11 



Ojc Crcas'tm) of 3Satamn 



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ACICUL. A. A bristle. The bristle-like ' 

 abortive flower of a grass. 



ACICULAR. Shaped like a needle. 



ACICUL ATED. Marked by Que impressed 

 lines, as if produced by the point of a 

 needle. 



ACIES. The edge of anything. The 

 angles of certain stems. 



ACINACIFORM. Scimetar-shaped ; that 

 is, curved, rounded towards the point; thick 

 on the straighter side, thin on the con- 

 vexity. 



ACINETA. Noble epiphytal orchids from 

 Central America, with angular pseudo- 

 bulbs, membranous ribbed leaves, and large 

 fragrant fleshy flowers in pendulous or occa- 

 sionally erect racemes : some brownish- 

 purple, others more or less yellow. The 

 genus was founded upon the Anguloa 

 superba of Humboldt and Bonpland, whose 

 artist imagined the great drooping raceme 

 to be erect, and otherwise misunderstood 

 the true structure. Several species are 

 known, but they are not very well distin- 

 guished ; in all the lip is united to the 

 column by a solid immovable concave 

 base, is three-lobed in various ways, and is 

 furnished with a singular fleshy appendage 

 rising from the middle- in the form of a 

 truncated body or of a mere horn. The 

 species mentioned in books are A. Hum- 

 boldti, Barkeri, chrysantha (alias densa), 

 Warczeivitzii, erythroxantha (alias chamse- 

 cycnoches), sella turcica, and cryptndonta, 

 all fine plants, and, with the exception of 

 sella turcica, all in cultivation. 



ACINODENDRON. A genus of Gronovius 

 now reduced to Sagrcea, and supposed by 

 De Candoile to be the same as S. guadalu- 

 pensis. 



ACINUS. A bunch of fleshy fruits, as 

 of currants or grapes. Now confined to 

 the berries of such bunches. 



ACIS. A small genus of bulbous plants, 

 belonging to the order Amaryllidacece, and 

 separated from Leucojum, from which they 

 are distinguished by having a filiform style, 

 and fleshy angular seeds. Both have a bell- 

 shaped perianth, consisting of six nearly 

 equal divisions, six stamens inserted in the 

 epigynous disk, and an inferior three-celled 

 ovary, containing numerous ovules. The 

 species referred to Acis are plants of 

 Southern Europe and Northern Africa, 

 and are pretty subjects for bulb gardens. 

 A. rosea, one of the nicest species, has 

 a small_ round bulb, narrow blunt linear 

 green leaves, and from one to three one- 

 flowered scapes, blooming in succession, the 

 flowers pendent, pale rose-coloured. The 

 other species are A. autumnalis and A. 

 grandiflora. [T.M.] 



ACKAWAI NUTMEG. The fruit of Acro- 

 diclidium Camara. 



ACKROOT or AKROOT. An Indian 

 name for the Walnut. 



ACLINIA. A supposed genus of Indian 



orchids founded by Griffith upon monsters 

 of certain species of Dendrobium, in which 

 regularity in the parts of the flower is sub- 

 stituted for their customary irregularity; 

 the lip resembling the sepals and petals, 

 and the column being triandrous, or nearly 

 so. Five cases of the kind are recorded by 

 Lindley, in the Journal of the Linncean 

 Society (.August 1858). 



ACOCANTHERA. Lycium cinereum. 



ACONIOPTERIS. A group of the Acro- 

 sticliece, in which the parallel veins of the 

 fronds are angularly united near the margin. 

 It is now included in Olfersia. [T. M.] 



ACONITE. Aconitum. — WINTER. Eran- 

 tliis liy emails. 



ACONITUM. An important genus be- 

 longing to the order Ranunculacece , and 

 botanically characterised by the calyx be- 

 ing not of a green colour, but blue or 

 yellow, of five pieces, the upper of which 

 is convex, and in form like a helmet. 

 Within this are concealed two singularly 

 shaped petals, formerly considered to be 

 nectaries : the form of these bodies is some- 

 what like that of a hammer. There are also 

 three other petals, very small and incon- 

 spicuous, though occasionally they also 

 become hammer-shaped, like the two upper 

 ones. The stamens are numerous ; and the 

 fruit consists of from three to five follicles. 

 The plants constituting this genus are 

 found in Europe and Northern Asia, and 

 a few are natives of North America. One 

 species, A. napellus, is said to have been 

 found wild in Britain, but this is open 

 to grave doubts. All the plants of this 

 genus possess virulently poisonous proper- 

 ties ; the roots of some of the Indian species 

 produce the Bikli poison of Nepal, one of 

 the most dangerous of poisons. The roots 

 of A. ferox (supposed to be a variety of 

 A. napellus) are used in the northern parts 

 of Hindostan for poisoning arrows, with 

 which tigers are destroyed. A tiger shot 

 from a bow in Assam was found dead at 

 only sixty yards from the spot, so soon did 

 the poison take effect. Several kinds are 

 commonly cultivated in gardens, especially 

 A. napellus, the fleshy roots of which have 

 been occasionally used by mistake for 

 horse-radish, and produced fatal results. 

 This plant has a stem about three feet in 

 height, with dark green glossy leaves, 

 deeply divided in a palmate manner ; the 

 flowers are placed in erect clusters, and are 

 of a dull blue colour. The roots, or more 

 properly rootstocks, are of a tapering form, 

 of a dark brown colour externally, and 

 white internally ; the younger roots, which 

 are placed on either side of the older one, 

 are of a lighter colour. The taste is bitter 

 at first, but after a time numbness and 

 tingling of the lips and tongue are per- 

 ceived. The root has none of the acridity 

 or pungency that fresh horse-radish pos- 

 sesses. The two plants are so dissimi- 

 lar that it would seem impossible so ter- 

 rible a mistake should be made, but it has 

 generally arisen from taking the root of the 



