character that the name is wholly inappli- 

 cable. [M.J. B.] 



PSEUDO-GYRATE. Falsely ringed ; when 

 an elastic ring is confined to the vertex of 

 the spore-cases of Ferns. 



PSEUDO-HYMENIUM. A covering of 

 sporidia resembling the hymenium of fun- 

 gals. 



PSEUDO-MONOCOTYLEDONOUS. Hav- 

 ing two or more cotyledons consolidated 

 into a single mass, as in the Horse-Chest- 

 nut. 



PSEUDO-PARASITES. False parasites, 

 including those plants which only attack 

 dead tissues, as many Fungi. Such plants 

 are pseudo-parasitic. See Epiphytes. 



PSEUDO-PERIDTUM, PSEUDO-PERI- 

 THECIUM. A covering of sporidia, resem- 

 bling the peridural. 



PSEUDO-PYRENIUM. The perithecium 

 of certain fungals. 



PSEUDOSCORDUM. A genus of Liliaccce 

 sometimes called Nothoscordurn, differing 

 from A Ilia m in having the style terminal, 

 not contained in a central canal, and the 

 ovules several in each cell. [J. T. S.] 



PSEUDO-STROMA. The receptacle or 

 perithecium of certain fungals. 



PSIADIA. A genus of Composite of the 

 tribe Asteroidece, consisting of a small 

 number of species natives of Mauritius or 

 of Madagascar, all shrubby and mostly 

 glutinous, with alternate coarsely toothed 

 or entire leaves, and small flower-heads 

 in compound corymbs. The involucral 

 bracts are imbricate, and the ray-florets 

 ligulate and numerous, but usually- so small 

 as to make the head appear discoid. The 

 pappus consists of simple bristles. P. 

 glutinosa is frequently cultivated in Con- 

 tinental botanic gardens. 



PSIDIUM. A most extensive but ex- 

 clusively tropical American genus of Myr- 

 tacece, consisting of trees or shrubs with 

 opposite entire feather-veined leaves, and 

 large white flowers, growing either singly 

 or a few together on axillary stalks, and 

 producing fleshy berries crowned with the 

 remains of the calyx-lobes, and contain- 

 ing numerous small hard kidney or horse- 

 shoe-shaped seeds nestling in pulp. The 

 flowers have an egg-shaped calyx, with the 

 lower part cohering with the ovary, and 

 the upper free part entire and closed'in the 

 bud, and at length coming off entire or 

 bursting into five or rarely four lobes ; 

 four or five free petals ; numerous sta- 

 mens ; and a two or more celled ovary with 

 many ovules in each cell. 



P. Guaiava, the Guava tree, produces 

 the well-known Guava fruits of tropical 

 countries. It is a small tree, seldom more 

 than fifteen or twenty feet in height, and 

 has downy four-sided branchlets ; egg- 

 shaped or oblong short-stalked leaves, 

 covered with soft down underneath, and 

 with the principal veins very prominent ; 

 and axillary short stalks bearing one or 



three flowers, each about an inch in dia- 

 meter. Several varieties of this species 

 are known, the two most common, distin- 

 guished by the shape of the fruit, being 

 sometimes described as distinct species. 

 They are : 1, pomiferum, with a round 

 apple-shaped fruit ; and 2, pyrlferum, with 

 pear-shaped fruit. Both are natives of 

 tropical America and the West Indies, 

 from whence they have been introduced 

 into and become naturalised in India and 

 other Eastern countries ; and they also 

 flourish and produce very good fruit in 

 hothouses in this country. Their fruits 

 have a thin bright-yellow rind, and are 

 filled with a pulpy yellowish or red flesh, 

 which has a pleasantly acid-sweet flavour ; 

 but the pear-shaped variety is sweeter and 

 more agreeable in a raw state than the 

 apple-shaped, though both make a very 

 good jelly or preserve. Guavas are of too 

 perishable a nature to permit of their 

 being brought to this country in their 

 natural state ; but considerable quanti- 

 ties of guava-jelly and guava-cheese are 

 brought by the West India mail-steamers. 

 The wood of the Guava-tree has a fine 

 close grain, and has been experimented 

 upon as a substitute for boxwood for en- 

 graving purposes; but it proved too soft 

 to stand the pressure of printing, especially 

 when engraved with fine lines. 



P. Cattleyanum, the Purple Guava, though 

 originally brought to Europe from China, 

 is most probably a native of Brazil. It has 

 smooth round branchlets, smooth leathery 

 leaves, and short one-flowered stalks. The | 

 fruits— which are produced in great abun 



Psidium Cattleyanum. 



dance, and are readily distinguished from 

 the common Guavas by their deep claret- 

 coloured pitted rind— are filled with a 

 juicy pale flesh of a very agreeable acid- 

 sweet flavour. [A. S.] 



PSILOCARYA. A genus of cyperaceous 

 plants belonging to the tribe Rhynchospo- 

 rece. The inflorescence is in many-flow- 

 ered spikelets ; scales all fertile, imbricated 

 on every side, membranaceous or papery; 

 stamens two, with long persistent fila- 



