23 



Ctjc Crcas'urg flf ^atanju 



[jEONI 



our examples of this year being much af- 

 fected with the rust (Uredo rubigo), mildew 

 (Puccinia graminis), and others. These, it 



JEeilops: — a JE. ovata; h IE. ovata triticoides; 

 c the same after four years' cultivation ; d the 

 same after five years' cultivation 



would seem, are the effects of civilization ; 

 and it is not a little remarkable, that in 

 this respect this grass should he so much 

 like our field crops, which were par- 

 ticularly liable to blight in the straw and 

 foliage during 1860. [J. B.] 



^EGIXETIA. A genus of the broomrape 

 family (Orobanchacece), found in India and 

 the islands of the Indian Archipelago. 

 They are annual, leafless, parasitical herbs, 

 growing on the roots of various grasses, 

 their stems from three inches to a foot 

 high, bearing a solitary terminal flower, 

 and having at their base a few scales. The 

 whole plant is of a brown colour, except 

 the flower, which is large and tubular ; the 

 tube white, and the limb rose, or alto- 

 gether purple outside, and the throat yel- 

 low. The calyx is one-leaved and cleft 

 in front. A. indica, ' prepared with sugar 

 and nutmeg, is considered an antiscor- 

 butic' [A. A. B.] 



iEGLE. The name of a genus of plants 

 belonging to the orange family (Auran- 

 tiacerp.). The fruit, known in India as the 

 Bhel fruit, is the product of JE. Marmelos. 

 In appearance it is much like the orange. 

 The thick rind of the unripe fruit pos- 

 sesses astringent properties, on which ac- 

 count it is used in India in cases of dysen- 

 tery and diarrhoea. The ripe fruit has an 

 exquisite flavour and perfume. Not only 

 the fruit, but other portions of the plant 

 are used for medicinal purposes; and a 

 yellow dye is prepared from the rind of the 

 fruit. The penus is distinguished by its 

 numerous disunited stamens, from the 

 oranare (Citric), to which, in other particu- 

 lars, it is closely allied. [M. T. M.] 



^EGOCHLOA. A genus of dwarf, hardy 

 annuals of the Polemonium family, chiefly 

 Californian. Their tubular calyx, with un- 

 equal, rigid, multifld segments, and co- 



rolla with salver-shaped limb, distinguish 

 them from the allied genera. The species 

 have, for the most part, pinnate or pin- 

 natifid clammy foliage, more or less spin- 

 ous, and small-clustered gilia-like flowers. 

 Noue of them are remarkable for their 

 beauty, and, with the exception of JE. pun- 

 gens, are not known in British gardens. 

 By some authors the species are classed 

 under the genus Navarretia. [W. T.] 



jEGOPODIUM. An umbelliferous plant 

 with smooth thrice-ternate leaves, unat- 

 tractive white flowers, and an unpleasant 

 odour when bruised: a common pest of 

 orchards, shrubberies, and ill-kept gardens, 

 where, by means of its creeping roots, or 

 rather subterraneous stems, which are of 

 rapid growth and singularly vivacious, it 

 soon establishes itself when once admitted, 

 and defies eradication, smothering all vege- 

 tation less rampant than its own, and dis- 

 figuring where i-t finds nothing to choke. 

 Its old English names were Gout-wort or 

 Gout-weed, Herb Gerard, Ash-weed, and 

 English Master-wort. It was, at one time, 

 accounted a specific for the gout, hence its 

 specific name Podagraria ; but though, like 

 the rest of the umbelliferous tribe, partak- 

 ing of aromatic properties, it is really of 

 no more value in the pharmacopoeia than 

 in the garden. Linnaeus says it is eaten in 

 Sweden, boiled for greens when tender 

 in the spring. It is a native of the whole 

 of Europe to Caucasus and Siberia. Gerarde 

 says of it: 'Herb Gerarde groweth of it- 

 selfe in gardens without setting or sow- 

 ing, and is so fruitfull in its increase, that 

 when it hath once taken roote, it will 

 hardly be gotten out againe, spoiling and 

 getting every yeere more ground, to the 

 annoying of better herbes.' An Alpine 

 species is found in Asia, which appears to 

 possess all the bad properties of its con- 

 gener. [C. A. J.] 



^GOTOXICTJM. A genus doubtfully 

 placed in the spurgewort family (Eaphor- 

 biacece). There is but one species, JE. punc- 

 tatum, which is a native of Chili, and is de- 

 scribed as a sombre-looking tree, forming 

 immense woods. The leaves are opposite, 

 shortly stalked, oblong, and entire, the 

 upper surface smooth, the under covered 

 with rusty scales. The flowers are male 

 and female, the males alone on one tree, 

 and the females on another ; they are dis- 

 posed in axillary racemes. The fruit is a 

 one-seeded drupe, about the size of a pea. 

 Planks and beams are made of the wood ; 

 and the fruits are said to be a powerful 

 poison to goats. [A. A. B.] 



IONIUM. The plants that are com- 

 prised in this genus of Crassulacere are 

 much more generally known as species of 

 Sempervivum, from which, however, they 

 differ in their seed-vessels being partially 

 sunk in the receptacle, and not regularly 

 opening by their ventral suture, but only 

 at the base and back by an irregular tear- 

 ing. JE. arboreum is well known to gar- 

 deners as the tree houseleek ; its loose 

 panicles, with a profusion of clammy yel- 



