RAFl] 



t&[)t CreaSurj? of SSntatig. 



956 



with tubercles and scales. The outer por- 

 tions of the flower are brownish or flesh- 

 coloured, the central portions pinkish or 

 yellowisn. Dr. Arnold describes the first 

 flower seen by him as being more than a 

 yard across, the petals or lobes of the peri- 

 anth as being afoot long, and varying in 

 thickness from three-quarters to one-quar- 

 ter of an inch, and the cup of the flower 

 as calculated to hold twelve pints. The 

 weight of the whole flower was estimated 

 at fifteen pounds. 



It appears from the subsequent investi- 

 gations of Mr. Jack, M. Blume, M.de Vriese, 

 and other botanists, that tbe growth of 

 these flowers occupies a few months. They 

 first appear as round knobs protruding 

 from the bark of various species of Cissus. 

 The flowers remain expanded only for a 

 few days,and then graduallyputrefy. Their 

 fetid scent may be conducive to their fer- 

 tilisation, by means of the insects which 

 are attracted by the smell. This is the 

 more probable, as the stamens and pistil 

 are in different flowers. It was at first 

 considered that these plants grew only on 

 the roots of their foster-parents, and hence 

 they were called Rhizanths or Root-flow- 

 ers ; but it is now known that they grow 

 also on the stems, in some cases at some 

 feet above the ground, though in others 

 the stems are prostrate and thus resemble 

 roots. The parasites develope their flowers 

 at a season when the leaves ana flowers of 

 the Cissits have withered. Astringent and 

 styptic properties are assigned by the 

 Javanese to these singular plants. One 

 species, R. Rochusseni, discovered in Java 

 in 1850 by two Dutch botanists, MM. Teys- 

 mann and Binnendijk, was in cultivation 

 in 1851 at the Botanic Garden at Leyden. 

 See Hooker's Journal of Botany, 1851, p. 217 : 

 also Transactions of Linncvan Society, xiii. 

 p. 201, and xix. p. 221. See also Plate 14 a 

 for R. Rochusseni. [M. T. M.] 



RAFINESQUIA. This genus of Compo- 

 sites is nearly related to Scorzonera, and 

 differs from it chiefly in the single series 

 of feathery pappus hairs, audthe distinctly 

 beaked achenes. The two known species, R. 

 californica andi2. neo-mexicana, are annual 

 weeds withruncinate or lyrately-pinnatifid 

 leaves, those of the stem linear ; the cylin- 

 drical flower-heads terminate the twigs, 

 and each contain from ten to fifteen rose- 

 coloured florets, all fertile, and enclosed in 

 an involucre of membranaceous scales sur- 

 rounded at the base by a few short narrow 

 bracts. The genus bears the name of C. S. 

 Raflnesque, a Sicilian by birth, who chose 

 America as his adopted country, and wrote 

 many works on the botany of the United 

 States. {A. A. B.] 



RAFNIA. A genus of South African 

 shrubs of the same group of Leguminosce as 

 our own broom, and readily known among 

 its allies by the perfect smoothness of its 

 parts, the usually pea-green leaves, which 

 are not strongly nerved as in Borbonia, 

 and the forked instead of racemed inflores- 

 cence. There are about twenty species, 

 divisible into two groups by the form of 



their leaves, which are either lance-shaped 

 oval or elliptical, or heart-shaped embracing 

 the stem. The flowers are axillary, the 

 pedicels usually forked and bearing a num- 

 ber of flowers, while at the point of fork- 

 ing there are opposite leaf-like bracts. The 

 flowers are yellow, mostly as large as those 

 of the broom. The genus bears the name of 

 C. G. Rafn, a Danish botanist. [A. A. B.J 



RAGATELTJS. Trichomanes. 



RAGEE. Eleusine coracana. 



RAGGED ROBIN. Lychnis Mos-cuculi, 



RAGIOPTERIS. Onoclea. 



RAGOUMLNIER. (Fr.) Cerasus pumila. 



RAGWEED. Ambrosia triftdd. 



RAGWORT. Senecio Jacobcea. — , AFRI- 

 CAN. Othouna. — , SEA. Cineraria ma- 

 ritima. 



RAIFORT. (Fr.) Raphanus. — AQUA- 

 TIQUE JAUNE. Nasturtium amphibium. 

 — DES BOUTIQUES. Cochlear ia Armor acia. 



— DES PARISIENS. Raphanus satiuus. 



— GRAND, or SAUVAGE. Cochlearia Ar- 

 ihoraeia, 



RAIPONCE. (Fr.) Campanula Bapun : 

 cuius. 



RAISIN D'AMERIQUE. (Fr.i Phyto- 

 lacca dodecandra. — DES BOIS. Vacci- 

 v in in jljirtillus. — D'OURS. Arctostaphy- 

 los uva-ursi. — DE MARS. Ribes rubrum. 



— DE MER. Ephedra distachya. — DE 

 RENARD. Paris quadrifolia. 



RAISINIER. (Fr.) Coccoloba. 



RAISINS. Sun-dried Grapes. 



RAISIN-TREE. Ribes rubrum. 



RAIZ DA CHINA. A Brazilian name 



for the knotty roots of Smilax glauca. — 

 DE PIPI. A Brazilian name for Petiveria 

 tetrandra. — DE TIHU. A Brazilian name 

 for Jatropha officinalis. — DO PADRE 

 SALERMA. A Brazilian name for the me- 

 dicinal Gomphrena officinalis and G. macro- 

 ct-phala. — PRETA. A Brazilian name 

 for Cahinca, a drug obtained from Chio- 

 cocca racemosa, densifolia, and anguifuga. 



RAJANIA. The celebrated English na- 

 turalist John Ray, whose system of group- 

 ing plants was published in 1703, and who 

 is considered as the founder of the natural 

 system, is commemorated in this genus. 

 The species are West Indian climbing 

 shrubs, having a great resemblance to 

 those of Dioscorea, or yam, from which 

 genus the present is distinguished by hav- 

 ing only one ovule in each of the three 

 compartments of the ovary. The membra- 

 naceous capsular fruit, moreover, has but 

 one fully-formed compartment, owing to 

 the arrest of the growth of the other two. 

 The fertile compartment is flattened and 

 prolonged into awing, but does not split 

 when ripe. It contains a single wingless 

 seed. One or two species are cultivated as 

 stove climbers, but have little to recom- 

 mend them. The genus belongs to the 

 order Dioscoreacece. . [M. T. M.J 



