THEO] 



EI)C Errarfurg of botany. 



1144 



also prolonged in the form of a sharp 

 point ; the ovary is one-celled, with a cen- 

 tral placenta; and the fruit is succulent. 

 It is said that a kind of bread is made from 

 the seeds of T. Jussicei in San Domingo, 

 where the plant is known as Le petit Coco. 

 Prom their handsome foliage thisand other 

 species are very ornamental in hothouses 

 in this country. [M. T. MJ 



I THEOPYXIS. The name of a perennial 



' herb, with leafy stem and umbellate flow- 



: ers, belonging to the Primulacece. The 



calyx is five to six-parted, its segments 



glandular ; the corolla is not described ; 



the style is undivided ; the capsule five to 



; six-valved; aird the seeds furnished with 



■ three wings. The single species of this 

 ! genus is a native of Chili. [M. T. MJ 



I THERESA. A genus of Lablatce con- 

 taining a single species from Chili, a plant 

 j nearly related to Scutellaria, differing 

 '. chiefly in having the limb of the corolla 

 almost entire. [W. C] 



1HERESIA. A genus of Liliacece pro- 

 posed by Koch to receive the Fritillaria 

 persica, which has the scaly bulb and 

 much of the habit of the true lilies. It 

 differs from both Fritillaria and Lilium in 

 the hypogynous insertion of the stamens, 

 and the inconspicuous stigma. T. persica 

 is a tallish glaucous plant, with the leaves 

 obliquely twisted (somewhat as in those of 



! Alstrlimcria), and a terminal raceme of 

 drooping sreen and purplish flowers. It 

 is a native of Mount Ararat, and a second 

 species, which has the fetid odour of the 



i crown-imperial, has been lately added 

 from the district between Beyrout and 

 Damascus. [J. T. S.] 



THERMOPSTS. A genus of papiliona- 

 ceous Legnminosce, comprising a number 

 j of North Asiatic and American herbs, with 



■ palmate downy leaves, and yellow flowers 

 1 in terminal clusters. The calyx is irregu- 

 larly five-cleft ; the standard is roundish, 

 notched, reflected at the sides, as large as 



! the wings ; the stamens are ten in number, 

 and distinct ; the ovary many-ovuled; the 

 stigma terminal. The fruit is a linear or 

 curved compressed legume. T. fabacea 

 from North America, T. lanceolata from 

 Siberia, and other species are cultivated in 

 gardens in this country. [M. T. MJ 



THESIUM. A genus of unpretending 

 herbaceous plants belonging to the Santa- 

 lacem, among which they are distinguished 

 by the following characters :— Perianth 

 four to five-cleft, persistent ; stamens with 

 a small tuft of hair at the base; stigma 

 simple ; fruit crowned by the perianth. The 

 genus is represented in Britain by T. lino- 

 philllum, the Bastard Toadflax, a humble 

 spreading plant, with very narrow alter- 

 nate leaves, and simple or branched leafy 

 racemes of minute white flowers, which 

 are stalked, and furnished each with three 

 bracts. It is a plant of uncommon oc- 

 currence, growing in high chalky pastures. 

 None of the foreign species possess at- 

 tractive properties. [C. A. J.] 



THESPESIA. A small genus of entire- 

 leaved tropical trees belonging to the Mal- 

 vaceae, characterised by its flowers having 

 an entire-rimmed calyx, surrounded by an 

 outer calyx or involucre of three leaves, 

 which soon falls off; by its simple style, 

 furrowed towards the thickened top and 

 bearing five distinct stigmas ; and by its 

 hard, almost woody, and generally unopen- 

 ing five-celled fruits, the cells of which 

 contain several large obovoid seeds. 



T. populnea, the best-known species, is 

 an extremely common tree on the sea- 

 shores of most eastern tropical countries, 

 and also in Western Africa, the West 

 Indies, South America, and the Pacific 

 Islands. It forms a tree forty or fifty feet 

 high, and has a dense head of foliage, on 

 account of which it is called the Umbrella- 

 tree in some countries, and is planted in 

 many tropical districts for the sake of its 

 shade, and for forming avenues. Its leaves 

 are large roundish heart-shaped and 

 pointed; and its flowers, which like those 

 of many mallowworts are large aud showy, 

 are at first yellow with a purple central 

 spot, but change altogether to purple before 

 they die off in the evening. Several parts 

 of the tree are applied to useful purposes. 

 The inner bark of the young branches 

 yields a tough fibre, fit for cordage, and 

 used in Demerara for making coffee-hags, 

 and the finer pieces of it for cigar enve- 

 lopes. The wood is considered almost inde- 

 structible under water, and is therefore 

 used for boatbuilding ; besides which its 

 hardness and durability render it valuable 

 for cabinetmaking and building purposes, 

 while in Ceylon it is employed for gun- 

 stocks. The flower-buds and unripe 

 fruits yield a viscid yellow juice, useful 

 as a dye, and a thick deep red-coloured oil 

 is expressed from the seeds. [A. SJ 



THESPIS. A genus of Asteraceae or 

 Compositre, comprising certain Indian 

 herbs, with toothed leaves, and axillary or 

 terminal flower-stalks, bearing small 

 flower-heads, surrounded by involucres of 

 numerous oblong scales. The receptacle 

 is flat, and bears a number of tubular 

 florets, the outer of which are female, the 

 central male. The fruits are surmounted 

 by a short pappus of seven or eight 

 whitish or reddish hairs. [M. T. MJ 



THEVETIA. An American genus of 

 Apocvnacece, formerly combined with the 

 Asiatic genus Cerbera, from which its 

 single two-celled ovary and winged seeds 

 distinguish it. The half dozen species 

 belonging to it are shruos or small trees, 

 inhabiting the West Indian Islands and 

 Tropical America from Mexico to Brazil 

 and Peru. Their leaves are alternate, and 

 their flower-cymes terminal or lateral. 

 The flowers have a five-parted calyx, with 

 numerous glands at the base inside; a 

 salver-shaped corolla, with the tube en- 

 largin g uwards, and closed in above them 

 by five scales, and a two-celled ovary sur- 

 rounded by a ring-like five-notched disk. 

 The fruits are slightly fleshy, and contain 

 a hard stone, divided into two cells, each 



