phth] 



CIjc Crratiurs? of Uotang. 



880 



cies are grown in this country as stove 

 plants ; they are very similar in appearance 

 to the species of Calathea. Some of them 

 yield abundance of fibre. On the authority 

 of Loureiro, the leaves are used in China 

 for making vinegar with sugar and water 

 or spirit of rice. [M. T. MJ 



PHTHIRIASIS. A disease produced by 

 the presence of insects ; lousiness. 



PHU. Valeriana Dioscoridis. 



PHULWARAH. An Indian name for 

 Bassia butyracea. 



PHURRA. An Indian name for the 

 leaves of Chamcerops Ritchiana. 



PHYCELLA. A genus of South Ameri- 

 can Amaryllidacece, comprising some eight 

 or ten handsome bulbous plants, with linear 

 channeled leaves, and listular terete scapes 

 supporting umbels of numerous decimate 

 flowers. The perianth is tube-like, six- 

 parted with a short tube, and subequal con- 

 volute segments somewhat spreading at 

 the apex ; the stamens are six in number, 

 inserted in the throat of the tube, with 

 declinate filaments ; the style filiform, de- 

 cimate, with a simple stigma ; the ovary 

 three-celled, with many ovules in each cell 

 disposed in two series. They are closely re- 

 lated to Hippeastrum, but the faucial mem- 

 brane is not defective on. the lower side. 

 The flowers are red, and generally marked 

 with yellow. [T. M.] 



PHYCOLOGY. That part of Botany which 

 treats of the Algce or Seaweeds. 



PHYCOMATBR. The gelatine in which 

 the sporules of algals first vegetate. 



PH YCOMA. The whole mass of an algal ; 

 its thallus and reproductive bodies. 



PHYGELIUS capensis is a South African 

 shrub, forming a genus of Scrophulariacece, 

 very nearly allied to Pentstemon, but differ- 

 ing in the long curved tube of the corolla, 

 in the barren stamen reduced to a small 

 scale, and in the very oblique capsule, one 

 cell being always much larger than the 

 other. The leaves ;ire opposite, quite gla- 

 brous ; and the flowers in a terminal panicle, 

 each fully an inch and a half long. 



PHYKENCHYMJL The elementary tis- 

 sue of algals. 



PHYLICA. Handsome shrubs, with cu- 

 rious evergreen foliage, and the habit of a 

 heath, belonging to the order Rhamnacece. 

 The tube of the calyx is cylindrical and 

 five-cleft ; the stamens are protected by 

 petal-like scales ; and the seed-vessel con- 

 tains three seeds. Most of the species are 

 natives of South Africa, where, with their 

 much-branched stems and narrow leaves, 

 they inhabit dry sandy ground, to a certain 

 extent simulating the heath tribe. The 

 narrow leaves are for the most part white 

 beneath, and revolute at the margins. The 

 flowers are small, white, and arranged in 

 heads or spikes. Upwards of twenty spe- 

 cies have been described, and several are 



cultivated, especially P. ericoides, called by 

 the French Bruyere du Cap. [C. A. J.] 



PHYLLAGATHIS rotundifolia is a some- 

 what herbaceous shrub, native of Sumatra, 

 having large cordate-ovate denticulate and 

 strongly seven to nine-nerved leaves, of a 

 rich glossy metallic green on the upper 

 side, and a bright red beneath ; and a ter- 

 minal head of small purple flowers, sur- 

 rounded by large dark-purple bracts. The 

 genus belongs to the Melastomacew., and has 

 flowers with acampanulatefour-lobed calyx 

 having two or three bristles on the back of 

 the lobes and others between them ; four 

 ovate pointed petals; eight stamens with 

 subulate one-pored anthers without any 

 prolongation of the connective ; and an 

 adherent four-celled ovary, bearing a slen- 

 der style terminating in a punctiform stig- 

 ma. [A. S.] 



PHYLLANTHTJS. A genus of dioecious 

 Euphorbiacece, characterised by its perianth 

 of five or six imbricate divisions : the male 

 flowers with three stamens, the filaments 

 either free or united and surrounded by 

 five or six glands ; and the females with 

 an ovary of three cells, two ovules in each, 

 and a short three-branched style, each 

 branch being again forked or divided. The 

 species are very numerous, all natives of 

 hot countries, and very variable in stature, 

 from small prostrate annuals to moderate- 

 sized trees. The leaves are usually small, 

 alternate, entire, and so arranged in oppo- 

 site rows along the smaller branches as to 

 give them the appearan ce of pinnate leaves. 

 The small green flowers, often with a yel- 

 lowish or purple tinge, are usually clustered 

 in the axils of the leaves, and very fre- 

 quently onefemale is surrounded by several 

 males in each axil. The fruit is a small de- 

 pressed or globular capsule, separating into 

 two-valved cocci. 



Few species present any special interest. 

 The section Xylophylla comprises several 

 shrubs, chiefly West Indian, curious from 

 their flattened leaf-like smaller branches 

 without any other leaves than minute 

 scales. P. Niruri and its allies, very abun- 

 dant in tropical America, as well as Asia 

 and Africa, and P. Urinaria, and others 

 more specially limited to Asia, are low pro- 

 strate annuals, weeds of cultivation, and 

 occasionally used medicinally. The leaves 

 of P. Conami and some others are used in 

 tropical America for poisoning fish. P. 

 natans, from tropical America, is a very 

 small species with the aspect of a Salvinia, 

 usually found floating on the surface of still 

 waters. None of the species have flowers 

 sufficiently showy for cultivation for orna- 

 ment. See Emblica and Xylophylla. 



PHYLLARTHRON. A small genus of 

 Crescentiacece, composed of shrubs or small 

 trees confined to the islands of Eastern 

 Africa, principally Madagascar. They have 

 a very peculiar habit, in consequence of 

 the leaves being narrow, and more or less 

 linear, and made up of definite points one 

 to two inches long. The calyx is five-cor- 

 nered, ribbed and persistent ; the corolla 



