POTl] 



&!)e Crearfurn nf 3Sfltang. 



924 



adult state stalked, provided below with a 

 permanent sheath ; the blade of the leaf 

 vaj-ies in shape in the different species, 

 being sometimes entire, at other times 

 palmately lobed, sometimes perforated. 

 The spathe is persistent, and ultimately 

 bent backwards. The spadix is clothed 

 with perfect flowers, each of which has a 

 six-leaved perianth, short filaments, and a 

 sessile stigma. Several kinds are grown in 

 stove-houses for the sake of their foliage. 

 The generic title is said to be an adap- 

 tation of the Cingalese name for these 

 plants. [M. T. M.] 



POTIRON. (Fr.) Cucurbita maxima or 

 C. Pepo ; also sometimes applied to the 

 esculent Boleti. 



POT-PLANT. Lecytlris Ollaria. 



POTTIACEI. A natural order of acro- 

 carpous mosses, with pedunculate straight 

 oval capsules, which are generally without 

 any peristome, and large-celled leaves. 

 Pottia comprises several of the old Gym- 

 nostomas. P. truncata grows on almost 

 every mud-wall, and P. Heimii, which is 

 found at the Cape, and is widely distributed 

 elsewhere, is not uncommon on old ant- 

 hills. Gymnostoma has the reticulation of 

 the leaves much more compact. [M. J. B.] 



POTTSTA. A genus of the dogbane 

 order, distinguished from its allies chiefly 

 by the style and stigma, the former of 

 which is broad at the base, and narrower 

 upwards : and the latter is somewhat 

 round and five-angled. The only species 

 is a Chinese shrub, with hairy branches, 

 oval stalked smooth leaves, and few small 

 flowers. [G. D.] 



POUCHBELL. Glossocomia. 



POUCH-SHAPED. Hollow, and resem- 

 bling a little double bag; as the spur of 

 many orchids. 



POUDRE A VERS. (Fr.") Artemisia jii- 

 daica. — DE CHYPRE. A cosmetic 

 wash-powder prepared from the starch of 

 Arum maculatum. 



POUKENEL, or POWKE-NEEDLE. 

 Scandix Pecten-Veneris. 



POULARD. (Fr.) Triticumturgidum. 



POULE QUI POND. (Fr.) Solanum Me- 

 longena. — GRASSE, or MACHE. Vale- 

 rianella. 



POULIOT. (Fr.) Mentha Puleghtm. — 

 DE MONTAGNE. Teucrium Polium. — 

 THYM. Mentha arvensis. 



POUPARTIA. A genus of Anacardiacca;, 

 two of the species formerly included in 

 which have been referred to Evia and Bra- 

 contomelum, so that it is now restricted to 

 the solitary species upon which it was 

 founded. This, P. borbonica, is a middle- 

 sized tree a native of the island of Bour- 

 bon, where it is called Bois de Poupart by 

 the French, whence the generic name. 

 It has unequally pinnate or sometimes 

 simple leaves ; and axillary and terminal 

 racemes of dark-purple flowers, which are 



distinguished from those of allied genera 

 by being unisexual, and by having their pe- 

 tals overlapping in the bud, and afterwards 

 spread very wide open. The fruit has a 

 hard bony stone divided into two cells, each 

 of which contains a single seed. [A. S.] 



POUROUMA. A genus of Artoearpacece, 

 consisting of tropical American trees 

 marked with circular scars, indicating the 

 position of the stipules. The leaves are 

 entire or palmately lobed, smooth or rough, 

 sometimes woolly ; flowers dioecious, in 

 corymb-like cymes or clusters at the ex- 

 tremities of the branched flower-stalks. 

 In the females the stigma is peltate, and 

 the ovule partially inverted. [M. T, M.] 



POURPIER. (Fr.) Portulaca. — DE 

 MER. Atriplex Halimus. — MARRON. 

 A Madagascar name for several species of 

 pepper-bearing succulent fruits. 



POURPIERE. (Fr.) Peplis Portula. 



POURRETIA. A genus of Bromeliaceaz 

 named in honour of the Abbe Pourret, a 

 French botanist. The habit and general 

 appearance of these plants do not ma- 

 terially differ from those of the other 

 genera of this order. Perianth six-parted, 

 the outer three segments equal, the inner 

 three convolute at the base, spreading 

 above, rolling up spirally when withered ; 

 stamens six, the filaments awl-shaped; 

 ovary three-cornered, with a thread-like 

 style, and three linear spirally-twisted 

 stigmas ; fruit capsular, cartilaginous, 

 three-valved. The species are natives of 

 South America. Some are in cultivation, 

 and have blue or red flowers. fM. T. M.l 



POUZOLZIA. A genus of Urticacem, con- 

 sisting of herbs shrubs or small trees, with 

 the characters nearly of Bohmeria, except 

 that the stigmas are deciduous, but fre- 

 quently with the habit approaching more to 

 that of Parietaria. The leaves are alternate 

 three-nerved and entire; the flowers small, 

 green and monoecious, in axillary or spicate 

 clusters, the males and females usually in- 

 termingled ; the former with a three to five- 

 cleft perianth and three to five stamens ; 

 the females with a tubular perianth enclos- 

 ing the fruit, and often winged. There are 

 rather more than twenty species known, 

 natives of both worlds within the tropics. 

 Amongst them P. indica is a common herb 

 in waste places in India, where it replaces 

 our common Parietaria, which it much 

 resembles in aspect. A considerable num- 

 ber of species formerly included in Pouzol- 

 zia now constitute the genus Memorialis. 



POWDERY Covered with a fine bloom 

 or powdery matter, as the leaves of Primula 

 farinosa. 



POW-ITCH. An Indian name for the 

 fruit of Pyrus rivularis. 



POZOA. A genus of the order Umbelli- 

 ferce, distinguished by having the fruit 

 four-angled, each half with five ribs, the 

 three middle of which are close together 

 and remote from the other two ; there are 

 no oil-cells. The only species is a smooth 



