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24 



low blossoms, are very elegant. JE. tabula- 

 forme, as well as others of the genus, is 

 remarkable for the stem being so con- 

 tracted that the leaves are closely packed 

 in flat rosettes. Like other succulent 

 plants, their tenacity of life is remarkable. 

 They are natives of the Levant. Madeira, 

 the Canaries, &c. [M. T. MJ 



jEQUALIS. This term signifies equality 

 or similarity in size, and is also used in the 

 sense of uniformity ; thus, an equal umbel, 

 is an umbel of which the florets are all 

 alike. 



AERANTHTTS grandiflora, is a Madagas- 

 car epiphytal orchid with distichous leaves, 

 and large green solitary flowers at the end 

 of weak, flexible scapes. It is sometimes 

 seen in cultivation. From Angrcecum it 

 differs in having a lip articulated with the 

 foot of the column. 



AERIDES. A large genus of tropical 

 orchids, with distichous leaves, mostly 

 channelled and unequally truncate, but 

 sometimes terete. All the species inhabit 

 the warmer parts of Asia. The flowers are 

 usually among the largest of the order, 

 of all tints except blue, and frequently ex- 

 tremely sweet. One of them, with small 

 flowers, clings to the branches of trees in 

 Sylhet with such long flat roots, resem- 

 bling bands of a tape-worm, that it has 

 pained the name of Aerides tceniale. This 

 is not in cultivation. 



AEROCYSTS. The air-cells of algals. 



AEROPHYTES. Plants growing wholly 

 in the air; such as epiphytal orchids, many 

 lichens, bromeliads. 



2ERTTA, or CERVA, a genus of Amaran- 

 <7iacefl?,consisting of shrubs and herbaceous 

 plants from Africa, tropical Asia, and pro- 

 bably Central America. The plants have a 

 more or less white tomentose appearance. 

 The leaves are alternate. The minute 

 flowers are in dense terminal or axillary 

 spikes, and are hermaphrodite, with three 

 concave persistent bracts. The calyx 

 consists of five nearly equal, erect, and 

 hairy sepals; the five stamens are united 

 into a cup at their base ; the ovary is one- 

 celled, with a single ovule in each cell ; 

 the style is short, and the two stigmas are 

 very minute. The fruit is a roundish utri- 

 cle, included in the calyx, and the seed 

 is vertical. Nineteen or twenty species 

 have been described. [W. CJ 



^RUGINOUS. Yerdigris-coloured. 



iESCHYNAXTHUS. A beautiful genus 

 of tropical plants of epiphytal habit, be- 

 longing to the cyrtandreous group of the 

 Gesneracece. The peculiarities of structure 

 are a tubulous five-cleft equal calyx, a 

 monopetalous corolla with a curved tube 

 dilated at the throat, and a two-lipped 

 spreading five-lobed limb; there are four 

 didynamous stamens, and the ovary is 

 surrounded by a fleshy hypogynous glandu- 

 lar ring. The species inhabit the tropi- 

 cal parts of Asia, and are among the most 



gorgeous ornaments of hothouses in this 

 country, many of them having been intro- 

 duced to cultivation. They have mostly 

 pendent stems, opposite fleshy leaves, and 

 scarlet or orange-scarlet flowers. One Of 

 the finest species, JE. speciosus, is of sub- 

 erect habit, with ovate lanceolate acumi- 

 nate fleshy leaves, and a terminal fascicle 

 of from ten to twenty erect long-tubed 

 flowers, of a rich orange-yellow below.pass- 

 ing into scarlet at the top, and marked on 

 the face of the limb with yellow and black ; 

 the corolla tube in this species is narrow 

 club-shaped, slightly curving towards the 

 top, and the rich yellow of the throat, sur- 

 rounded by a black band or zone, contrast- 

 ing with the scarlet of the outer portion 

 of the limb, produces a fine effect. This is 

 a native of Java, as also is JE. longiflorus, 

 which has flowers of a similar shape, but 

 of a deep crimson. The calyx, in these 

 species, consists of narrow segments cut 

 down nearly to the base ; but in some 

 other kinds, the calyx forms a deep vase- 

 shaped tube, with a short slightly spread- 

 ing limb. JE. Lobbianus is one of these, 

 with short elliptic leaves, and a large con- 

 spicuous purple calyx, covering half the 

 length of the scarlet flower tubes. An- 

 other, JE. javanicus, has the long tubular 

 calyx green edged with red, and the 

 flowers bright red, marked with yellow 

 rays from the throat; these are both na- 

 tives of Java. A still different form is 

 met with in JE. tricolor, a slender drooping 

 Bornean plant, with ovate leaves, in which 

 the calyx is cup-shaped with five short 

 rounded lobes, and the flowers have a 

 much shorter tube than in the foregoing. 

 There are many other species, nearly all 

 of ornamental character. [T. M .] 



^ESCHYNOMENE. A genus of the pea 

 family (Lcguminosce), of which between 

 thirty and forty species are known. They 

 are herbs or small shrubs, with unequally 

 pinnate leaves and half arrow-headed sti- 

 pules. The flowers are disposed in axillary 

 or terminal racemes, and are often of a 

 bright yellow colour. The pods are jointed. 

 The species are found in the greatest 

 numbers in Brazil, but they are to be 

 met with in most tropical countries. The 

 pith-like stem of JE. aspera is, on account 

 of its extreme lightness, used in India 

 (where it is called solah) for making hats, 

 bottle-cases, swimming jackets, and for 

 many other purposes where elasticity and 

 lightness are required. To construct some 

 of these articles, the wood is cut into thin 

 slices and pasted together. It is sold in the 

 bazaars of Calcutta, being brought from 

 the neighbouring marshy places, where it 

 grows to a great size. This substance is 

 purchased by the natives, who use it for 

 floats for fishing nets, and make fancy 

 articles, as model temples, &c, from it. 

 JE. montevidensis is called the ' humming- 

 bird bush 'at Buenos Ayres, because that 

 bird seems to take more delight in it 

 than in any other flower. JE. viscidula, a 

 native of Florida, has sensitive leaves; 

 and so also, as its name implies, has JE. 



