1207 



CIjc Crras'urg at 3Sotanw. 



TELLOZIA. A genus of Hcemodoracece, 

 chiefly Brazilian, having leafy dichoto- 

 mously-branched stems, bearing linear or 

 linear-lanceolate leaves, arranged either 

 spirally or in three rows, rarely in a di- 

 stichous manner. The flowers are large, 

 white blue or violet, and solitary. The peri- 

 anth-tube isconnate with the ovary, its limb 

 six-parted and campanulate ; the stamens 

 are sometimes six in number free, some- 

 times indefinite and collected in clusters. 

 The ovary is inferior three-celled, the style 

 triquetrous and tripartite, and the stigma 



Vellozia compacta. 



capitately trigonous. The capsule is sub- 

 globose, with numerous seeds. There are 

 two groups included in the genus : Xero- 

 phyta, which are those with six free sta- 

 mens; and Vellozia proper, in whieh the 

 stamens are twelve, fifteen, eighteen, or 

 twenty-four, in three or six phalanges, 

 naked or coalescent with scales at the base. 

 These plants are so abundant as to give a 

 character to the dry mountain regions of 

 Brazil. V. compacta is a fair representa- 

 tive of the family. [T. M.] 



VELLU8. The stipe of certain fun- 

 gals. 



YELOXIA. The acorns of Qucrcus JEgi- 

 lops. 



VELOTE. (Fr.) Billwynia. 



VELTHEIMIA. A genus of Liliacece 

 from the Cape of Good Hope. It comprises 

 bulbous herbs, with lanceolate undulated 

 leaves, and a. scape bearing a raceme of 

 nodding flowers, usually fawn-coloured and 

 white or green. The perianth is cylin- 

 drical tubular, with a very short six- 

 toothed limb. The capsule is three-winged, 

 the seeds subsolitary in each cell, with a 

 hard black seed-coat. V. viridifolia and 

 V. glaivca are sometimes cultivated, and 

 are tolerably hardy. [J. T. S.] 



VELOI.Theannulus of certain fungals. 



VELOIEX. The velvety coating form- 

 ed over some leaves, by short soft hairs. 



VELUTINOUS. Velvety; having a hairy 



surface, which in texture resembles velvet, 

 as in Eochea coccinea. 



VELVET-BUR. Priva ecMnata. 



VELVET-FLOWER. Amaranthus cau- 

 datus, 



VELVET-LEAF. Cissampelos Pareira; 

 also Sida Abutilon and Lavatera arborea. 



VELVET-SEED. Guettarda elliptica. 

 VELVETY. The same as Velutinous. 

 VELVOTE FAUSSE. (Fr.) Linaria spu- 

 ria. — VRAIE. Linaria Elatine. 



VERM. The Veins of plants. 



VENATICA, or VINATICO. One of the 

 shipbuilding woods recognised at Lloyds ; 

 a coflrse kind of mahogany obtained in 

 Madeira from Persea indica. 



VEXATION. The arrangement of veins 

 in a leaf or other organ. 



VENEFICIUM. Plants like animals are 

 liable to be affected by poisonous sub- 

 stances, whether in a liquid or gaseous 

 form, and it often becomes a matter of 

 considerable importance on civil trials to 

 be able to give accurate information on the 

 subject. Where poisons in a solid form 

 are liable to rapid dissolution, where a 

 strong solution is present, or the atmo- 

 sphere highly impregnated with gaseous 

 elements, rapid destruction will take place; 

 but a more gradual decay may be produced 

 by the constant presence of noxious mat- 

 ter, as evidenced by the condition of trees 

 in large towns, or in the neighbourhood 

 of extensive gas or other chemical works. 

 : The taint may be communicated imme- 

 j diately, by admission of the noxious air, 

 through the breathing pores of the leaves, 

 or by absorption from the soil. In some 

 cases, as in subjection to the fumes of 

 ignited brimstone, death is almost imme- 

 diate. 



Poisons sometimes affect the irritability 

 of plants, as in the repression of the curious 

 motions of the leaves of the sensitive plant. 

 Fungi are in some cases unaffected by 

 poisons which would destroy pbasnogams. 

 They appear, for instance, in tan-pits, 

 where no phasnogam could exist, and many 

 moulds are developed in solutions of poi- 

 sonous metallic salts, as of copper arsenic 

 and mercury. The metal is sometimes de- 

 posited on the threads iu a solid form by 

 a sort of electrotyping. Plants also are 

 sometimes injured by substances which are 

 essential to the existence of others. Rho- 

 dodendrons, for instance, have an antipa- 

 thy to lime, as is sometimes curiously evi- 

 denced in Wales, in districts where geologi- 

 cal formations abounding in or destitute 

 of lime happen to be contiguous. [M. J. B.] 



VENGAY. An Indian name for the as- 

 tringent gum-resin of Pterocarpus Marsu- 

 pium. 



VENIDIUM. A genus of Cape herbs, of 

 the family Composito?. The leaves are ge- 

 nerally somewhat woolly ; the involucre is 

 bell-shaped, and consists of numerous 



