petr] 



Etje {featfurj? of 25ntang. 



870 



line of junction having two. The plants 

 are herbaceous, natives of Eastern Europe 

 chiefly. 



The Common Parsley, P. sativum, is a 

 well-known potherb, the generic name of 

 which is said by botanists to have been 

 derived from the Greek petros, a stone, 

 from its being a native of rocky or stony 

 places ; but there is reason to think that its 

 name had a widely different origin. Pars- 

 ley has ever been an object of superstitious 

 observances ; for besides its being the as- 

 signed plant from beneath which came our 

 brothers and sisters, we remember how it 

 was always considered such ill-luck to 

 transplant it, that but few people in the 

 midland counties could be got to perform 

 such an act. Mr. John Jones of Gloucester, 

 who has published some interesting notes 

 upon this subject, on asking a person to 

 whom the order to remove a bed of parsley 

 to another place had been vainly repeated, 

 the reason for this neglect, received the . 

 following reply: 'He was quite willing 

 to root it up and destroy it entirely, but 

 transplant it he would not, nor did he know 

 anyone who would willingly take upon him- 

 self the consequences of such an act.' Mr. 

 Jones thinks that it is probable this herb 

 was dedicated to Persephone, as Queen of 

 the Dead, presuming her to be identical 

 with Hecate or Selene, the resemblance of 

 its Greek name (Selinon) to that of the 

 last-named divinity at once suggesting its 

 direct derivation from her. The correct- 

 ness of this supposition is supported by 

 other etymological considerations, as thus 

 —its Greek name being preserved with the 

 prefix of Peter :— 



Archaic Greek . . 2e\ivov, 

 Latin .... Petroselinum. 

 Italian . . . Petroselino. 

 German . . . Peter silie. 

 French . . . Persil. 

 "Welsh .... Perllys, 

 English . . . Parsley. 

 These names our authority freely trans- 

 lates Peter's Moon-plant, and adds that the 

 connection of the name of Peter with it 

 is suggestive of the policy by which the 

 prejudices of the rude people amongst 

 whom Christianity was first introduced 

 were met and modified, in the transference 

 of objects of reverential regard from the 

 tutelage of long-honoured Pagan divinities 

 to that of Christian saints. Parsley, thus 

 dedicated to funereal rites by the Greeks, 

 was afterwards consecrated to St. Peter in 

 his character of successor to Charon, and 

 doorkeeper of Paradise. 



We incline to believe in this archasolo- 

 gieal derivation of the name, and more 

 especially as superstition in connection 

 with Parsley is widely spread over Europe, 

 which accounts for the name being so much 

 alike in different languages, as well as the 

 reverential regard in which the plant itself 

 is held. 



P. segetum, the Corn Parsley, formerly a 

 rare plant in the cornfields of Sussex, is 

 now frequently met with in arable fields 

 throughout England, into which it has 

 doubtless spread with crop-seeds. [J. B.] 



PETROSUS. Growing in stony places. 



PETTIGREE, or PETTIGRUE. Buscus 



aculeatus. 



PETUNIA. A word modified from the 

 Brazilian petun, tobacco, and applied to a 

 genus of Solanaeece (or Atropacea:) in con- 

 sequence of its affinity with the tobacco 

 genus. The species are natives of South 

 America. They have sticky leaves, and 

 axillary solitary flowers, with a calyx of five 

 spoon-shaped segments ; a funnel-shaped 

 or somewhat salver-shaped corolla, the 

 limb spreading and five-lobed ; five in- 

 cluded stamens of unequal length ; and an 

 ovary with two compartments supporting 

 a simple style, and button-like stigma. 

 The fruit is a two-valved capsule, contain- 

 ing numerous seeds. 



One or two species, with numerous va- 

 rieties and hybrid forms, are common in 

 gardens, where they are much used as bed- 

 ding-out plants. The colour of the flowers 

 is white or some shade of violet or purple, 

 and latterly some have been introduced 

 whose flowers are marked with purple 

 stripes on a white ground. Some of the 

 varieties are sweet-smelling. Double flow- 

 ers are frequently met with, the doubled 

 condition arising from the substitution of 

 petals for stamens, and sometimes from 

 the multiplication or increased number of 

 the petals themselves. In one variety the 

 margin of the corolla is green and leaf-like, 

 the other portions being of a violet hue ; 

 in this variety the stamens are also fre- 

 quently replaced by leaves, the filament of 

 the stamen answering to the stalk of the 

 leaf, while the anther is replaced by the 

 blade. [M. T. M.] 



PET WOOD. Berry a mollis. 



PEUCEDANUM. A genus of the umbel- 

 lifer family with each half of the fruit five- 

 ribbed, the two lateral ribs indistinct, the 

 other three narrow ; and having one or two 

 oil-cells in each furrow of the fruit. The 

 species are smooth perennial herbs, having 

 white, yellow, or greenish-yellow flowers. 

 The genus has representatives in different 

 parts of the world ; and some of the species 

 have occasionally been employed in medi- 

 cine. A resinous secretion is yielded by 

 certain of them. [G. D.] 



PEUPLIER. (Fr.) Populus. — BATJ- 

 MIER. Populus balsamifera. — D'lTALIE. 

 Populus dilatata. 



PEWTERWORT. Equisetum hyemale. 



PEYREYMONDIA. A genus of Cruci- 

 fera>, of the section Schizopetalem, compris- 

 ing an annual herb from Chili, scarcely 

 differing from Schizopetalum, except in 

 having the embryo of the seed with two 

 white cotyledons, which are incumbent and 

 spathulate, thicker at the apex, the radicle 

 dorsal and straight. [J. T. S.j 



PEZIZ A. A very large genus of ascomy- 

 cetous Fungi. The hymenium lines the 

 cavity of a fleshy membranous or waxy 

 cup which, though sometimes closed at 

 first, is always ultimately opened. The 



