1235 



W$z Ercadurg of 23atang. 



[WOL 



WINTERGREEN. Pyrola; also Trien- 

 talis, and Gaultlieriaprocumbens. — , ARO- 

 MATIC. Gauttheria. — , CHICKWEED. 

 Trientalis. — , FALSE. Pyrola. — , 

 SPOTTED. Chimaphila maculata. — , 

 SPRING. Gaultheria procunibens. 



WINTERLEIN. A German name for 

 Linum usitatissimum. 



WINTERS BARK. Drimys Winteri. 



WINTER-SWEET. Origanum. 



WINTER- WEED. Veronica hedercefolia. 



"WIRE-BENT. Nardus strieta. 



WIRTGENIA. Spondias. 



WISLIZENIA. A genus of Crucifero?, 

 comprising an auuual species, native of 

 New Mexico. The leaves are ternate, and 

 the flowers, which are borne in racemes, 

 are yellow. The stamens are very long ; 

 the ovary stalked globose two-celled, sur- 

 mounted by an awl-shaped style and a 

 globular stigma. [M. T. MJ 



WISTARIA. A genus of climbing 

 shrubs of the Leguminosce, natives of 

 North America, Japan, and the northern 

 provinces of China. They have pinnate 

 leaves, with small deciduous stipules, and 

 flowers in axillary and terminal racemes. 

 The calyx is provided with two small 

 bracts, and is somewhat bell-shaped, its 

 limb being slightly two-lipped and five- 

 toothed; the standard is roundish, with two 

 small hardened prominences at the base ; 

 stamens ten, diadelphous ; ovary stalked, 

 with numerous ovules ; pod linear woody 

 or leathery, many-seeded. 



Two well-known species are largely 

 grown in this country for the sake of 

 their elegant racemes of lilac flowers, 

 which are produced in great profusion on 

 a south wall or other sheltered spot. 



W. chinensis, the Chinese species, has 

 larger and paler flowers than those of 

 W. frviescens, the American kind, whose 

 flowers, moreover, are slightly scented, 

 and have a greenish spot at the base of the 

 standard. The generic name is in honour 

 of Caspar Wistar, a professor of anatomy 

 at Pennsylvania. [M. T. MJ 



"WITCH-BALLS. Interwoven roller- 

 masses of the stems of herbaceous plants, 

 often met with in the steppes of Tartary. 



WITCHEN. The Rowan-tree, Pyrus Au- 

 cuparia. 



WITCHES' BESOMS. This name is 

 given to the tufted bunches of branches, 

 altered from their original form, which are 

 developed on the Silver Fir in consequence 

 of the attack of Peridermium elatinum, a 

 fungus belonging to the natural order 

 JEcidiacei. The leaves as well as branches 

 are altered in form from their first ap- 

 pearance, and soon fall, a new crop of 

 infested foliage being produced each year 

 from the buds. The fungus is apparently 

 confined to the besoms. Specimens occur- 

 red a few ye;irs since at Hastings, but we 

 have not heard of them elsewhere in Eng 



land. They are abundant in Germany, 

 where they are called HexenBesen. [M.J.BJ 



WITCHES' BUTTER. The vulgar name 

 of Exidia glandulosa, a dark-brown or black 

 jelly-like fungus studded above with little 

 glandular points, and below rough like 

 crape. Some of the dark species of Tremella 

 are probably confounded under the same 

 name. [M. J. BJ 



WITCHES' THIMBLE. Silene maritima. 



WITHERINGIA. A genus of Solanacece, 

 so named in compliment to Dr. Withering, 

 an eminent physician and writer on British 

 botany in the last century. The species 

 are of a shrubby habit, with flowers in um- 

 bels or clusters, and white yellow rose 

 greenish or bluish in colour. The calyx is 

 bell-shaped, four to five-cleft; the corolla 

 wheel-shaped, four to five-cleft ; stamens 

 four to five, the anthers converging, open- 

 ing lengthwise ; fruit berry-like, two- 

 celled. These plants are indigenous in 

 Peru, Mexico, and South Africa. The 

 Peruvian Indians are stated to employ the 

 roots of W. montana in soups. [M.T. MJ 



WITHE-ROD. Viburnum nudum. 



WITHWIND. The Woodbine ; also Con- 

 volvulus arvensis. 



WITHY. Lasernitium Siler ; also a com- 

 mon name for Willow. — , GREY. Salix 

 Caprea. — , HOOP. Eivina octandra. 



WITSENIA. A genus of Cape plants 

 belonging to the Jridacece, and having a 

 similar habit to the species of Iris ; having 

 like them also a thick fleshy stock, termi- 

 nated by a tuft of sword-shaped leaves, 

 which are arranged in two rows. The 

 flowers are borne on simple or brasched 

 scapes ; each one has a regular six-parted 

 tubular perianth, to the throat of which are 

 attached three very short stamens. The 

 ovary is inferior or nearly so, three-celled, 

 with numerous ovules ; the style is simple, 

 and is terminated by a three-toothed 

 stigma ; the fruit is a three- valved capsule. 

 W. corymbosa is an old inhabitant of our 

 greenhouses, whei-e its fine purplish-blue 

 flowers still render it a favourite, * The 

 stem of W. Maura is said to abound in 

 saccharine juice.' [M. T. MJ 



WITTEDENIA. A garden misnomer for 

 Vittadenia. 



WO AD. Isatistinctoria, also called Dyer's 

 Woad. — , WILD. Reseda Luteola. 



WOADWAXEN. Genista tinctoria. 



WOLF-BERRY. Symphoricarpos occir 

 dentalis. 



WOLFSBANE. Aconitum Lycoctonum ; 

 also Arnica montana. 



WOLF'S-CLAW. Lycopodium clavatum. 



WOLF'S-MILK. Euphorbia. 



WOLLASTONIA. Under this name is 

 described a genus of Compositce, consisting 

 of undershrubs or herbs, natives of India, 

 the Moluccas, and Australia. The leaves 



