lichens the spe- 

 cies of which are vulgarly confounded with 

 Marchantia under the name of liverwort. 

 The herbalists, however, distinguish them 

 as Ground Liverwort. The marginal disks, 

 I which are either orbicular or reniform, are 

 i at first veiled, and often project from the 

 ! thallus, retaining fragments of the veil at 

 ; the margin ; the underside of the frond is 

 I veined and attached to the ground.or what- 

 ever substance it may chance to grow upon, 

 I by numerous fibres. Their favourite place 

 of growth is the top of a molehill or mud- 

 wall, where they have good drainage; in 

 such situations they form handsome ob- 

 jects, especially when in fruit or studded 

 with a little red parasite to which they are 



subject. P. canina was once celebrated as 

 a remedy against hydrophobia, but its vir- 

 tues are quite imaginary. [M. J. B.] 



PELTIFORM. Having simple veins ar- 

 ranged as in a peltate leaf. 



PELTINERVED. Having ribs arranged 

 as in a peltate leaf. 



PELTOBRYOK A genus of South Ame- 

 rican shrubs of the Piperacece, having ob- 

 long membranous leaves with glandular 

 dots, and a smooth or slightly hairy surface. 

 The stipules are opposite the leaves, lance- 

 shaped or linear; the catkins are short- 

 stalked, cylindrical, with membranous pel- 

 tate bracts ; the flowers are hermaphrodite, 

 and have a cylindrical style, with three 

 curved stigmas. Some of the species are 

 made use of in South America in the same 

 way as pepper. [M. T. M.] 



PELTOPHORUM. The plants now in- 

 cluded i n th i s genus were form erly referred 

 to Ccesalpinia : two are natives of the 

 "West Indies, one of Brazil, and a fourth of 

 I the Cape of Good Hope. They are all un- 

 armed trees of no great height, with abrupt- 

 ly bipinnate leaves, and large branching 

 panicles of smal flowers, which possess a 

 five-parted calyx with nearly equal seg- 

 ments, five petals, ten stamens included 

 I within the petals and hairy at the bottom, 

 and a broad shield-like smooth stigma. 

 The pods have short stalks, and are flat and 

 wingless, with one or a few seeds. 

 j P. Linncei, otherwise called Ccesalpinia 

 : brasiliensis, yields the orange-coloured dye- 

 wood imported from Jamaica and San Do- 

 mingo under the name of Braziletto-wood. 

 . It is a smal! tree seldom exceeding fifteen 

 i feet high, and has leaves composed of four 

 1 pairs of pinna?, each of which has from 

 I six to eight pairs of small oval bluntish 

 slightly downy leaflets, and small yellow 

 flowers. From two to four hundred tons 

 of Braziletto-wood are annually imported 

 for the use of our dyers, who obtain fine 

 orange-red tints from it : turners also use 

 it for various small articles, and violin- 

 bows are sometimes made of it. 



The wood of P. Vogelianum, which is a 

 native of Brazil, is also called Braziletto 

 or Sobrazil. It is a larger tree than the 

 last, attaining the height of about forty 

 feet, with a great branching top, and the 

 subdivisions of its leaves are more nume- 

 rous, the number of pairs of pinnce varying 

 from twelve to sixteen, and the leaflets 

 from twenty to thirty pairs, the entire leaf 

 resembling the frond of a fern in appear- 

 ance. The racemes of flowers are of a fine 

 golden colour. [A. S.] 



PELTOPHYLLTJM. A small slender leaf- 

 less Brazilian annual, differing from Triuris 

 in having six lobes to the perianth and six 

 stamens instead of three, and forming part 

 of the small group of Triuridece nearly 

 allied to Alismacece. The name Pcllophijl- 

 lum was given by Gardner from a peltate 

 leaf which he believed to belong to the 

 same plant. This has been proved by Miers 



