71 



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ANSELLIA africana. A very fine or- 

 chid, found growing on oil-palm trees in 

 the island of Fernando Po. It has a tall 

 stem, not unlike a sugar-cane ; broad 

 strap-shaped leaves, and great drooping 

 panicles of greenish flowers, blotched 

 with purple. There is also a plant of this 

 genus found at Natal, and called Ansellia 

 gigantea ; but it does not seem to be dis- 

 tinct from the plant of the West Coast. 



ANSE'RINE. (Fr.) Chenopodium ; also, 

 Potent ilia anserina. 



ANT TREE. Triplaris Bonplandiana, 

 the habitation of a species of ant {Myr- 

 mica). 



ANTENNARIA. A family of herbaceous 

 evergreen perennials, belonging to the 

 natural order Compositce, and distinguished 

 by the dry, coloured, chaffy scales encircl- 

 ing each head of flowers, of which the sta- 

 mens and pistils are on different plants. A. 

 margaritacea, the Pearly Everlasting (Gna- 

 phalium of Linna?us), is a native of North 

 America, where it grows in some districts 

 in great profusion. It has long been a fa- 

 vourite garden plant in this country, and, 

 having escaped from cultivation, has in 

 some places thoroughly established itself 

 as a denizen. Gathered just before their 

 prime, the flowers retain their form and 

 lustrous pearly hue for an indefinite 

 period ; hence they are often laid by to be 

 added to winter bouquets, or, having been 

 previously dyed of various colours, to be 

 employed in decorating rooms. On the 

 Continent, under the name of Immortelles, 

 they are much used in the construction of 

 wreaths, to be placed as votive offerings 

 on the graves of the departed, and renewed 

 on the anniversaries of their saints' days. 

 A. dioica is a British species, not unfre- 

 quent in hilly and mountainous districts. 

 It is a much smaller plant than the preced- 

 ing, from five to six inches high, with de- 

 cumbent stems, cottony leaves, and white 

 or rose-coloured flowers. [C. A. J.] 



ANTENNARIA (bis). The black web-like 

 masses which hang down from the ceil- 

 ings of wine vaults, and from thence cling 

 to the casks and bottles, forming the pride 

 of the -wine-merchant, are derived from a 

 fungus of this genus, belonging to the race 

 of sac-bearing moulds, Physomycetes. 

 Other species creep over living leaves, 

 covering them with a black felt, and hin- 

 dering both the proper access of light and 

 their especial functions of breathing and 

 perspiration. The threads of which the 

 mass is composed are either even, or 

 swollen into joints, like necklaces, and the 

 fruit arises from swollen portions of the 

 threads, a miniature plant being sometimes 

 produced within the swellings or speran- 

 gia, without distinct spores. Since many 

 of the species are succeeded by a Capno- 

 diurn, it is possible that the greater part 

 are only imperfect or transitional forms of 

 that genus. Antennariw are far more 

 common in warm than in cold climates, 

 and are the pest of orange groves and 

 coffee plantations. They seem frequently 



to accompany different species of Coccus, 

 from whose exudations they probably de- 

 rive their nutriment. [M. J. B.] 



ANTHEMIS. The genus of plants to 

 which the Chamomile belongs. It forms 

 part of the composite family, among which 

 it may be known by its involucre, consist- 

 ing of a number of overlapping scales, 

 with membranous margins ; by the absence 

 of pappus, or feathery calyx ; by its outer 

 florets — flowers of the ray, as they are 

 called — being in one row, ligulate, or 

 strap-shaped, containing pistils only ; 

 while those of the centre, or disc, are 

 numerous, tubular in form, and contain 

 both stamens and pistils. The receptacle 

 on which the flowers are placed is convex, 

 and covered with little chaffy scales or 

 bracts, which stand up between the florets. 



The Chamomile, A. nobilis, is a native of 

 Britain. Its stems are procumbent or 

 erect, much-branched, leafy, furrowed, 

 and hollow in the interior. The leaves are 

 downy, pinnately divided into narrow seg- 

 ments. The bitterness of the Chamomile 

 is due'to a principle which possesses tonic 

 properties. The aromatic fragrance is due 

 to the presence of an essential oil, which 

 is of a light blue colour when freshly ex- 

 tracted. Both these ingredients exist in 

 larger quantities in the central yellow flo- 

 rets than in the outer white ones ; hence 

 the wild Chamomile is preferred for medi- 

 cal purposes, as in the cultivated variety 

 the flowers are apt to become double by 

 the conversion of the yellow tubular cen- 

 tral florets into white strap-shaped ones 

 like those of the ray. Owing to its stimu- 

 lant tonic properties, it is much used in 

 certain cases of weak digestion, and oc- 

 casionally as an emetic, in the form of an 

 infusion. A. tinctoria furnishes a yellow 

 dye. A. Cotula is a common weed in the 

 South of England, where it is called Stink- 

 ing May-weed. The leaves differ from 

 those of the true Chamomile in being 

 quite smooth, not downy. The plant is 

 covered with glands, which emit a power- 

 ful and disagreeable perfume, and cause 

 swelling of the hands of persons employed 

 to pull the plant up as a weed. [M. T. M.] 



ANTHER. The case which contains the 

 pollen of a plant ; the terminal hollow of 

 a stamen. 



ANTHERICTJM. An extensive genus of 

 Liliacece, distinguished by its six-leaved, 

 equal spreading, or campanulately conni- 

 vent perianth ; six hypogynous stamens 

 with short filaments ; a filiform declinate 

 style, with an obtuse subcapitate stigma; 

 and a three-celled ovary, containing nume- 

 rous ovules. The species consist of herbs 

 having fleshy fasciculate roots, radical 

 filiform or linear lanceolate leaves, some- 

 times fleshy, often hairy, and flower scapes 

 bearing racemes or panicles of white 

 flowers. They are found indigenous in 

 the middle and south of Europe, in New 

 Holland, and in South Africa. The species 

 are ranged in three groups, viz. :— 1. Anthe- 

 ricum proper, in which the perianth is 



