1219 



(Efjc Creasurg at 3Sat<iiij). 



[vise 



CHETTE. Viburnum Lentago. — D'AME- 

 R I Q U E. Lantana Ca m ara. — LAURIE R- 

 TIN. Viburnum Tinas. 



VIOULTE. (Fr.) Eryihronium. 



I VIPER-GOURD. Trichosanthescolubrina. 



VJPERINE. (Fr.) EcMum. — DE 

 CRETE. Onosma simplicissima. — DE 

 VIRGINIE. Aristolochia Serpentaria. 



VIRECTA. A genus of tropical African 

 herbs belonging to the Cinchonacece. The 

 flowers are white, in dense corymbs. The 

 calyx-limb is divided into five linear hairy 

 divisions ; the corolla funnel-shaped, its | 

 limb parted into five linear ciliated seg- j 

 ments : aud the capsule somewhat globu- j 

 lar, two-celled, two valved. [M. T. M.J j 



VIRENS, VIRESCENS. A shade of clear j 

 green, but not so bright as grass-green. j 



VIREYA. A name proposed for several ! 

 species of Rhododendron, characterised by i 

 the minuteness of the calyx, and the dis- J 



tiuct insertion of the stamens and corolla ; 



but as these features occur in the most 

 I typical species of the original genus, the j 

 I name has been dropped. [W. C] ! 



VIRGATE. Twiggy ; producing many j 

 I weak brauchlets or twigs. 



VIRGILIA. The type of this gpnus of ] 



I Leguminosce, which was dedicated by the i 



! French botanist Lamarck to the well- j 



j known ancient poet, is called V.capensis, a | 



I small tree native of the Cape of Good ! 



j Hope, with imparipinnate leaves, and bear- ■ 



| ing dense racemes of pink flowers. Several: 



■ >ther plants, however, have at different j 



rimes been referred to it, but most of j 



rhem are now placed under the genera 



C ladrastis and Calpurnia. The genus is 



characterised by its flowers having a 



broad bell-shaped unequally five-toothed I 



calyx ; a pea-like corolla, with the two ' 



lower or keel-petals combined along the J 



back from the middle to the top, where > 



they are curved inwards like a beak ; ten I 



free stamens, and a sessile hairy ovary, j 



Its pods are oblong flattened unopening, i 



and of a leathery texture. 



V. capensis is a handsome tree with a . 

 rough black bark, attaining a height of 

 fifteen or twenty feet, and is called Keur- 

 boom by the Dutch in Cape Colony, where 

 its soft light wood, which is very plentiful, 

 though liable to be wormeateu, is used for 

 yokes, spars &c. [A. S.] 



VIRGILIER A. BOIS JAUNE. (Fr.) 

 Cladrastis tinctoria. 

 VIRGINIAN CREEPER. Ampelopsis 



VIRGINIAN POKE. Phytolacca decan- 

 dra. 

 VIRGINIAN SILK. Periploca grceca. 

 VIRGIN'S-BOWER. Clematis Vitalba. 

 VIRGIN'3-MILK. A cosmetic in which 

 -benzoin is employed. 



I VIRGIN-TREE. Sassafras Parthenoxv- 

 1 Ion. 



VIRGULTUM. A young slender branch. 

 VIRIDESCENS. The same as Virens. 

 VIRIDIS, VIRIDULUS. A clear full 

 green ; any kind of greenness. 



VIROLA. Aublet, in his work on the 

 plants of Guiana, established this genus 

 upon one of the American Nutmegs, named 

 by him V.sebifera; but modern botanists 

 regard it and its allies, of which six or 

 seven have been discovered since Aublet's 

 time, as forming one of the sections of 

 the large genus Myristica, characterised 

 by the long narrow anthers, usually six or 

 three in number, adhering by their backs 

 throughout nearly the whole length of the 

 thick cylindrical stamen-column, the naked 

 portion of the column being very short. 

 All the species belonging to the section 

 Virola are confined to Tropical South 

 America ; and are large trees, with simple 

 entire leaves, having their side-veins usu- 

 ally more distant than in other sections of 

 American Nutmegs, and also more curved, 

 and uniting by cross-veins at a greater 

 distance from the margin. 



V. sebifera forms a tree sixty feet high, 

 and has egg-shaped leaves from six inches 

 to a foot long by two to four inches broad, 

 heart-shaped at the base, and covered with 

 rust-coloured tomentum on the under-sur- 

 face. It is common in the forests of Guiana 

 and North Brazil, and is also found as far 

 north as Panama, where it is called Mala- 

 gueto de montana. A solid oil or fat, ob- 

 tained by macerating the seeds in hot 

 water, is used in Guiana for making 

 candles. An acrid red juice, employed me- 

 dicinally by the Brazilians, exudes from 

 wounds made in the bark. [A. S.] 



VIROSE. Having a disagreeable nau- 

 seous smell. 



VISCACEiE. A name under which Miers 

 proposed to separate Viscum and a few 

 other genera from the remainder of Lor an- j 

 thacece, as being in the structure of their | 

 ovary more nearly allied to Santalacew i 

 than to other loranthaceous genera. In 

 all other respects, however, the retention 

 of the latter order in the limits usually as- 

 signed to it, seems a more natural arrange- 

 ment. 



VISCARIA. A section of the genus 

 Lychnis, differing from the typical species 

 in the capsule being imperfectly five-celled 

 at the base, and opening loculieidally. 

 L. Viscaria and L. alpina are British 

 species of this section. [J T S.] 



VISCID, VISCOSE, VISCOUS. Glutinous, i 

 clammy 



VISCUM. This genus has been proposed 

 as the type of a separate order, but Pro- 

 fessor Oliver, the most recent investigator 

 of these plants, retains it under Lorantha- 

 cece. He divides the species into two 

 groups, according to the presence or ab- 

 sence of leaves. The leafless group com- 

 prises species which are found in the 

 Indian Archipelago, as well as in Mau- 

 ritius, Bourbon, and Australia. The leafy 



