907 



K%t Crratfury at 28fltang. 



logo in the structure of the calyx, the form 

 of the corolla, and the place of rupture in 

 the capsule. [W. C] 



PLUMBAGINACE^. (PJumbaginece, 



Lead/worts.) A natural order of corollifloral 

 dicotyledons belonging to Lindley's cortu- 

 sal alliance of perigynous Exogens. They 

 are herbs or undershrubs, with alternate or 

 fasciculate exstipulate leaves, andpanicled 

 or capitate flowers. Calyx tubular, persis- 

 tent, sometimes coloured ; corolla mono- 

 petalous or pentapetalous, regular; sta- 

 mens five, hypogynous -when the corolla 

 is gamopetalous, attached to the base of 

 the petals when they are separate; ovary 

 free, one-celled, with a solitary pendu- 

 lous ovule, and five styles. Fruit utricular. 

 They inhabit sea-shores and salt-marshes, 

 chiefly in temperate regions. There are 

 eleven genera, and nearly two hundred and 

 fifty species. Examples : Plumbago, Statice, 

 Armeria. [J. H. B.] 



PLUMBAGO. Agenus of Plumbaginacece, 

 containing several species of herbaceous 



Plumbago europaea. 



plants or shrubs, natives of Europe, Asia, 

 and Africa. They have subsessile flowers 

 in more or less elongated spikes. The her- 

 baceous calyx is tubular and five-toothed ; 

 the corolla gamopetalous, with a rotate five- 

 parted limb ; there are five included hypo- 

 gynous stamens, inserted opposite ' the 

 corolla lobes. The ovary is one-ceiled, and 

 contains a single anatropal ovule, pendu- 

 lous from the point of an umbilical cord 

 which rises from the bottom of the cell; 

 the style is single, but has five filiform 

 stigmas ; and the flve-sided one-celled 

 capsule is included in the persistent calyx. 

 Many of the plants of this erenus are acrid 

 and caustic in the highest degree. The 

 root of P. scandens, the Herbe du Diable of 

 San Domingo, is a most energetic blister- 

 ing agent when fresh ; so also is that of P. 

 rosea. The beggars employ P. europcea to 

 raise ulcers upon their body to excite pity, 

 and used internally it is said to be as effec- 

 tual an emetic as ipecacuanha. [W. C] 



PLUMBEUS. Lead-coloured. 



PLUMEAU. (Fr.) Eottonia. 



PLUME-NUTMEGS. Lindley's name for 

 the Athtrospermacece. 



PLUMET. (Fr.) Stipa. 



PLUMIERIA. The name of a genus of 

 Apocynacece, having the corolla funnel- 

 shaped, with a long slender tube, and the 

 segments of its border unequal ; and the 

 style short, ending in a thick and notched 

 stigma. The species are trees or shrubs, 

 with fleshy leaves growing in tufts at the 

 ends of the branches. They occur in Peru 

 and other parts of South America. P. rubra 

 has the flowers so deliciously scented that 

 it is called B,ed Jasmine in the West Indies. 

 The genus was named in honour of Plu- 

 mier, a French traveller and writer on 

 Botany. [G. D.] 



PLUMOSE. The same as Feathery. 



PLUMULE. The bud of a seed; the 

 youngest bud in a plant— placed between 

 the cotyledons if the plant has more than 

 one, or on one side if the cotyledon be soli- 

 tary. 



PLURI. In composition = more than 

 one ; thus plurilocularis signifies contain- 

 ing more than one cell ; pluriceps having 

 more than one head, as the crown of many 

 roots. 



POA. A genus of grasses belonging to 

 the tribe Festucece. The inflorescence is 

 either in spreading or close panicles, the 

 spikelets of which are for the most part 

 several-flowered and -without awns; outer 

 glumes unequal and generally keeled, 

 many-nerved; lower pales keeled, five- 

 nerved, sometimes with three interme- 

 diate nerves; upper pales shorter and 

 narrower, with inflexed membranous mar- 

 gins. This large genus contains, according 

 to Steudel, 192 species, which range over 

 most parts of the world. Some of those 

 belonging to the British Flora are valuable 

 for agricultural purposes, especially P. tri- 

 vial! s and P. pratensis. P. nemoralis is one 

 of the few grasses which grow well under 

 the shade of trees; and P. distans, P. ma- 

 ritima, and P. procumbens are the kinds 

 which constitute the pasture grasses on 

 salt-marshes near the sea. P. laxa and P. 

 alpina grow on the tops of the highest 

 mountains in Britain. [D. MJ 



POATA, P. BRANCA, or P. DA PRAJA. 



Ionidium Itubu. — DO CAMPO. Ionidlum 

 Poaya. 



POCAN-BUSH. Phytolacca decandra. 



POCKWOOD-TREE. Guaiacum officinale. 



POCOCKIA. A genus of Leguminosce, 

 closely allied to Medicago and Trigonella, 

 but differing in the pod, which is very thin 

 and flat, rather broad, more or less falcate, 

 and often fringed on the edge. There are 

 three or four species, low decumbent herbs, 

 natives of the Eastern Mediterranean 

 region. 



