ACHX] 



&l)c Crw^urji nf Botany. 



10 



Achimenes as above restricted, consists of 

 two distinct series, one of which is well re- j 

 presented by A. coccinea,a species found in 

 Jamaica and Central America. This plant ; 

 has slender, erect, branching stems a foot 

 or rather more in height, furnished with 

 small ovate, acute, serrated leaves, and I 

 axillary one- or few-flowered peduncles 

 bearing small scarlet, somewhat salver- ! 

 shaped flowers, having a broadish cylindri- 

 cal or somewhat swollen tube, nearly equal 

 at the base, and a spreading limb of five 

 rounded segments. The other series is 

 represented by the Mexican and Central 

 American A. long i flora, in which the steins 

 are also erect, about a foot and a half in 

 height, with ovate, acute, serrated leaves, 

 and axillary peduncles supporting one large 

 flower, of which the tube is elongated, 

 slender, curved, and deflexed, saccate at 

 the base, and the limb very broad, plane, 

 and lying in a direction oblique to the tube. 

 The species are for the most part natives 

 of Central America, They are not applied 

 to any use, but are much prized for 

 their ornamental properties. The mode of 

 increase from the scaly tubers is very 

 curious, every one of the scales, when se- 

 parated, being capable of forming a new 

 plant. The name Achimenes is also a 

 synonym of Artanema,a. genus of the order 

 ScropkatariactCE ; itsderivatiou is unknown. 

 [T. M.] 



ACHLAMYDEOUS. Havingneither calyx 

 nor corolla. 



ACHOTE. The seeds of the Arnotto, 

 Bixa Orellana. 



ACH-ROOT. The root of Morinda tinc- 

 toria, used in India as a dye. 



ACHYRACH^ENA. The generic name 

 of a Californian annual of the composite 

 family (Com])ositce~), nearly related to the 

 better known and much prettier genera 

 CaUichroaand Oxyura, but differing from 

 them in the nature of the pappus which 

 crowns the cylindrical achenes, and con- 

 sists of about ten very thin and membra- 

 nous silvery scales, each about half an inch 

 in length. The whole plant is clothed with 

 soft white hairs, whence its specific name 

 of mollis. The stems are seldom more 

 thaneightinches high, branched or simple, 

 furnished with grassy leaves one to two 

 inches long, and terminate in a single head 

 of flowers half an inch across, with purple 

 inconspicuous florets. The plant has also 

 been called Lepidostephmius madioides. It 

 has been cultivated at Kew. [A. A. B.] 



ACHYRANTHES. A genus of Amaran- 

 thacew, found in the tropical and sub-tropi- 

 cal districts of the Old World and consisting 

 of erect, procumbent, or sometimes climb- 

 ing trees and shrubs, many of them being 

 troublesome weeds in cultivated grounds. 

 The flowers are in loose spikes, hermaphro- 

 dite, and have three spinous bracts. The 

 calyx consists of five, rarely four, sepals. 

 The stamens, the same in number as the 

 sepals, are united at their bases into a cup. 

 The one-celled ovary contains a single 



ovule, and has a simple style, and capitate 

 stigma. The leaves are opposite. A. aspera 

 and fruticosa are administered in India in 

 cases of dropsy ; A. globulifera is used in 

 Madagascar as a remedy for syphilis. Up- 

 wards of thirty species have been described. 

 Though natives of the Old World, three or 

 four species have been accidentally carried 

 to the United States, where they have 

 rapidly spread, becoming perfectly natural- 

 -ised. [W. C] 



ACHYROPHORUS. A 'genus of annual 

 or perennial herbs belonging to the 

 chicory group of the composite family, 

 and only distinguished from Hypochceris 

 by the feathery pappus-hairs being in a 

 single instead of a double series. Of about 

 twenty-five species four are S. European 

 and Altasian ; and one of these, A. maculatus 

 is also common to Britain, but usually 

 placed in Hypochceris in our floras. The 

 remainder are entirely S. American, and 

 chiefly extend from Chili southwards. A 

 few, found in the Andes at elevations of 

 10,000 feet and upwards, are neat little 

 stemless plants, with a rosette of linear or 

 lance-shaped toothed or entire leaves, and 

 nestling in their midst a large and hand- 

 some yellow flower-head often more than 

 an inch across. One of this set, A. sessili- 

 Jtorus, is called in N. Granada Chicoria dela 

 tierra Caliente ; and, according to Purdie, 

 a decoction of its thick white tapering 

 roots is employed in affections of the 

 chest. In those species found at low eleva- 

 tions, the root-leaves are spreading, en- 

 tire and grassy, or pinnatifld like those of 

 our hawkbits (Leontodon), their surface 

 smooth or hairy; the yellow flower-heads 

 single on the ends of unbranched stalks, 

 or the stalks branching and furnished with 

 leaves at the points of forking. A. apar- 

 gioides and A. Scorzonerce are known in 

 Chili as Escorzonera, and their tapering 

 roots are eaten for their refreshing and 

 purifying qualities, as those of the Spanish 

 Scorzonera (Scorzonera hispanica) are in 

 this country. [A. A. B.] 



ACIANTHUS. A genus of Australian 

 terrestrial orchids with solitary heart- 

 shaped leaves and erect racemes of small 

 green or dull purple flowers. They inhabit 

 shady or dam]) places, and represent in the 

 southern hemisphere the Malaxis and Li- 

 paris of the northern. 



ACICARPHA. A genus of Calyceracea?, 

 comprising seven species, all of them 

 found in the provinces bordering on the 

 river Plate. They are small herbs with 

 toothed or entire leaves, and lateral or 

 terminal heads of flowers which are en- 

 closed in a spiny involucre. In general thev 

 are found in saline or rocky soils, and 

 may be considered as mere weeds. They 

 do not appear to be applied to any useful 

 purpose. Acicarpha embraces most of 

 the members of the family found on the 

 eastern side of the Cordillera. A name 

 very similar to this, Acicarphcea, has by 

 mis-spelling been given to Acarphcca in 

 some books. [A. A. B] 



