967 



STTje Ereagurg of 250taup;. 



[retr 



the remainder being found in Australia. 

 None are of any special interest or deserv- 

 ing of cultivation. 



RESTREPIA. A genus of orchids closely 

 allied to Pleurothallis, hut having the hind 

 sepal and petals always extended into long 

 tapering glandular points, a long slender 

 column, a hooded anther-bed, and a linear 

 membranous-bordered stigma. It em- 1 

 braces about a dozen tropical American 

 species, small mostly epiphytal plants, j 

 frith either one-leaved stems or stems with 

 one-leaved branches, always furnished with 

 , large membranaceous sheaths, and bearing 

 ' largish generally spotted flowers, solitary 

 on long stalks. [A. S.] 



RE3UPIXATE. Inverted in position by 

 a twisting of the stalk— as the flowers of 

 Orchis; also said of those agaricaceous 

 Fungals whose hymeniumis placed upper- 

 most instead of undermost. 



RETAMA. A genus of Leguminosce 

 whose species were formerly included in 

 Genista and Sarothamnus, from which they 

 differ in having rounded or oval somewhat 

 berried pods about the size of damsons, 

 which do not open when ripe, and contain 

 but one or two seeds, instead of being thin, 

 dry, bursting, and containing numerous 

 seeds. There are about ten known species, 

 distributed over the Mediterranean region 

 and the Canary Isles, all of them much- 

 branched bushes, the twigs angular or 

 round and rush-like, the younger some- 

 times having a few lance-shaped leaves, 

 but usually entirely leafless, and thickly 

 covered in the summer months with short 

 clusters of yellow or white flowers some- 

 times tinged with lilac. Rastein is the 

 name given by the Arabs to a white-flow- 

 ered species, R. Rcetam, which grows in 

 Arabia and Syria. According to Forskal, an 

 infusion of its bitter roots is drunk by the 

 Arabs for internal pains, and the shoots 

 macerated in water are applied to wounds. 

 The Arabic name Rastem, altered slightly 

 into Retama, is the common appellation of 

 the plants of this genus in Spain. 



Don remarks of R. monosperma : ' The 

 use of this shrub along the shores of Spain 

 in stopping the sand is great. It converts 

 the most barren spots into a fine odori- 

 ferous garden by its flowers, which con- 

 tinue for a longtime. The young shoots 

 are eagerly eaten by goats, and the twigs 

 are used for tying bundles.' These remarks 

 seem to apply better to R. spJicerocarpa, a 

 yellow-flowered species which is common 

 on the Spanish coast, while R. monosperma 

 is comparatively rare. The latter species 

 is sometimes cultivated in greenhouses in 

 England, or on sheltered borders with a 

 southern aspect. It has slender shoots 

 covered with short silky hairs, which give 

 the plant a silvery appearance. The flow- 

 ers are white, the centre of the standard 

 and the calyx tinged with lilac. [A. A. B.] 



RETICULARIA. A genus of the semi- 

 gelatinous myxogastrous Fungi, distin- 

 guished by its simple expanded stemless 

 peridium, and flat-branched flocci amidst 



the multitudinous spores. Cordahas shown 

 that these are at first developed in little 

 bundles on orancniets of the threads. 

 R. maxima is sometimes a troublesome | 

 plant in hotbeds from its rapidly-growing 

 slimy spawn enclosing everything in its i 

 way, and the abundance of its dark dust- j 

 like spores. [M. J. B.] ! 



RETICULATE, RETIEORM. Having ' 

 the appearance of network. 



RETIGULATO-VENOSE, RETINERVIS, 

 RETINERViUS. Having veins with the 

 appearance of network. 



RETICULUM. A membrane consisting 

 of crossing fibres, found in palm-trees at 

 the base of the petiole, either on its side 

 or between it and the stem. 



RETINACULUM. A viscid gland belong- 

 ing to the stigma of orchids and asclepiads, 

 and holding the pollen-masses fast. 



RETINOSPORA. A small Japanese 

 genus of the Cupressece division of Coni- 

 fers, closely allied to and by some botanists 

 regarded as a section of the North Ameri- 

 can genus Chamcecyparis, from which it is 

 distinguished by the integument of its 

 seeds being furnished with evident resi- 

 nous channels, whence the generic name. 

 One species, R. obtiisa, the Japanese Cy- 

 press, is a very fine forest tree, eighty or 



Retmospora obtusa. 



more feet high, with a straight trunk occa- 

 sionally as much as five feet in diameter 

 at its base, yielding a useful fine-grained 

 light-coloured timber. Its Japanese name 

 is Hinoki, which signifies Tree of the Sun, 

 it being dedicated by them to the God of 

 the Sun. The other species are either 

 smaller trees or largish shrubs. [A. S.} 



RETOMBET. (Fr.) Passerina Tarton- 

 raira. 



RETROCURVUS. The same as Recurved. 



RETRO-FLEXED. The same as Reflexed. 



RETRORSE. Backwards: thus, retrorsa 

 folia are those leaves which are Dressed 

 backwards against the stem; reirorsum 

 hamulosus, having a number of little hooks 

 directed backwards. 



RETRO VERSIO. A bending backwards; 

 an inversion, or turning upside down. 



