PHIL 



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876 



and Mauritius. They are shrubs, having 

 the leaves in whorls of three or six ; and 

 the flowers small near the ends of the 

 branches. [G. D.J 



PHILIPPODENDRON. A name given 

 by Poiteau, in honour of King Louis-Phi- 

 lippe, to a little tortuous shrub cultivated 

 in the Paris Jardin des Plantes, and then 

 believed to have been of Nepalese origin, 

 and to be the type of a new natural order. 

 A further investigation has, however, 

 proved it to be the Plagianthus betulinus, 

 a malvaceous plant from New Zealand. 



PHILLYREA. Evergreen shrubs and 

 trees introduced from the shores of the 

 Mediterranean, and commonly planted in 

 shrubberies and parks where it is desired 

 to have a mass of foliage in winter. Many 

 species and varieties are employed for this 

 purpose, all of which agree in having ob- 

 long more or less serrated opposite leaves, 

 and inconspicuous greenish-white flowers 

 growing in axillary clusters. They belong 

 to the order Oleacece, and are closely allied 

 to the olive, but bear a globose berry The 

 species most commonly grown are P. lati- 

 folia, P. media, and P. angnstifolia, from 

 which numerous varieties have been de- 

 rived. The Phillyreas with hollies and 

 yews were formerly much employed as sub- 

 jects for the topiary art ; but they are now 

 mostly allowed to retain their natural habit. 

 — , CAPE. Cassine capensis. [C. A. J.] 



PHILODENDRON. A genus of tropical 

 American plants of the family Aracece. 

 They have mostly scrambling stems, which 

 attach themselves to the trunks of trees, 

 whence the name of the genus. The leaves 

 are large, often irregularly lobed, the blades 

 attached to the stalk by a kind of joint, and 



Philodendron Simsii. 



the veins very small and densely crowded. 

 The spathe opens after the fertilisation of 

 the flowers, and falls off when the fruit is 

 ripe. The spadix is nearly of the same size 

 as the spathe, wholly covered with flowers, 

 the abortive ones being placed below the 

 stamens ; anthers sessile, opening at the 

 summit ; ovary many-celled, with numerous 



ovules attached to the inner angle of each 

 compartment by means of long threads. 

 Several species are in cultivation as stove 

 plants. [M. T M.] 



PHILOGLOSSA. A decumbent Peruvian 

 herb, with yellow radiating flower-heads, 

 constituting a genus of Composite, of the 

 tribe Helianthece. It is technically placed 

 near Calliopsis, but differs at first sight by 

 the much more numerous narrow ligulate 

 ray-florets. The branches of the style are 

 also very hispid. 



PHILOGYNE. One of Haworth's spurious 

 genera of amaryllids, of which he described 

 eight species, all founded upon well-known 

 varieties of Narcissus odorus, the sweet- 

 smelling Narcissus. [A. S.J 



PHILOTHECA. A genus of Rutacece, 

 consisting of heath-like shrubs, natives of 

 the eastern extratropical parts of Austra- 

 lia. The leaves are linear, and the flower- 

 stalks axillary and terminal, solitary with 

 small scale-like bracts. The calyx is five- 

 parted ; petals five, stalked, much longer 

 than the sepals ; stamens ten, those oppo- 

 site the petals shorter than the rest ; the 

 filaments hairy above, and combined below 

 into a smooth tube ; ovary on a short stalk, 

 five-lobed, the styles combined into one. 

 Fruit of five two-valved capsules or fol- 

 licles, each with one seed. P. australis, 

 with red flowers, is grown as an ornamen- 

 tal shrub in greenhouses. The name should 

 be more correctly Psilotheca, from the 

 Greek j)silos, smooth, in allusion to the 

 smooth sheath or tube formed by the lower 

 part of the stamens. [M. T. M.] 



PHILYDRACE^I. ( Waterworts.) A na- 

 tural order of petaloid monocotyledons 

 belonging to Lindley's xyridai alliance of 

 Endogens. They are closely allied to Xyri- 

 daceoB, and differ chiefly in the want of an 

 outer perianth, in the inner perianth being 

 two-leaved, in having three stamens, two 

 abortive, and in the embryo being large in 

 the axis of the albumen. The flowers have 

 spathaceous bracts ; the roots are fibrous, 

 the stem simple, leafy and often woolly, 

 and the leaves ensiform and sheathing at 

 the base. They are natives of New Hol- 

 land, Cochin China, and China. [J. H. B.J 



PHILYDRUM. The type of the Phily- 

 dracecs, and comprising a single species, 

 native of wet marshy places in China and 

 Australia. This plant, P. lanuginosum, is 

 an erect annual attaining a height of two 

 to three feet, with lance-shaped leaves di- 

 lated at the base, covered (as also are the 

 outer portions of the perianth, and the 

 capsules) with dense woolly hairs. The 

 flowers are yellow, placed on long spikes, 

 and protected by sheathing bracts. The 

 genus is distinguished from Hetwria, the 

 only other genus of the order, by the an- 

 thers, whose cells are somewhat spiral, 

 and by the placenta? of the fruit, which 

 are two-lobed and recurved, bearing the 

 numerous seeds on the outer surface. The 

 seeds, moreover, are marked externally 

 with spiral striations, and have a little cap- 



