tetb] 



Cljt Crttrfur]) of Uotani). 



1134 



have alternate, entire or toothed, thick 

 evergreen leaves, and terminal or lateral 

 panicles of flowers, which by abortion 

 often become unisexual. They are widely 

 spread over the tropics of Asia, Africa, and 

 America. The flowers have four to six 

 sepals, and as many petals ; numerous 

 stamens, with the filaments dilated at the 

 top ; and three to five ovaries cohering at 

 the bottom, and each containing numerous 

 ovules in two rows, ultimately ripening 

 into one to flve-seeded capsules or follicles, 

 which split open along their inner edge. 



Pew of the species possess much interest 

 heyond their botanical characters, nor 

 are any of them remarkable for beauty. 

 Like the rest of the order they contain 

 some degree of astringency. T. potatoria 

 is called the Water-tree at Sierra Leone, 

 on account of its climbing stems yielding 

 a good supply of clear water when cut 

 across— hence also the specific name adopt- 

 ed by botanists. In Brazil a decoction of T. 

 Breyniana and T. oblongata is applied to 

 swellings of the legs, prevalent in that 

 country ; while in Guiana an infusion of 

 the Tigarea <T. Tigarea, called Liane rouge 

 by the French in Cayenne, from the red 

 colour of its infusion) is employed in 

 venereal complaints. [A. S.] 



TETRACH.ENIUM. A fruit formed by 

 the adhesion of four achenes. 



TETRACME. A genus of Cruciferce, 

 allied to Erysimum, but with the pod 

 short, and furnished with four horns at the 

 tip. It is a small annual from the Caspian 

 desert, and is the Notoceras quadricorne ot 

 Decandolle. [J. T. S.] 



TETP^ACOCCOUS. Having four cells 

 elasticaily dehiscing and separating. 



TETRADENIA. A genus of Labiatm, 

 founded on a small undershrub from 

 Madagascar, with petiolate ovate crenate 

 leaves. The campanulate calyx is five- 

 toothed ; the corolla is divided into five 

 nearly equal lobes ; the four equal stamens 

 have naked filaments, the cells of the 

 anthers being confluent ; and the style is 

 slightly bifid. [W. C] 



TETRADTMOUS. Having four cells or 

 cases. 



TETRADYNAMOUS. Having six sta- 

 mens, of which two are. l ogge r than the 

 four others, which stand in pairs on oppo- 

 site sides of an ovary ; as in crucifers. 



TETRAGLOCHIN. The name applied to 

 a genus of Sanguisorbacew, comprising a 

 shrub, native of the Andes of Chili. 

 Some of the leafstalks are destitute of 

 blade, but are spiny and provided with 

 sheathing stipules; the true leaves are 

 tufted and linear. Flowers on solitary 

 axillary stalks, dioecious : the males having 

 a four-leaved calyx, no corolla, and two 

 stamens ; and the females an ovate calyx- 

 tube, with four broad wings, surmounted 

 by a four-parted limb, and a one-celled 

 ovary, with a single pendulous ovule, and 

 three or four short styles, with fringed 



stigmas. The fruit is adherent to the winged 

 calyx-tube. The generic name is derived 

 from the Greek tetra ' fourfold ' and glochin 

 ' an angle.' [M. T. M.] 



TETRAGONELLA. A genus belonging 

 to the order Tetragoniaceoz, founded upon 

 a single species, T. amplexicoma, the Ice- 

 plant of the Tasmanian colonists, so called 

 from its being covered with watery pus- 

 tules which give it a crystalline appear- 

 ance. It is a decumbent or erect and 

 climbing plant, common on the seashores 

 of Tasmania and Southern Australia, hav- 

 ing lance-shaped or oblong-rhomboid 

 leaves, and small long-stalked yellow 

 flowers. The character by which this 

 genus is sought to be distinguished from 

 Tetragonia consists in the ovary being 

 free, not adhering to the calyx; but Dr. 

 Hooker, who combines the two genera, 

 states that he has never found any fruits 

 upon his numerous specimens, and conse- 

 quently thinks that it has no title to rank 

 even as a distinct species, much less as a 

 separate genus, and that it is in reality the 

 male plant of the common New Zealand 

 Spinach {Tetragonia expansa). Its flowers 

 have twelve stamens, two opposite each 

 of the four lobes of the calyx and one 

 between each pair of lobes ; while those of 

 T. expansa have sixteen, in four bundles 

 between the lobes. [A. S.] 



TETRAGONIACEiE. A small order of 

 dicotyledons united by Fenzl with Portu- 

 lucacew, but differing from them essen- 

 tially in their several-celled ovary. They 

 are much more closely connected with 

 Ficoidece (or Mesembryacece) and are often 

 united with them as a suborder, only dif- 

 fering in the usual absence of petals. 

 They are succulent-leaved herbaceous 

 plants, chiefly maritime, and are found 

 generally within the tropics, in the South 

 Sea Islands, in Southern Africa, and in the 

 Mediterranean region. The principal 

 genera are Tetragonia, Aizoon, Trianthema, 

 and Sesuvium. 



TETRAGONIA. With the exception of 

 the New Zealand Spinach, which is found 

 in Japan as well as in New Zealand, this 

 genus, the type of the Tetragoniaceoz, is 

 confined to the Southern Hemisphere, and 

 is most abundant at the Cape of Good 

 Hope ; but it is also found in the temperate 

 regions of South America, and in Aus- 

 tralia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. Most 

 of the species are what are called littoral 

 plants, being found growing upon sea- 

 shores. They are usually of decumbent her- 

 baceous habit, but are occasionally erect 

 and somewhat shrubby. They have alter- 

 nate stalked fleshy leaves, and flowers on 

 stalks growing from the leaf-axils. The 

 flowers, which are destitute of petals, have 

 a four-lobed calyx, with the tube adherent 

 to the quadrangular ovary, four to twelve 

 stamens, and from three to eight short 

 styles. The fruits are usually four- cornered, 

 with the corners frequently produced into 

 tubercles or horns, and contain a hard un- 

 opening three to eight-celled stone covered 



