63 



CJ)E KxcaXurn of Matmu. 



[andr 



are vomiting, delirium, and fever : the 

 antidote for this is lime-juice or castor 

 oil. The powder, administered in doses 

 of three or four grains, purges like jalap. 

 The bark is known as Bastard Cabbage 

 Bark, or Worm Bark ; formerly it was used 

 as a medicine in English practice, but its 

 use is now obsolete. A* retusa, a Brazilian 

 species, has purple flowers, having an 

 odour of oranges, with a slight aroma: 

 the fruit is said to smell like the tonka 

 bean. Most of the species are beautiful 

 objects when in flower. [A. A. B.] 



AXDR ACHXE. A genus of spurge-worts, 

 (Eupliorbiacece) comprising ten species ; 

 distributed over the Mediterranean region, 

 X. India and China, one species occurring 

 in Arkansas. They are perennial herbs of 

 no beauty, with erect or prostrate stems, 

 furnished with alternate,- shortly-stalked 

 leaves, having rounded or ovate and entire 

 blades of a pea-green colour, varying from 

 a quarter of an inch to two inches in 

 length ; while the small greenish flowers 

 —which are sterile and fertile on different 

 plants— are borne singly, or two to four 

 together, in the axils of the leaves. The 

 sterile flowers have a calyx of five to six 

 sepals, a like number of petals, five entire 

 or bifid glands opposite the petals, and five 

 stamens, slightly united below by their 

 filaments, and surrounding an abortive 

 ovary. The fertile flowers have a like 

 calyx and corolla, rather larger glands, 

 and an ovary surmounted by a three- 

 branched style, each of the branches 

 forked. The fruits are trilobed capsules, 

 of the size of peas, with three cells, and 

 two seeds in each cell. [A. A. B.] 



AXDRE.EA. A genus of mosses named 

 after Andrea, a Hanoverian Doctor. It 

 is remarkable for having a capsule which 

 splits into four or sometimes six valves, 

 which, however, do not expand as in 

 Junnermaitnice, but adhere at the apex 

 to which the columella is attached. The 

 capsule is always sessile, even to matu- 

 rity, but is at length supported by the 

 elongated base or pseudopodium. In con- 

 sequence of this arrangement, the calyptra 

 does not burst so soon as in most other 

 mosses, as it is ruptured by the swelling of 

 the capsule and not by the elongation of 

 the peduncle. The species are Alpine or 

 sub-Alpine,occurring on quartzose or grani- 

 tic, never on calcareous rocks, and are found 

 in cold or temperate regions of either hemi- 

 spnere,or at considerable heights in wanner 

 countries, asin the Himalayas. Four species 

 in which the leaves have a central nerve, 

 occur in this country, while in the others 

 the leaves are nerveless. [M. J. BJ 



AXDRE.EACE^E. A natural order, or, ac- 

 cording to some, a distinct tribe of mosses. 

 They do not, however, differ essentially, 

 being distinguished mainly by the longi- 

 tudinal splitting of the valves at maturity. 

 It consists of but two genera, Andrecea just 

 described, and Acroschisma, an Antarctic 

 genus, distinguished by the cylindrical 

 capsule splitting into four or eight valves 



at the apex only. All the species are of a 

 peculiar dark hue, and the leaves, which 

 are of a close texture, are of a beautiful 

 yellow or golden brown under the mi- 

 croscope. [M. J. B.j 



ANDROCYMBIUM. A genus of Melan- 

 thacece, containing three or four species 

 from the Cape of Good Hope. They are 

 plants with tunicated bulbs, and simple, 

 short, subterranean stems, crowned with 

 from two to four ovate, lanceolate, or 

 linear leaves, and having one to nine 

 flowers in short spikes, hid in coloured 

 foliaceous bracts. [W. C] 



ANDRCECEUM. The male system of a 

 flower. The stamens taken collectively. 



ANDROGLOSSTTM. A genus founded on 

 a single species, A. reticulation, a native of 

 the Island of Hongkong. It seems to 

 belong to the natural order Ehamnacece: 

 the arrangement of the stamens being pre- 

 cisely the same as in that order ; but it 

 differs from it in the structure of the 

 ovary, the carpels being almost if not 

 quite distinct, and the ovules, two in each 

 carpel, horizontally attached to the axis, 

 instead of being solitary and erect from 

 the base. The calyx is five-partite ; the 

 corolla five petaled ; the five stamens are 

 opposite to and inserted in the petals ; 

 there are two styles. The fruit from the 

 abortion of one of the carpels, is simple, 

 spherical, and subdrupaceous, with a crust- 

 aceous covering. [W. C] 



ANDROGYNOUS. A term applied to 

 such kinds of inflorescence as consist of 

 both male and female flowers. 



ANDROMEDA. A genus of Ericacece, 

 consisting of shrubs and trees having 

 various habits, and a wide geographical 

 range; but found chiefly in boreal districts, 

 or at considerable heights on mountains 

 in North America, Europe, and Asia. The 

 genus has a calyx of five nearly or partly 

 distinct sepals, valvate in the early bud, 

 but very soon separate or open. The 

 corolla is ovate or campanulate, five- 

 toothed, and deciduous. The stamens are 

 ten in number, with the anthers fixed near 

 the middle; the cells generally opening 

 by a terminal pore. The ovary is five- 

 celled, with many ovules in each cell. The 

 style is simple. The fruit is a dry cap- 

 sule, superior, globular, five-celled and 

 five-valved, and loculicidal, the dissepi- 

 ments being from the middle of the valves. 



The genus is by some modern botanists 

 limited to the single British species, A. 

 jiniifolia ; but it is usually extended to 

 include a very large number of species. 

 So extended, it is divided into the follow- 

 ing sub-genera:— 1. Andromeda proper, bo- 

 real herb-like plants, with calyx five-cleft, 

 corolla sub-globose, filaments bearded, 

 anthers having a slender ascending awn, 

 and seed smooth. 2. Cassiope, Arctic and 

 Alpine under-shrubs, with calyx five-part- 

 ed, without bracts, corolla campanulate, 

 anthers fixed by the apex, and having a long 



