vitt] 



€\)t Crra^urn at 2Sotant). 



1224 



purple; the central ones tubular, five-tooth- 

 ed, yellow. The achenes are elongated 

 striated, surmounted by a pappus of one 

 row of rough crowded hairs. [M. T. M.] 



VITT^. Narrow fistulas or channels 

 lodged in the coat of the fruit of umbelli- 

 fers, and containing oil. 



VITTARIA. A genus of polypodiaceous 



ferns constituting the group Vittariece. 



They are found in tropical countries both 



of the Old and New World, and consist of 



herbaceous plants, with simple narrow 



II almost grass-like fronds, bearing a close 



| ; resemblance to those of Tceniopsis, but dis- 



I tinguished by having the linear continuous 



| sori placed, not dorsally, that is at the back 



I of the frond, but in an extrorse-marginal 



furrow. [T. M.] 



VITTATE. Striped lengthwise. 

 VIVIANIACE2E. The small Brazilian 

 and Chilian genus Viviania, including Cce- 

 fiarea, Cissarobryon, and Linostigma, form- 

 ing a tribe of Geraniacece,, has by many 

 botanists been considered as a distinct 

 natural order, under the above name. 



VIVIANIA. This genus gives its name 

 to the order Vivianiacece, maintained by 

 some botanists. The species are Chilian 

 undershrubs, with opposite egg-shaped 

 leaves, covered with white down on the 

 i under-surfaee, and bearing white pink or 

 j purple flowers in terminal panicles. Calyx 

 bell-shaped, persistent, its tube marked by 

 j ten ridges, its limb five-toothed: petals 

 j five, stalked; stamens ten, five short op- 

 \ posite the petals, the others opposite five 

 hypogynous glands ; ovary sessile three- 

 celled, with two ovules in the inner angle 

 of each compartment ; stigmas three, 

 thread-like ; fruit capsular. [M. T. M.] 



VOANDZEIA. So called from Voandzou, 

 the name given by the natives of Mada- 

 gascar to the only known representative 

 of this genus of Leguminosce, the V. subter- 

 ranea of botanists, a creeping annual, with 

 long-stalked leaves composed of three leaf- 

 lets, the centre one of which is stalked. 

 The specific name, subterranea, has been 

 given to it because its flower-stalks, like 

 those of the Arachis hypogwa. bend down 

 after flowering and increase in length, so 

 that the young pods are pushed into the 

 earth, beneath which they ripen. Its flow- 

 ers are partly unisexual, and partly per- 

 fect; they have a bell-shaped calyx, a yellow 

 papilionaceous corolla with horizontal wing 

 or side-petals, one free and nine united 

 stamens, and atwo-ovuledovary ending in 

 a short style and hooked stigma— the fe- 

 male flowers being destitute of both corolla 

 and stamens. It is a native of Africa, and 

 is extensively cultivated in many parts of 

 that continent, from Bambarra and the 

 coast of Guinea to Natal, its esculent pods 

 and seeds forming common articles of food 

 among the inhabitants of those regions. 

 Although the plant is not indigenous to 

 the Western Hemisphere, it is commoniy 

 found in many parts of South America, 

 such as Brazil and Surinam, whither it has 



been carried by the negro slaves, and has 

 now become naturalised. The pods are 

 sometimes called Bambarra Ground-nuts; 

 in Natal the natives call them Igiuhluba; 

 while in Brazil they are known by thename 

 of Mandubi d'Angola (showing their Afri- 

 can origin), and in Surinam by that of 

 Gobbe. [A. S.] 



VOANDZOU. The Malagassy name of a 

 genus of Leguminosce, called after it Vo- 

 cmdzeia. 



VOA-VANGA, or VOA-VANGUER. Ma- 

 lagassy names for the fruits of Yangueria 

 Commersoni and V. eclulis. 



VOCHYACE^E. (Vochysiacecp, Vocliysiece). 

 An order of polypetalons dicotyledons, 

 ; consisting of trees or shrubs from Tropical 

 I America, often of great beauty, with oppo- 

 | site entire leaves, accompanied by stipules 

 i or glands at the base, and yellow white 

 I pink or purple flowers (usually very showy) 

 in terminal racemes orpanicles. The order 

 ; is chiefly characterised by irregular flowers, 

 j four or five sepals, as many petals and 

 j stamens or more frequently fewer, the sta- 

 | mens especially being often reduced to one, 

 | and always perigynous; and by a three- 

 celled ovary, free or more or less inferior, 

 . the seeds usually without albumen. There 

 are nine or ten genera, amongst which 

 ; Vochysia and Qualea are most conspicuous 

 for the beatity of their flowering panicles ; 

 1 Erisma for its inferior ovary and curious 

 fruit; and Lightia for its more symmetrical 

 flowers, connecting the order with Trigonia. 

 Little is known of the properties of these 

 trees, beyond the hardness of the timber 

 which some of them supply, and the posi- 

 tion of the order in the natural system is 

 as yet unsettled. 



j VOCHYSIA. The type of the order Vo- 

 I chyacece, constituting a genus of trees in- 

 habiting tropical American forests, and 

 j when in bloom presenting a magnificent 

 spectacle, accompanied by a penetrating 

 I often violet-like odour. The leaves are 

 simple, opposite or verticillate, ovate and 

 f entire. The calyx is five-cleft, four of the 

 ' lobes being very small, but the fifth large 

 | and developed into a spur ; the petals are 

 three in number, two of them being 

 | smaller than the other; there are three 

 stamens, and the capsule is triangular 

 and three-celled, each cell containing one 

 : winged seed. The flowers are arranged 

 I in highly ornamental panicles, and are ge- 

 nerally of a yellow or bright-orange colour. 

 They are all used as timber, and the 

 Copai-ye-wood of Guiana is derived from 

 V. guianensis. [B. S.] 



VOGELIA. A genus of Plumbaginacece, 

 founded on a single plant from the Cape of 

 Good Hope. It is a shrub, with slender 

 branches, obcordate alternate leaves, and 

 flowers in densely imbricated spikes. The 

 five sepals are broadly ovate ; the corolla- 

 tube is slender, and the limb is five-lobed ; 

 the stamens are included ; the ovary is one- 

 celled, containing a single ovule ; and the 

 stvle is filiform, terminating in five acute 

 stigmas. [W. C] 



