993 



Ojc Crcas'urj) at Bntang. 



[EOL'B 



featherv. There are twenty-seven species 

 described under this genus by Steudel, 

 and they are widely distributed over the 

 surface of the globe, a large portion of 

 them inhabiting salt-marshes. [D. M.] 



ROTTLERA. A genus of Euphorbiacew, 

 comprising about twenty species, of alter- 

 nate (rarely opposite) leaved bushes or 

 small trees, found in tropical Asia and the 

 warmer parts of Australia. They are cha- 

 racterised by their two to five-parted 

 calyx; by the total absence of corolla or 

 disk; by the numerous stamens in the 

 sterile flowers, with their filaments free or 

 united near the base into a number of 

 parcels : and by the female flowers having 

 an ovary with two to four one-seeded cells 

 crowned with a like number of undivided 

 somewhat feathery styles. The leaves 

 have rather long stalks, furnished with 

 two glands at their point of union with 

 the blades ; the latter vary much in form, 

 some few being peltate, others lobed or 

 toothed, and both surfaces in many cases 

 | are clothed with soft starry hairs. The 

 inconspicuous green or whitish flowers 

 are sterile and fertile on the same or on 

 different plants, and disposed in axillary 

 or terminal spikes, racemes, or panicles. 



R. tinctoria is a very common Indian 

 bush or small tree, also found in the In- 

 dian Archipelago, tropical Australia, and, 

 according to Mr. Hanhury, in South Ara- 

 bia. The leaves are from four to eight 

 inches long, smooth above, and minutely 

 downy below. From the surface of the 

 trilobed capsules of this plant, which are 

 about the size of peas, a red mealy powder 

 is obtained, well known in India as Kamala, 

 and much used by Hindoo silk-dyers, who 

 obtain from it, according to Roxburgh, a 

 deep bright durable orange or flame co- 

 lour of great beauty. This is obtained by 

 boiling the powder in a solution of car- 

 bonate of soda. ' The capsules are ripe in 

 February or March, and the red powder 

 is brushed off and collected for sale, no 

 other preparation being necessary to pre- 

 serve it.' 



The root of the tree is also said to be 

 used in dyeing. From a paper by Mr. 

 Hanbury on this plant in the Pharmaceu- 

 ticalJournol for February 1858, to whichthe 

 reader is referred for a full account of the 

 Kamala, it appears to be used in cutaneous 

 complaints. 'Among the Arabs of Aden 

 it is given internally in leprosy, and used 

 in solution to remove freckles and pus- 

 tules ;' while in this country it has been 

 used successfully in treating the eruption 

 known as wildfire on children, by rubbing 

 the powder over the affected part with 

 moist lint. It appears, however, to be 

 most valued as an anthelmintic, and has 

 been extensively used with much success 

 in India in cases of tapeworm -, three 

 drachms being sufficient for a robust 

 person, and half that quantity for one 

 of feeble habit. The genus is dedicated to 

 Dr. Rottler, an eminent Dutch missionary 

 and naturalist. [A. A. B.] 



ROTUND. Orbicular, a little inclining 



to be oblong ; as the leaf of Lysimachia 

 Nummularia, Mentha rotundifolia, &c. 



ROTUND ATE. Rounded off; a term 

 usually applied to bodies which are not 

 round themselves, but only at their ends. 



ROUCOU, ROCOUYER. The Arnotto, 

 Bixa Orellana. 



ROUDON. (Fr.) Coriaria. 



ROUGE-BE. (Fr.) Camelina sativa. 



ROUGE-HERBE, or ROUGEOLE. (Fr.) 

 Melampyrum arvense. 



ROUGEOTTE. (Fr.) Adonis aestivalis. 



ROUGE-PLANT. Rivina tinctoria. 



ROUGETTE. (Fr.) A kind of olive. 



ROUGH, ROUGHISH. Covered with 

 little hard or sharp elevations, which pro- 

 duce the sensation of roughness ; also ap- 

 plied to surfaces covered with coarse stiff 

 hairs. 



ROUILLE. (Fr.) Uredo linearis, and 

 U. Rubigo-vera. 



ROULINIA. A genus of Asclejriadacea?, 

 composed of about a dozen species, all of 

 which are inhabitants of tropical Ame- 

 rica, and have a twining habit. Their 

 leaves are cordate, and of a lively green 

 colour; their flowers scented, pale-yellow 

 or whitish, and arranged in racemes; their 

 calyx is five-cleft ; their corolla rotate and 

 five-lobed ; and their fruit smooth on the 

 surface and ventricose. Nothing is known 

 of their uses. The Roulinia of Brogniart 

 is a totally different plant, synonymous 

 with Dasylirion. [B. S.] 



ROUM. A blue dye-stuff of Assam, 

 obtained from a species of Ricellia. 



ROUMA. (Fr.) Ranunculus asiaticus. 



ROUMEA. Xylosma. 



ROUPELLIA. A genus of Apocynaceoe, 

 comprising a climbing plant, native of 

 Sierra Leone. The calyx is five-parted, 

 with a ring of small glands at the base ; 

 | the corolla is creamy-white in colour, fun- 

 i nel-shaped, its limb divided into five broad 

 | twisted segments, while from its throat 

 project ten flesh-coloured or brown pro- 

 cesses united into a ring below ; the fila- 

 I ments are very short, the anthers pointed ; 

 ■ and the style is dilated into a fleshy five- 

 | furrowed mass, which is adherent to the 

 anthers. This plant was supposed to yield 

 the cream-fruit of Sierra Leone ; but Dr. 

 Thomson, who has had an opportunity of 

 seeing the fruit of the present plant in 

 the Calcutta Botanic Garden, states that it 

 is follicular, and therefore does not cor- 

 respond with the cream-fruit. R. grata is a 

 showy stove-climber, whose flowers, how- 

 ever, scarcely realise in this country the 

 expectations formed of them. [M. T. M.] 



ROURE. (Fr.i Querent pedunculata. — 

 DES CORROYEURS. Rhus Coriaria. 



ROUREA. A genus of Connaracem, 

 comprising upwards of forty species, 



