AXLO 



VEfyz Crcasfuri) of 23ataug. 



42 



ALLOUCHIER. (Fr.) Pyrus Aria. 



ALLSEED. The common name for Poly- 

 carpon. Also sometimes applied to Che- 

 nopodium polyspermism, and Badiola Mll- 

 legrana. 



ALLSPICE. The fruit of Eugenia Pi- 

 menta. —.CAROLINA. Calycanihusfloridus. 

 — , JAPAN. The common name for Chimo- 

 nanthus. — , WILD. Benzoin odoriferum. 



ALLSPICE TREE. The common name 

 for Calycantlms. 



ALLUBODON, ALUBO. The wood of 

 Calyptrantttes Jamholana, a common build- 

 ing material in Ceylon. 



ALMEIDIA. The founder of this genus 

 of rutaceous trees has devoted it to a 

 Portuguese nobleman who assisted him in 

 prosecuting his botanical researches in 

 Brazil. The genus is allied to Diosma, but 

 is known by its five equal, spoon-shaped 

 petals, five fertile distinct stamens with 

 flattened hairy filaments, an hypogynous 

 cup-shaped disc, and a fruit opening by 

 two valves. A. rubra is a handsome shrub 

 with rose-coloured flowers, sometimes seen 

 in hot-houses. [M. T. MJ 



ALMOND. The fruit of Amy g dolus com- 

 munis; the Bitter and Sweet Almonds are 

 the produce of different varieties of this 

 species. — , AFRICAN. Brabcjion stcllati- 

 fulium. —COUNTRY. The fruit of Ter- 

 wmalia Catappa. — , JAVA. Canarium 

 commune. 



ALMOND WORTS. An English name 

 proposed for the group Drupacece. 



ALNUS. A family of trees belonging to 

 the natural order Betulacece, and all more 

 or less approaching in character the com- 

 mon Alder, A. glutinosa. They inhabit 

 most temperate countries of the northern 

 hemisphere, and delight in a moist soil. 

 The common Alder, in its young state, is a 

 bushy shrub of a pyramidal form, heavily 

 clothed with dark green leaves, which, as 

 well as the young shoots, are covered with 

 a glutinous substance. The leaves are 

 stalked, roundish, blunt, jagged at the 

 edge, shining above, and furnished at the 

 angles of the veins beneath with minute 

 tufts of whitish down. The flowers are of 

 two kinds ; the barren are long drooping 

 eat kins, which appear in the autumn and 

 hanc; on the tree all the winter; and the 

 fertile are oval, like little fir-cones, but are 

 not produced till spring. When these ripen, 

 the thick scales of which they are com- 

 posed separate, and allow the seeds to faD, 

 but remain attached to the tree themselves 

 all the winter; and by them the tree may 

 be distinguished when stripped of all its 

 leaves. In young trees the bark is smooth 

 and of a dark purple-brown hue, but in old 

 trees it is rugged and nearly black. When 

 allowed to attain its full growth, it reaches 

 a height of forty or fifty feet, if the situa- 

 tion be favourable ; but in the mountains 

 and in hieh latitudes it does not rise above 

 a shrub." The wood of the Alder is soft 



and light ; and if exposed alternately to wet 

 and dry, will scarcely last a year; but if 

 kept entirely submersed, or buried in damp 

 earth, no wood is more durable. By lying 

 for a long time in peat bogs, it acquires a 

 black hue, but from its softness will not 

 take a good polish. The young branches 

 are much used for the purpose of filling in 

 drains, and are more durable than any 

 other kind of brushwood. The charcoal is 

 highly valued in the manufacture of gun- 

 powder, for which purpose it is in some 

 places largely planted. The colour of the 

 wood when first cut is white, but by expo- 

 sure it becomes of a bright orange-red, as 

 is shown by the chips which are left about 

 where a tree has been felled. Several 

 varieties are grown which differ from the 

 typical species in having laciniated, lobed, 

 or variegated leaves. Of the other species 

 enumerated by Loudon, A. cordifolia, a na- 

 tive of Italy, is well adapted to this cli- 

 mate. It grows with rapidity, and is a 

 most interesting and ornamental tree. The 

 common Alder is the badge of the clanChis- 

 holm. [C. A. J.] 



ALOCASIA. A name applied to a sec- 

 tion of the genus Colocasia, by some con- 

 sidered as a distinct genus. The species 

 are natives of India, with peltate leaves 

 springing from an erect root-stock ; spathes 

 glaucous, on short stalks. [M. T. M.] 



A. metallica is a magnificent Bornean 

 species, with very large cordate-ovate pel- 

 tate leaves, having a rich bronze-coloured 

 surface, and is a very conspicuous orna- 

 ment of our hot-houses. The leaves look 

 like great polished metal shields. [T. MJ 



ALOE. A Latinised form of an Arabic 

 name given to a genus of succulent plants 

 of the lily family (Liliacea;). The species of 

 the genus vary very much in height, and in 

 the appearance of their leaves and flowers, 

 but are especially distinguished from al- 

 lied genera by their having a stem, some- 

 times a very short one ; permanent fleshy 

 leaves ; flowers arranged in erect spikes or 

 clusters, each with a cylindrical perianth 

 divided into six pieces, secreting nectar at 

 the base; six stamens arising like the 

 perianth from below the genu en ; a mem- 

 branous fruit, consisting of three cells, 

 each containing a great number of seeds. 

 The species of Aloe are abundant in all 

 warm countries, especially in the southern 

 part of Africa and the isle of Socotra, where 

 'the bristling aloes' give a character of 

 their own to the landscape. 



A. vulgaris, a native of the East and 

 West Indies has been introduced into 

 Italy, Sicily, Malta, and the Mediterranean 

 region in general. The most important 

 product of this genus is the drug known 

 as aloes, which is the dried juice derived 

 from the leaves of several species in the 

 East and West Indies, Cape of Good Hope, 

 and elsewhere. The finest kind of aloes is 

 supposed to be derived from Aloe socotrina. 

 The bitter resinous juice is stored up in 

 greenish vessels, lying beneath the skin of 

 the leaf, so that when the leaves are cut 

 transversely, the juice exudes and is gradu- 



