POCU 



&\>z Crsas'urg nf 23ntany. 



POCULIFORM. Cup-shaped, with a 

 hemispherical base and an upright limb ; 

 nearly the same as Campanulate. 



POD. The capsule or seed-case of legu- 

 minous and cruciferous plants, those of 

 the former being called legumes, and those 

 of the latter siliques, and silicules. 



PODALYRE. (Fr.) Baptisia australis. 



PODALTRIA. A genus of Leguminosce 

 of the suborder Papihonacece and tribe 

 PodalyriecB, consisting of South African 

 shrubs, more or less silky or silvery pubes- 

 cent, with small simple alternate aud en- 

 tire leaves, and purple pink or bluish- white 

 flowers, usually one or two on axillary pe- 

 duncles. The calyx is widely campanulate, 

 remarkably indented at its insertion on 

 the stalk, the vexillum or upper petal broad, 

 the stamens all free, and the pod turgid, 

 with several seeds. There are seventeen 

 species known, one or two of which are 

 occasionally to be met with in our green- 

 houses in collections of Cape shrubs. 



PODANTHES. A synonym for iStapelia, 



sometimes used in gardens. 



PODAXINEI. A natural order of gaste- 

 romycetous Fungi, consisting of a few ge- 

 nera confined to warm countries, reaching 

 the south of Europe in the northern and 

 New Zealand in the southern hemisphere. 

 All of them are stipitate with a distinct pe- 

 ridiuni, which often when ruptured forms 

 a sort of volva at the base of the stem. 

 The hymenium is sinuated and convolute, 

 and in one genus only, Montagnites, gill- 

 shaped. When old the spores form fre- 

 quently a dusty mass, and in Polyplocium 

 are mixed, as in the puff balls, with a few 

 threads. The hymenium is, however, in 

 general far more persistent. The genus 

 Secotium contains one or two esculent spe- 

 cies; one is highly prized at the Swan Ri- 

 ver. These, like Lycoperdon giganteum, 

 must be used when quite young, Podaxon 

 carcinomalis is employed for dressing 

 ulcerous cancers. [M. J, B.j 



PODAXON. The typical genus of the 

 natural order Podaxinei. The head is more 

 or less conical or clavate, traversed by the 

 elongated stem, and covered by the distinct 

 peridium, which breaks off from the base 

 of the stem. The spores are mixed with 

 fibres, which grow from the top of the stem. 

 In P, pistillaris the threads have a spiral 

 structure. The species grow on ant-hills, 

 or on the naked soil, and are confined to 

 hot countries. In P. pistillaris the colours 

 are bright, approaching that of dried saf- 

 fron ; in P. carcinomalis the pileus is dirty- 

 white and the spores brown. No one has 

 had an opportunity as yet of examining 

 young specimens. [M. J. BJ 



PODEENA. An Indian name for Mentha 

 viridis. 



PODETIA. A name applied in lichens 

 to the erect branched or simple growths 

 springingfromthe horizontal thallus, which 

 bear the fruit. In Cenomyce the thallus 

 and podetia are to a certain extent distinct, 



though in some species thalloid horizontal 

 processes are given out from the podetia. 

 The term is applied, but less correctly, to 

 all shrubby or erect growths. [M. J. B.] 



PODICILLUM. A very short podetium. 



PODISOMA. A genus of Pucciniei, dis- 

 tinguished by the clavate gelatinous mass- 

 es into which the stalked uniseptate proto- 

 spores which germinate at different points, 

 are packed. They grow exclusively on spe- 

 cies of juniper, on which they appear year 

 after year till the plant is killed. In this 

 country P.fuscum grows on the savin, and 

 two other species on the common juniper, 

 P. macropus forms on Juniperus virginiana, 

 in Pennsyl vania,curious gall-like tubercles, 

 studded with scars from which the fungus 

 has fallen. These excrescences are called 

 Cedar Apples, and are esteemed, though 

 apparently without any reason, as a remedy 

 against worms. Those trees which have 

 been clipped for garden purposes are the 

 most subject to the parasite. Gymnospo- 

 rangei, which is closely allied, differs in 

 the still more gelatinous expanded tremel- 

 loid masses. [M. J. B.] 



PODIUM, PODUS. A stalk, or recep- 

 tacle, or torus ; only used in Greek com- 

 pounds. 



PODOCARPUS. Under this name are 

 grouped a number of trees, natives of va- 

 rious tropical countries, and' especially of 

 New Zealand and other extratropical parts 

 of the southern hemisphere. They consti- 

 tute a genus of Taxacece, and have usually 

 linear leaves arranged in two rows or 

 sometimes overlapping. The male flowers 

 are borne on terminal cylindrical catkins, 

 with sessile overlapping anthers, the cells 

 opening at the sides ; the females axillary, 

 solitary, the ovule inverted and placed 

 upon a lobed disk. The fruit is succulent, 

 borne on a thick fleshy stalk, whence the 

 name of the genus. 



Several of these trees furnish good tim- 

 ber. P, cupressina is noted as one of the 

 best timber trees of Java ; while P. Totara, 

 a New Zealand species, having a light 

 durable tough wood, has been frequently 

 the subject of contention and strife among 

 the natives ; its bark is made use of for 

 roofing purposes, and its fruits are eaten. 

 Several species are grown in conservatories 

 in this country, and one or two Japanese 

 or Chinese kinds are sufficiently hardy to 

 stand out of doors with slight protection 

 from frost. [M. T. M.] 



PODOGYNIUM (adj. PODOGYNOUS). 

 An elevation in the centre of a flower, on 

 the summit of which the ovary stands ; it 

 is in reality an internode. 



PODOLEPIS. A genus of Composite of 

 the tribe Gnaplialiece, consisting of erect 

 Australian herbs, mostly annuals, with en- 

 tire narrow or stem-clasping leaves, and 

 yellow or purple rather large and often 

 showy flower-heads growing singly on ter- 

 minal peduncles. The involucres are com- 

 posed of numerous scarious or transparent 

 bracts, the inner ones on slender claws. 



