S9o 



l&tyc Crca-aurg at 23ntann. 



[piso 



kind of snuff, called Niopo in the former 

 and Pariea in the latter country, by pouud- 

 insr the roasted seeds and mixing the pow- 

 der with lime. It produces a peculiar 

 kind of intoxication almost amounting to 

 frenzy, and is taken by help of an instru- 

 ment made of the leg-bones of birds. On 

 the Rio Xegro this is formed by joining 

 two pieces, so that when one end is placed 

 in the mouth the other reaches the nostrils, 

 and the snuff is blown with great force up 

 the nose : but in Venezuela it consists of a 

 bone seven inches long, with a short piece 

 joined on towards the top so as to form a 

 fork, which is applied to the nostrils, and 

 the lower end being dipped into the mull 

 the snuff is drawn up the nose. [A. S.] 



PIPTAXTHUS. A Himaiayan shrub 

 forming a genus of Legummosae of the 

 suborder Papihonacece and tribe Podaly- 

 riece, very nearly allied to Anagyris, and 

 with the same trifoliolate leaves, and 

 rather large pale-yellow flowers : but the 

 standard or upper petal has the sides 

 closely folded back on each other. The free 

 stamens and flat-stalked pod are as in Ana- 

 gyris. The only species known, P. nepa- 

 lensis, has been introduced to our botanic 

 gardens, where, however, it requires to be 

 grown against a wall. 



PIPTATHEROI. A genus of grasses 

 belonging to The tribe Stipece, and now 

 included under Urachne. [D.M.J 



PIPTOLJEXA. A genus of dogbanes, 

 having the calyx tubular, shortly five-cleft, 

 and falling off after flowering ; its tube 

 lined inside with several rows of fleshy 

 scales ; and the stigma capitate, two-lobed, 

 subtended by four recurved lamella?. It is 

 an African tree, with- opposite short petio- 

 late leaves, wedge-shaped at the base ; and 

 bears its flowers in the axils of the upper 

 leaves. [G. D.J 



PIPTOSTEGIA. A genus founded on 

 Ipomcea operculata, and published without 

 a technical description. The plant is well j 

 known, being used in medicine on account 

 of its purgative qualities: it is imported i 

 into Europe under the name of Gomma da 

 Batata. [W. C.J 



PIRATIXERA. The plants formerly in- 

 cluded under this generic name are now re- 

 ferred to Brosimum. One of the species 

 yields Snakewood, or Bois desLeitres, which 

 is exceedingly hard, and derives its name 

 from its peculiar markings. [M. T M.J 



PIRCTXIA. A genus of Phytolaccacece 

 separated from Phytolacca, and character- 

 ised by the five segments of the calyx 

 being of a thick leathery texture and 

 green colour, and either ascending or 

 reflexed under the ripe fruit ; by the sta- 

 mens varying from five to thirty, and more 

 particularly by the five to twelve ovaries 

 being distinct, or cohering only by their 

 bases, but never throughout their whole 

 length like those of Phytolacca. The 

 species are tall herbs, with leaves and 

 flower-spikes resembling those of Phyto- 

 lacca, except one which attains the height 



of a tree, and has the two sexes of flowers 



on different, plants. They are found in 



America, Africa, and the East Indies. 



P. dioica, the arborescent species just 



, mentioned, is distinguished not only by its , 



| size and unisexual flowers, but by the ' 



racemes being pendulous and the carpels 

 : united by their bases. It is a native of 

 Buenos Ayres, from whence it has been in- 

 i troduced and partly naturalised in Spain 

 I and Portugal, where it grows very rapidly 

 ! to the height of twenty or twenty- five feet, 

 ! forming a handsome leafy tree with a very 

 i thick trunk of remarkably soft spongy 

 j wood, and short branches spreading so as 

 j to form a rounded head. Its leaves are of 

 t an elliptical form, on longish stalks, and 

 j measure about six or eight inches in length 

 ! and from one to two inches in breadth. 

 } P. esculenta was recommended some 

 twelve or more years ago for cultivation in 

 ; France as a culinary vegetable, but does 

 ; not appear to have met with much success. 

 , Its leaves cooked as spinach, and its young 

 ] shoots as asparagus, were both said to pos- 

 j sess an excellent flavour. The plant is her- 

 i baceous, and grows from three to Ave feet 

 high, with a thickish pale-green smooth 

 I stem, and branches bearing elliptical leaves 

 ■ from five to seven inches long and two to 

 I two-and-a-half inches broad, and erect ra- 

 cemes of perfect flowers, with the ovaries 

 cohering by their bases. [A. S.J 



PIRI-JIRI. The New Zealand Ealoragis 

 citnodora. 



PIRITU. A Venezuelan name for &ui- 

 lielma speciosa. 



PISAILLE. (Fr.) Pisum arvem.se. 



PISANG. An Indian name for Musa 

 paradisiaca. 



PISCIDIA. A West Indian tree consti- 

 tuting a genus of Leguminosa?, with the 

 foliage habit and flowers of Lonchocarpus, 

 but the pod bears four projecting longi- 

 tudinal wings. The pounded leaves and 

 young branches of this tree, P. Eryihrina, 

 like those of some other allied arboreous 

 Papilionaceoe, are used for poisoning fish. 



PISHAMIN. Carpodinus. 



PISIFORM. Pea-shaped. 



PISONIA. A genus of tropical trees 

 and shrubs of the family Nyctaginacea, 

 named in honour of a Dutch physician 

 who wrote a folio volume on the Natural 

 History of Brazil in 1648. The flowers are 

 arranged in cymes, provided with very 

 small bracts, but no general involucre, and 

 are for the most part dioecious. The peri- 

 anth is coloured and funnel-shaped, the 

 limb eitherentireor more or less five-lobed; 

 stamens six to ten, free, of unequal length, 

 protruding ; ovary one-celled, with a single 

 erect ovule ; fruit angular, enclosed with- 

 in the persistent and hardened tube of the 

 perianth, its angles frequently rough and 

 prickly. Some of the species are in culti- 

 vation as stove plants, but have little to 

 recommend them. P. fragrans and other 

 species have emetic properties. P. aculcata, 



