1163 



5H)e Eratfurg at Matmw. 



[teib 



called a Cremocarp, in which the number 

 of carpels is three. 



TRIANGULAR. Three-cornered. 



TRIAXOSPERMA. A genus of Cucurbi- 

 tacece, nearly allied to Bryonia, but distin- 

 guished by the presence of three seeds 

 only in the fruit. The species are chiefly 

 Brazilian and "West Indian, and have thick 

 fleshy roots, climbing stems with branched 

 tendrils, and palmate leaves. The flowers 

 are monoecious, borne in loose panicles. 

 The male flowershave three stamens, united 

 by means of their curved anthers, but free 

 as to their filaments. In the female flower 

 the ovary is three-celled, with three erect 

 ovules, and terminated by a short style, 

 which divides into three stigmas. The 

 fruit is globular and somewhat fleshy. 

 The root of T Tayuya is used in Brazil in 

 small doses as an emetic, in larger ones as 

 a drastic. T. flclfoha is a purgative and 

 purifier of the blood. Some of the spe- 

 cies have been introduced into the Paris 

 gardens. [M.T M.J 



TRIAXTHEMA. A genus of Tetragonia- 

 cece, having a very wide geographical dis- 

 tribution, three or four species being 

 natives of India, as many of the Cape of 

 Good Hope; while one is confined to Arabia, 

 and one spread over Tropical America and 

 the "West Indian Islands. They are usually 

 prostrate more or less fleshy herbs, some- 

 times with their stems woody towards the 

 base, they have opposite entire leaves, 

 with the stalks enlarged into sheaths, one 

 of each pair of leaves being often larger 

 than the other ; and their flowers are pro- 

 duced, either solitary or in clusters, in the 

 leaf-axils. The flowers have a five parted 

 calyx, coloured inside, with the divisions 

 mucronate below the top ; no petals ; five 

 ten or twenty stamens rising from the 

 calyx-tube, and one two or rarely three 

 styles. The fruit is either one-celled, or 

 divided into two by a spurious partition, 

 and when ripe separates crossways near the 

 bottom into two pieces, the upper or 

 largest piece, called the lid, being thick 

 and having the seeds attached to one side, 

 and the lower thin and having the seeds 

 attached to the opposite side. The bitterish 

 rather nauseous-tasted roots of T obcordata, 

 one of the Indian species— a perennial with 

 spreading prostrate stems, the tender tops 

 of which, together with the leaves, are 

 collected by the natives and esfteh as a 

 rotherb— are sold in the bazaars, and em- 

 ployed by the native doctors as a cathartic 

 in combination with ginger. [A. S.] 



TRIAXTHU3. A Patagonian perennial 

 plant, of the family Composites, has been 

 so named, as the heads of flowers consist 

 each of three florets The plant is branch- 

 ed : its leaves awl-shaped, spreading ; and 

 the heads of flowers solitary on the ends 

 of the branches, each surrounded by an 

 involucre of two rows of scales — the outer 

 ovate lanceolate acuminate prickly, the 

 inner flat linear acuminate, the receptacle 

 small, and naked The corollas are two- 

 lipped, white and perfect ; and the fruits 



inversely pyramidal, beakless, crowned by 

 a pappus of three to five linear deciduous 

 scales, hairy at the margins. [M T. M.] 



TRIAS. An unimportant genus of 

 orchids referred to the Malaxidece, and in- 

 habiting Tropical Asia. Two species have 

 been described. They are small herbs, with 

 roundish glabrous one-leaved pseudobulbs 

 forming dense tufts, small coriaceous vein- 

 less leaves, erect radical one-flowered pe- 

 duncles shorter than the leaves, and rather 

 large dark -green flowers. [W. B. H.J 



TRIASPIS. A genus of Malpighiacece, 



comprising shrubs, natives of the Cape 



of Good Hope and of Tropical Asia. The 



flowers are rose-coloured, and have a flve- 



j parted glandless calyx, five stalked fringed 



i unequal petals, ten stamens, all fertile of 



J unequal lengths ; three ovaries, each with 



I two hairy sinuous wings ; three styles, 



i long slender and dilated at the top; and 



| a winged one-seeded fruit. The generic 



i name is derived from the Greek, and sig- 



j nifies 'three shields,' probably in allusion 



I to the winged ovaries. [M. T M.J 



j TRIBE. One of the subdivisions of a 

 Natural Order. Thus Leptospermeaz and 



: Myrtece are tribes of the order Myriacece. 



j These minor groups are sometimes them- 

 selves divided into one or more series of 

 lesser groups, according to the number of 

 genera, their diversities of structure, &c. 



TRIBRACHIA. A genus of Civchovacece, 

 including a semiparasitical shrub, native 

 of Sumatra. The flowers are white, ar- 

 ranged in groups of three, in a compact 

 head. The tube of the calyx is somewhat 

 globular, its limb entire or slightly tooth- 

 ed ; the corolla has a short tube, and a 

 limb divided into three lance-shaped 

 three-sided segments; the stamens are 

 five in number, and inserted into the throat 

 of the corolla by means of very short fila- 

 ments ; and the ovary is two-celled, sur- 

 mounted by a fleshy disk, and havinga cy- 

 lindrical style, terminated by an undivided 

 stigma. The fruit is fleshy. [M. T M.] 



TRIBULE AQUATIQUE. (Fr.) Trapa 

 natans. 



TRIBULOPSIS. A small genus of Zygo- 

 phyllacece, consisting of prostrate annual 

 herbs, with alternate leaves. It is nearly 

 allied to Tribulus, but the nuts are single- 

 seeded. Three species have been described 

 from Australia. [W. C.J 



TRIBULUS. A genus of Zygophyllacece, j 

 consisting of procumbent herbs, with op- I 

 posite bistipulate and abruptly pinnate ! 

 leaves, and one-flowered peduncles spring- ; 

 ing from the axils of the leaves. The j 

 caducous calyx has five sepals, and the 

 corolla Ave petals ; of the ten stamens 

 those opposite to the sepals have a gland 

 at their base ; the style is very short or 

 absent, and the stigma hemispherical and 

 five-rayed, as in the poppy. The flattened 

 pentagonal fruit is composed of five car- j 

 pels, which are spinous or tubercular on j 

 tiie back. At maturity the fruit breaks up 



