stead of cymes, as well as by the funnel- 

 shaped calyx, the upper free portion of 

 which falls off when the flower withers 

 R. indica, varieties of which are known in 

 our greenhouses as rubra, salicifolia, and 

 plKsostemon, is a nearly smooth evergreen 

 bush.having alternate ovate or lance-shaped 

 leaves, and short terminal panicles of white 

 or pink-tinted flowers, the size of those of 

 the hawthorn. These have a calyx-border 

 of five narrow segments, five petals, nume- 

 rous stamens, and two styles crowning a 

 two-celled ovary .which when ripe is a small 

 black berry with two cells and one or two 

 seeds in each. R. japonica is a beautiful 

 large-leaved species forming, according to 

 Siebold, a bush from six to ten feet high, 

 and commonly cultivated by the Japanese, 

 who plant it either with azaleas and other 

 bushes, or singly, as it forms a beautiful j 

 object when covered with its innumerable 

 bouquets of dark red flowers. The generic 

 name refers to the narrow bracts, which 

 are often seen on the panicles mixed with 

 the flowers. [A. A. B.] 



RHAPIS. The genus Rhapis is closely 

 allied to Chamcerops in its botanical cha- 

 racters, and belongs to the same section of 

 Palmacece, but it differs in general appear- 



Rhapis flabelliformis. 



ance, the four or five species referred to 

 it, all of which are confined to Eastern Asia, 

 being of dwarf hahit, and having thin reed- 

 like stems growing together in dense tufts 

 rising from the same roots. Their leaves 

 are fan-shaped but deeply cut into seg- 

 ments, which are usually toothed at the 

 top, and the sheathing-bases of their stalks 

 are split into a fibrous network. The 

 flower-spikes have spreading branches, 

 and their stalks are sheathed in incom- 

 plete spathes. Some plants hear flowers of 

 only one sex. while others have both sexes 

 and also perfect flowers. The latter have 



a cup-shaped shortly trifid calyx, a tubular 

 or bell-shaped trifid corolla, six stamens 

 with thread-like filaments and egg-shaped 

 anthers, and three distinct ovaries, all or 

 only one or two of which ripen into one- 

 seeded fruits. 



R. flabelliformis is commonly called the 

 Ground Rattan Palm, and is said to yield 

 the walking-canes known by that name in 

 this country; but as its stems are seldom 

 more than three or four feet high and not 

 much thicker than the finger, this is pro- 

 bably a mistake, though it is possible they 

 may be the produce of one of the larger 

 species. It is a native of Southern China, 

 and is also cultivated in Japan, where it is 

 known by the name of Kwanwortsik, and 

 in European gardens plants of this species 

 from Japan are sometimes called Rhapis 

 Kwanivortsik. [A. S.] 



RHAPONTIQUE. (Fr.) Rheum Rhaponti- 

 cum. 



RHAPONTICUM. A genusbelonging to 

 the thistle-tribe of the Composite?, and 

 comprising nine species distributed over 

 Southern Europe and Northern Africa, Sibe- 

 ria and Mandchuria. Some of them have 

 the aspect of Centaurea, but the florets are 

 all equal and perfect. They are related to 

 Serratula, but differ in the membranaceous 

 tips of the involucral scales ; and to Leuzea, 

 from which they are recognised by the 

 rough instead of feathery pappus-hairs. 

 All are perennials, and the stems (which 

 in a few are three to five feet high and 

 slightlybranched)are furnished with lance- 

 shaped or pinnatifid leaves usually clothed 

 with white down underneath; while the 

 large knapweed-like yellow or rose-colour- 

 ed flower-heads, sometimes as much as two 

 inches across, are solitary at the ends of the 

 twigs. R. acaulis, an Algerian species, has a 

 rosette of pinnately-parted much-cut leaves 

 lying close, on the ground, and seated in 

 their midst a large head of yellow flowers 

 which smell like those of the sweet Acacia 

 Farnesiana. The root also, according to 

 Desfontaines, is eatable and not unpleasant 

 to the taste. [A. A. B.] 



RHAPTOSTYLUM. A name given by 

 Kunth to a South American tree which has 

 been since shown to be a species of Heis- 

 teria. 



RHATANY. The root of Krameria Irian- 

 dra. — , SA VANILLA. The root of the 

 New Grenada variety of Krameria Ixina. 



RHAZYA. The two speciesof this genus 

 of Apocynaceo? are small shrubby plants, 

 with alternate entire short-stalked leaves, 

 natives of South-western Asia. Their 

 flowers have a five-parted calyx ; a corolla 

 with a long tube and five egg-shaped or 

 oblong lobes, the tube being wide in the 

 middle and constricted at the top and 

 hairy inside, particularly in the throat, but 

 destitute of scales; five stamens rising 

 from the middle of the corolla tube, with 

 very short filaments and longish anthers; 

 two ovaries connected at the bottom ; and 

 a style bearing a roundish stigma, and 



