of the cells of Its tissue. A. Cuming ii 

 is now generally called T. Smithii. Van den 

 Bosch has revived the name under the form 

 of Habrodictyon. [T. M.] 



ABROMA. The name given to a genus of 

 the byttneriaceous family. They are small 

 trees, with hairy lobed leaves, and termi- 

 nal or axillary clusters of yellow or purple 

 flowers. Their fruits are capsular, five-celled, 

 with five membranous wings, and many 

 seeds in each cell. They are natives of 

 India, Java, and the tropical parts of New 

 Holland. Three species are known : one 

 of them, A. augusta, is the Wollut Comul, 

 or Wullut Cumal, of the Bengalese. Its 

 bark abounds with strong white fibres, 

 which afford a good cordage. The plant 

 grows quickly, and may be so managed as 

 to afford three crops of cuttings in the 

 year. The bark is separated from the shoots 

 by maceration in stagnant water. From 

 four to eight days is sufficient to effect 

 this in hot weather, but in the cold season 

 a mucn longer time is required. The fibre 

 requires no artificial cleaning. Cord made 

 from it, though not to be compared with 

 that of hemp, is strong, and is not liable to 

 be weakened, as many others are, by ex- 

 posure to wet. [A. A. B.] 



ABRONIA. A small genus of monochla- 

 mydeous plants, belonging to the order 

 Nyctaginacece. In this genus the leading 

 peculiarities of structure are a five-leaved 

 involucre, surrounding a close head of many 

 flowers ; a coloured corolla-like salver- 

 shaped perigone, having the tube inflated 

 below, and the deciduous limb flve-lobed, 

 spreading, with obovate lobes ; five hypo- 

 gynous included stamens, connate at the 

 base, and having oblong anthers ; a simple 

 style with a club-shaped stigma ; and a one- 

 celled ovary containing one erect ovule. 

 There are but few species known, and these 

 natives of N.W.America. A.umbellata, one 

 of the best known, is a handsome dwarf 

 trailing perennial herb, producing opposite 

 stalked, bluntly ovate, rather succulent 

 leaves, and, from their axils, long-stalked, 

 close umbels of pretty primula-like flowers, 

 of a purplish rose colour. These flowers con- 

 sist of a coloured calyx, the corolla being 

 wanting ; and they are very deliriously fra- 

 grant, especially towards evening. The 

 other species are of similar character. They 

 are not applied to any use. [T. M.] 



ABRUPT. Suddenly terminating ; as 

 abruptly pinnated, when several pairs of 

 leaflets are formed without any intermedi- 

 ate oue at the end. 



ABRUS. The name of a genus of plants 

 of but one species, A. precatorius, and be- 

 longing to the pea tribe, of the order 

 Leguminosce. The plant was originally a 

 native of India, but is now found in the 

 W. Indies, the Mauritius, and other tropi- 

 cal regions. It is chiefly remarkable for 

 its small egg-shaped seeds, which are of a 

 brilliant scarlet colour, with a black scar 

 indicating the place where they were at- 

 tached to the pods. These seeds are much 

 used for necklaces and other ornamental 



purposes, and nre employed in India as a 

 standard of weight under the name of 

 Rati. The weight of the famous Koh-i- 

 noor diamond is known to have been ascer- 

 tained in this way. The roots also are made 

 use of in the same manner as the roots 

 of the liquorice plant. The Abrus is of twin- 

 ing habit, with pinnate leaves, numerous 

 stalked flowers in axillary clusters, a bell- 

 shaped slightly four-lobed calyx, the upper 

 lobe broadest, and a pale purple corolla, 

 succeeded by an oblong compressed pod 

 containing four to six seeds. [M. T. M.] 



ABSINTHE. (Fr.) Artemisia Absinthium. 

 — PETITE. Artemisia pontica. 



ABUTIL2EA. An E. Australian plant of 

 the mallow family, not really distinct from 

 Abutilon. [A.A.B.] 



ABUTILON. A genus of Malvaceae (mal- 

 low family), known by having a cup-shaped 

 calyx without an involucre, an ovary of 

 five carpels which open at the top, and are 

 inseparably adherent one to the other by 

 their inner angles. They are annual or 

 shrubby plants, often very ornamental, in- 

 habiting the W. Indies, Siberia, and even 

 Piedmont. The flowers of one species, 

 A. esculentum, are used as a vegetable in 

 Brazil. A.indiciun and polyandrum, Indian 

 shrubs, furnish fibre fit for the manufacture 

 of ropes. Their leaves contain a large 

 quantity of mucilage. [M. T. M.] 



A. striatum, venosum, insigne, and some 

 others, are favourite garden plants, often 

 seen in our gardens and greenhouses. They 

 have palmately-divided or heart-shaped 

 leaves, and axillary pendulous flowers, of 

 which the petals converge so as to give 

 them a semi-globular bell-shaped outline. 

 They are of considerable size, yellow or 

 white, beautifully veined with red. [T.M.] 



ACACALLIS cyanea. Under this name 

 Lindley describes a handsome Brazilian 

 orchid with the habit of a Huntleya and 

 large light blue flowers. It is distinguished 

 from that genus by having a long narrow 

 hypochil with a deep sac at its point, sur- 

 rounded by a flve-lobed border. It was found 

 by Spruce, on trees near the Rio Negro. 



ACACIA. A genus of shrubs or trees 

 belonging to the Mimosa tribe of the legu- 

 minous family. Its principal points of dis- 

 tinction are the calyx, which is provided 

 with four or five teeth, the corolla of four 

 or five petals, the numerous stamens, and 



I the pod, which is not divided into joints, and 



I which does not contain a pulp. The great 

 number of the stamens and the nature of 



j the pod particularly distinguish this genus 

 from the allied genus Mimosa. The flowers, 



j which are small, are collected in large 

 numbers in globular heads, or in long 

 spikes. The true leaves are twice or thrice 

 pinnated, and the small leaflets, being very 

 numerous, confer a very elegant feathery 



| appearance on the plants, but in many of 

 the species, particularly those found wild in 

 New Holland, the true leaves are seldom or 

 never developed, but, to compensate for 



, their absence, the leaf-stalk, which is usu- 



