1157 



€T)£ Crca^urg af Batanin 



TOTJ 



TORTELLE. (Fr.) Sisymbrium offici- 

 nale. 



T0RTILI3. Susceptible of twisting. 



TORTILLARD. (Fr.) Ulmus campes- 

 tris. 



TORTOISE-PLANT. Testudinaria ele- 

 phantipes. 



TORTOISE-WOOD. A variety of Zebra- 

 wood. 



TORTOZOX. A large Spanish grape. 



TORTULA. A large genus of acrocar- 

 pous mosses, distinguished by the thirty- 

 two thread-shaped teeth of the peristome 

 being twisted into a common fascicle. 

 Several of the species are extremely com- 

 mon on mudwalls, exposed pastures, roofs 

 of houses, &c. T. ruralis is one of our 

 finest species, forming large tufts, which 

 are peculiarly conspicuous and indeed ob- 

 noxious on slate roofs and thatch, from 

 the broad hair-pointed leaves and abun- 

 dant fruit. Most of the species are peren- 

 nial. The genus belongs to the natural 

 order Trichostomei. [M. J. B.] 



TORTUOUS. Having an irregular bend- 

 ing and turning direction. 



TORULACEI. A natural order of naked- 

 spored Fungi belonging to the division 

 Coniomycetes. The mycelium is very 

 slightly developed if at all apparent, 

 and the whole plant seems to consist of a 

 mass of variously constituted simple or 

 septate naked spores, generally united 

 together in chains. In the typical plants 

 the spores are almost always of a dark 

 dingy hue. The coloured species must be 

 carefully examined and compared with 

 Oidium and other genera which bear 

 spores in chains. In Sporidesmium the 

 whole plant through various modifications 

 is reduced to single spores. The higher 

 forms of Puccinicei, as Aregma and Xenodo- 

 chus, whose species are confined to the 

 leaves of roseworts. are sometimes referred 

 here, but they have little in common ex- 

 cept the analogy presented by their long 

 many-celled spores. The most extraordi- 

 nary genus perhaps is Sporoschisma, which 

 consists of a central thread breaking up 

 into jointed spores contained in a common 

 tube, exactly after the fashion of many 

 Oscillatorice. It is to be observed that in 

 those cases in which there is apparently 

 no mycelium, a microscopic examination 

 of the tissues of the plant on which the 

 fungus grows will always detect it. In- 

 deed, it is obvious that no true fungus 

 in its perfect state can be propagated 

 without previous mycelium. [M. J. B.] 



TORUS. The same as Thalamus. 



TOUCH-ME-NOT. Impatiens Noli-tan- 

 gere. 



TOUCHWOOD. A name given to the 

 soft white substance into which wood is 

 converted by the action of Fungi, of which 

 ash, especially under the influence of Poly- 

 porus squamosus, affords good examples. 



Occasionally, when highly impregnated 

 with mycelium, it has been observed to be 

 luminous. It derives its name from its 

 property of burning for many hours like 

 tinder when once ignited. This is some- 

 times confounded with the powdery snuff- 

 coloured mass into which wood is some- 

 times converted without the agency of 

 Fungi by a process of chemical combus- 

 tion distinguished by the name of Erema- 

 causis, and is not to be distinguished from j 

 wood affected by dry-rot except from the 

 absence of fungous spawn. When wood 

 is damp, or placed man atmosphere charged 

 with moisture, the oxygen of the air com- 

 bines with the hydrogen, and carbonic 

 acid is given off from the residue ; and as 

 this action constantly recurs, the texture 

 of the wood is destroyed and the whole is 

 reduced into a crumbling mass, which con- 

 tains a proportionally larger amount of 

 carbon than the original wood. Two par- 

 ticles of hydrogen and two of oxygen being 

 abstracted for one of carbon, it is clear 

 that more carbon will be left behind in 

 proportion than either hydrogen or oxygen. 

 It is this evolution of carbonic acid in a 

 damp atmosphere when in contact with 

 wood which makes such situations preju- 

 dicial to health. This kind of decay, which 

 often takes place in trees where no fungus 

 is present, and which spreads from within 

 outwards like a putrefactive ferment, con- 

 taminates the sound tissues which sur- 

 round it. There is reason, moreover, for 

 believing that the brown condition so com- 

 mon to diseased A'egetable cells has a simi- 

 lar origin. The name of Touchwood is also 

 given to Polyporus igniarius. [M. J. B.] 



TOULICIA. The name of a tree of 

 Guiana, which constitutes a genus of Sa- 

 pindacece. The leaves are pinnate ; and 

 the flowers in dense terminal clusters, 

 each flower with a five-parted calyx, five 

 petals provided internally with a cleft 

 hairy scale, a flve-lobed disk, eight sta- 

 mens inserted on the disk, a three-celled 

 ovary (each cell with a single ovule), and 

 a short three-cleft style. The fruit is a 

 three-winged samara. [M. T. M.] 



TOUMBEKI. A Turkish name for 

 Persian or Shiraz Tobacco. 



TOUPOLE. (Fr.) Polygonatum offici- 

 nale. 



TOURBETTE. (Fr ) Sphagnum. 



TOURNEFOR-TIA. A genus of Fhretia- 

 cece, inhabiting the tropics of both hemi- 

 spheres, extending as far north as the 

 Canaries and Central Russia. They consist 

 of erect or twining shrubs, with scabrous 

 or downy leaves, and flowers arranged as 

 in Hehotropium ; but the fruit is composed 

 of two carpels, and is in the form of a 

 drupe enclosing two nuts, which are some- 

 times deeply divided so as to resemble four; 

 each nut has two seeds. T. heliotropioides, 

 from Buenos Ayres.with pale lilac flowers, 

 is one of the prettiest species. Another 

 is shown in Plate 7, figs, c and /. [J. T. S.] 



TOURNESOL. (Fr.) Beliotr opium eu- 



