21 



HH)t Ereasurg ai 23atang. 



[JECID 



petals, and numerous dry ovate carpels, 

 pointed with the style, and grouped in a 

 short spike or head ; all the species have 

 the foliage cleft into numerous linear seg- 

 ments, and produce hut a single flower at 

 the summit of each stem and branch. Of 

 the annual section, eight or ten species are 

 described, but only two are to be found in 

 general cultivation : the A. autuinnalis, 

 and A. aestivalis, both indigenous plants, 

 with small, deep crimson flowers, the 

 latter having the petals much longer than 

 the calyx; whilst those of the former 

 scarcely exceed it. They are popularly 

 known as Pheasant's Eye, and Flos Adonis. 

 The perennial species are all showy, dwarf 

 herbaceous plants, with long black fasci- 

 cled roots, and large glossy yellow flowers. 

 The best and most commonly cultivated 

 species is the A. rernalis, a desirable and 

 very effective early bloomer. [W. T.] 



ADOXA. A small genus referred by 

 Mr. Bentham to the Caprifoliacece, consist- 

 ing of a single species, A. Mosehalellina, 

 the Tuberous Moschatel, found blooming 

 in spring in woods and on shady banks 

 in many parts of England, and extending 

 through Northern and Central Europe and 

 parts of Asia and North America, far into 

 the Arctic regions. The genus is distin- 

 guished by bearing a calyx of two or three 

 spreading lobes ; a short-tubed corolla, with 

 four or five spreading divisions ; eight or 

 ten stamens in pairs alternating with the 

 divisions of the corolla, and inserted on a 

 little ring at its base; three to five short 

 styles united at the base ; a three to five- 

 celled ovary, with one ovule in each cell 

 and maturing into a berry. The plant is a 

 low herb, of four to six incheshigh, smooth, 

 pale green, forming creeping half-buried 

 runners, the leaves ternately divided, 

 with broad deeply three-lobed segments, 

 and the musky-scented flowers pale green 

 in a little globular head at the top of the 

 short leafy flower-stems. The upper flower 

 in each head has generally a tetramerous 

 arrangement of parts, two calyx lobes, four 

 corolla lobes, and eight stamens ; while the 

 lateral ones have three calyx lobes, five co- 

 rolla lobes, and ten stamens. The A doxa 

 has, until recently, been classed with the 

 Araliacece. [T. 31.] 



ADPRESSED. Brought into contact with 

 anything without adhering. 



ADELPHIA. A fraternity— a Linnean 

 term denoting a collection of stamens. 

 Monadelphia=oae such collection; Bia- 

 delphia— two such collections; and so on. 



JSCH3IEA. A genus of Bromeliaceee, 

 having a six-parted perianth, of which the 

 three outer sepahne divisions are equal, 

 and much shorter than the inner petaloid 

 ones. The flowers have six stamens, and 

 an inferior three-celled ovary containing 

 numerous ovules, and becoming a sub-glo- 

 bate berry. The species are found in tro- 

 pical America, often epiphytal on the trunks 

 of trees m the dense forests. They have 

 strap-shaped or sword-shaped leaves, some- 



times spiny at the margin ; and from the 

 J centre of these is developed the flower 

 ■ scape, which is branched in a panicled 

 [ manner and bears numerous flowers. JE. 

 ! discolor, one of the most striking of the 

 I species, has broad recurved leaves, which 

 ; are dull green above and purplish beneath. 

 | The panicle is longer than the leaves, of a 

 t scarlet colour in the upper part, bearing 

 the flowers distantly spiked along the 

 ! branches. The flowers are without brac- 

 1 teoles, in which respect it is peculiar. 

 j The calycine segments are oblique and 

 obtuse, coral-red below, blackish above, 

 the petaline ones twisted, purplish. The 

 unexpanded buds have a most striking re- 

 semblance to the seeds of Abrns precatorius, 

 commonly called crab's eyes, and some- 

 times strung as beads. [T. 31.] 



tECHMOLEPIS. A genus of Asclepia- 

 dacece, containing a single species, a native 

 of Angola. It is a shrub with ternate 

 leaves, glabrous above, hoary and reticu- 

 lated beneath. It is characterised by its 

 filaments being connate at their base and 

 distinct above, by having its anthers co- 

 hering at the apex, though free from the 

 stigma, and by its twenty granular pollen 

 masses. [W. C] 



iECIDIUM. A genus of Fungi, compos- 

 ing a large number of parasites, which 

 grow upon the living parts of plants. 

 The reproductive organs or spores are 

 nearly globose, arranged in little neck- 

 laces, which radiate from a thin cellular 

 base, and, as they easily break off, form a 

 little dust-like heap, which is white, yel- 

 low, orange, &c, according to the species. 

 The whole mass is surrounded by a mem- 

 branous coat or peridium, which some- 

 times bursts irregularly at the tip, but 

 more frequently splits into a number of 

 nearly equal lobes, which curl back, and 

 have a very pretty appearance under the 

 microscope. They grow on the leaves, 

 petioles, fruit, or young shoots, some- 

 times producing but little constitutional 

 derangement, but occasionally causing the 

 adjacent parts to swell, or producing great 

 distortion, as in a species which attacks 

 the shoots of elder in North America. 

 Sometimes the whole appearance of the 

 plant is altered, as in one which commonly 

 attacks species of Epilobium; while, again, 

 at times, particular leaves only are affected, 

 as in the garden and wood anemone, 

 where the outline is somewhat changed, 

 and the substance is greatly thickened. 

 Where the plant is only partially affected, 

 the general health is not much impaired ; 

 but where the parasite is very vigorous, 

 death may ultimately ensue. We are not 

 aware that any species attacks our cereals. 

 There has, however, been a very unjust 

 charge brought against JEcidium berberidis, 

 a beautiful species, which attacks the 

 leaves, flowers, and young fruit of the 

 berberry, as if it were the cause of 

 mildew in wheat. Great, however, as are 

 the changes which Fungi undergo occa- 

 sionally in passing from one condition to 

 another, there is not the slightest reason 



