; segments abruptly bent downwards ; sta- 

 mens five, included within the corolla ; 

 style simple ; stigma divided into two | 

 plares. Fruit succulent, two-celled, two- 

 seeded. The flowers become black as they 

 dry. [M. T. M.] 



RUDIMENTARY. In an incomplete con- 

 dition. 



RUDOLPRTA. Three extremely hand- 

 some scarlet-flowered woody leguminous 

 climbers, found in Mexico and San Domin- ; 

 go, form this genus, which is nearly allied 

 to Erythrina, though readily distinguished 

 by the simple instead of trifoliate leaves, 

 as well as by the calyx, which is tubular, 

 and rather deeply divided into four teeth, 

 the upper and lower longer than the lateral 

 ones. The glossy entire leaves are some- j 

 what heart-shaped in form ; and the hand- 

 some flowers— remarkable for their narrow 

 pointed standard nearly an inch in length- 

 are arranged in axillary stalked racemes, 

 which are sometimes more than a foot long. 

 The pods are compressed and many-seeded. 

 None of the species are as yet known in '■ 

 gardens. [A. A. BJ j 



RUE. Buta. —, COMMON. Buta gra- I 

 veolens. — , FEN. Thalictrum flavum. — , j 

 GOAT'S. Galega officinalis. —, MEADOW. I 

 Thcdictrum flavum. — , SYRIAN. Pega- 

 num Harmala. — , "WALL. Asplenium 

 Buta muraria. 



RUE. (Fr.) Buta. — DE CHEYRE. j 

 Galega officinalis. — DE MURAILLE. 

 Asplenium Buta mararia. — DES CHIENS. 

 Scrophularia canina. — DES JARDINS. 

 Buta graveolens. — DES PR.ES. Tlialictrum \ 

 flavum. 



RUELLIA. A large genus of Acantha- j 

 cece, consisting of pilose herbs, natives of , 

 tropical Asia and Australia. They have I 

 opposite leaves, and flowers in axillary and 

 terminal spikes, with leafy bracts. The j 

 calyx is. five-parted; the corolla somewhat ': 

 campanulate, with a limb composed of five j 

 equal spreading segments ; the four didy- | 

 namous stamens are included ; the style 

 is simple, with a subulate stigma ; and the 

 capsule is two-celled, with six to eight 

 seeds. Some species are cultivated because 

 of the beauty of their flowers. [W. C] 



Several species of this genus are used in 

 the East in the preparation of a blue colour- 

 ing-matter of the nature of indigo, but no 

 precise information exists as to the parti- 

 cular species thus employed. One of the 

 most important is a Chinese plant, tem- 

 porarily named B. indigotica by Mr. For- 

 tune. This is extensively cultivated in the 

 neighbourhood of Ningpo and other parts 

 of the province of Chekiang, and the indigo 

 prepared from it is largely used by the 

 country-people for dyeing their blue cloth. 

 The pigment is prepared from the entire 

 plant by a process somewhat resembling 

 that employed in the preparation of the 

 common indigo. The plant forms a bush 

 a foot or a foot and a half high, and is cut 

 down before the flowers appear. Large 

 quantities of it are thrown into a circular 



tank about ten feet in diameter and two 

 feet in depth, covered with water, and al- 

 lowed to remain for about five days, when 

 they become partially decomposed, and are 

 removed by means of large flat-headed 

 brooms made of bamboo twigs. The water 

 is then well stirred with the brooms, and 

 kept in a rapid circular motion for some 

 time, and about forty pounds of lime tho- 

 roughly mixed with it, after which it is 

 beaten with bamboo rakes for about half 

 an hour, and then allowed to settle for 

 three or four days, when the supernatant 

 liquor is drawn off, and the thick paste of 

 blue colouring-matter packed in baskets 

 and exposed for sale— it being used for dye- 

 ing while in a wet state. The Chinese 

 name Tien-ching is given to both the in- 

 digo of this plant, and to that of Isatis in- 

 digotica. In Assam a species of Buellia 

 called Room or Roum, which is probably 

 identical with the Chinese, is used for the 

 same purpose ; and others in Pegu, Bur- 

 mah, and Singapore. [A. S.] 



RUEWORTS. Lindley's name for the 

 ButacecB. 



RUFESCENS, RUFUS. Pale red, mixed 

 with brown. 



RUGA. A wrinkle : hence rugose, co- 

 vered with wrinkled lines, the spaces be- 

 tween which are convex; as the leaves of 

 garden sage. 



RUIZIA The name given to a few shrubs 

 of the Sterculiacece found in the Island of 

 Bourbon, and closely related to Dombeya 

 or Astrapcea, but differing in all the twenty 

 stamens of the flowers being anther-bear- 

 ing, as well as in their ten-celled ovary. 

 The four species are named respectively 

 palmata, lobata, cordata, and clissecta, from 

 their palmate or maple-like, lobed heart- 

 shaped or dissected leaves, which are stalk- 

 ed alternate and downy underneath. The 

 white or rosy flowers, somewhat like minia- 

 ture mallows, are disposed in axillary 

 stalked cymes, each flower having a five- 

 parted calyx with two bracts at its base ; 

 five oblong clawed petals ; twenty stamens; 

 and a ten-celled ovary crowned with ten 

 short styles. The fruits are ten- celled 

 globular capsules with two seeds in each 

 cell. The name of Dr. Hippolite B,uiz, an 

 eminent Spanish botanist and traveller in 

 Peru and Chili, is perpetuated in this ge- 

 nus. [A. A. B.J 



RULINGIA. Under this name are asso- 

 ciated about a dozen species of Australian 

 plants belonging to the Byttneriacece, and 

 closely related to Byttneria itself, but 

 readily recognised by the absence of the 

 . strap-like appendage seen on the back of 

 the petals in that genus. They are small 

 erect branching bushes, the stems and 

 especially the leaves more or less clothed 

 with soft starry hairs, like those seen on 

 Thomasia and Lasiopetalum. The flowers 

 are small, white, and disposed in axillary 

 or terminal cymes. They have a five-parted 

 calyx with triangular segments ; fivepetals, 

 concave at the base.with the sides incurved 



