1211 



Ctjc QTrnugurg of 23fltaiii>. 



the type of the tribe Yernoniacece, cha- 

 racterised by having a cylindrical style, 

 with tapering branches covered all over 

 with bristles. It has a wide geographical 

 range, its representatives occurring in 

 most parts of the warm regions of the 

 world, but abounding: in the greatest num- 

 ber in the Western Hemisphere. Upwards 

 of 400 species are described, differing 

 greatly in habit and general appearance, 

 some being -annual and others perennial 

 herbs, and some erect and others climbing 

 shrubs, while a few attain the size of small 

 trees. Their leaves are alternate ; and 

 their flower-heads usually in terminal 

 cymes or panicles, each head consisting of 

 numerous tor rarely of only a few) tubular 

 equal perfect florets, generally of a pur- 

 I plish or blue colour. The achenes are 

 angular rarely cylindrical, mostly marked i 

 with parallel longitudinal raised lines, j 

 and crowned with a usually double pappus, i 

 consisting of an inner series of hair-like 

 bristles surrounded by very much shorter i 

 scaly ones. Very few of these plants appear 

 to be applied to any useful purpose. In , 

 Southern India a solid green-coloured oil, | 

 or fat, is obtained by pressure from the 

 seeds of Y. anthehnintica, an annual species 

 common in many parts of that country. V. 

 cinerea is employed medicinally by Hindoo 

 doctors, a decoction of it being used in 

 intermittent fevers. [A. S.] I 



VERONICA. A large genus of Scropliu- 

 lariacecB, comprising herbs or undershrubs 

 widely distributed through the temperate 

 and colder regions of the globe. The leaves I 

 are opposite or whorled ; and the flowers i 

 grow in axillary or terminal spikes or ra- j 

 cemes, the corolla having a very short tube, 

 and a rotate four-cleft limb ; the stamens 

 are only two in number ; and the capsule , 

 is flattened. . 



The species are numerous and ornamen- j 

 tal, the British ones being all herbaceous. ! 

 Among them may be mentioned V. spicata, I 

 with terminal spikes of blue flowers, often I 

 cultivated in gardens. V. Anagallis grows j 

 in ditches, and has lance-shaped leaves, and 

 axillary clusters of flowers ; and V. Becca- ! 

 bunga is also found in moist places, and has ( 

 rather fleshy blunt leaves, which are con- 

 sidered to be antiscorbutic. The curious 

 name of this plant seems to be derived 

 from the old word beck ' a rill or ditch,' | 

 and bung 'a purse.' Y. Chamcedi-ys, the 

 Germander Speedwell, one of the loveliest ! 

 of our wild flowers, has coarsely-toothed 

 leaves and axillary clusters of large deep- | 

 blue blossoms. The cultivated species are ! 

 numerous, many of them being handsome j 

 hardy border plants. Some of the New 

 Zealand shrubby kinds (as V. salicifolia, 

 speciosa, Hulkeana, &c.) are particularly 

 handsome as greenhouse plants. [M. T. MJ 



VERONIQUE. (Fr.1 Veronica. — DES 

 JARDINIERS. Lychnis Flos-cuculi. — 

 FEMELLE, or PETIT CHENE. Veronica 

 Chamvdrys. — GERMANDREE. Veronica 

 Teucrium. 



VERPA. A genus of Fungi, closely allied 



to Morchella, but distinguished by the cap 

 being hollow or inflated below, and equally 

 depressed all round. The surface is nearly 

 even or wrinkled, but never pitted as in 

 the morels. The species are few in number, 

 and two only have been gathered in this 

 country. Of these we once gathered V. 

 digitaliformis in abundance, but for the 

 last twenty-five years we have visited 

 the original spot annually without finding 

 a single specimen. Nothing is said of its 

 esculent qualities, but it is probably as 

 wholesome as morels. [M. J. B.J 



VERRUC.E. "Warts; sessile elevations 

 of a glandular nature. 



VE RRUOEFORM. Shaped like a wart. 



VERRUCARLEI. A natural order of 

 lichens belonging to the division whose 

 fruit is in the form of perithecia (Angio- 

 carpi). These are scattered and immersed 

 in the thallus, which is continuous, and not 

 furnished with any distinct fertile pustules 

 as in Trypethelei. They are mostly inhabit- 

 ants of the trunks of trees, though some- 

 times they grow on the hardest rocks, and 

 occasionally on pebbles constantly im- 

 mersed in water. The typical genus Ver- 

 rucaria is distinguished from Sphceriacei 

 merely by the thin crust producing go- 

 nidia. In cases where the crust has va- 

 nished or is abortive, it is sometimes diffi- 

 cult to distinguish them. Species of this 

 order occur in all parts of the world, but 

 the finest are inhabitants of the Tropics, 

 where the perithecia sometimes acquire a 

 considerable size. Those who wish for 

 information respecting British species 

 should consult Leighton's work on Angio- 

 carpous Lichens, published by the Ray 

 Society. It should be observed that the 

 genus Endothia, distinguished from Verru- 

 caria by its naked spores, consists merelyof 

 the pyenidia or spermogonia of different 

 sporidiiferous lichens. [M. J. B.] 



VERRUCOSE. Covered with warts ; the 

 same as Tubercled. 



VERRTJCULARIA. The name of a Bra- 

 zilian shrub of the family Malpighiacece. 

 The stipules are combined into a sheath 

 surrounding the stem ; and the flowers are 

 arranged in terminal panicles, and are of 

 a yellowish colour. The calyx is deeply five- 

 cleft, and has ten glands ; the petals are 

 five, stalked unequal ; stamens ten, all fer- 

 tile, the anthers provided with a wart-like 

 appendage near the top ; ovary three-lobed, 

 with three styles ; fruit bursting into six 

 valves. The name of the genus is derived 

 from the wart-like excrescences on the 

 anthers. [M. T. MJ 



VERRUCULOSE. Covered with little 

 warts. 



VERSATILE. Swinging freely, as the 

 oscillating anthers of grasses. 



VERSCHAFFELTIA. A genus of Palma- 

 cea>, comprising a very handsome species, 

 recently introduced into Europe from the 

 island of Seychelles, and at first distin- 

 guished by the temporary name of Regelia 



