ANTH 



®\)t CrsaSurp of Matmw. 



72 



spreading, and the stamens smooth. 2. Bul- 

 bine, in which the perianth is spreading 

 and the stamens are all, or each alternate 

 one, bearded. 3. Czackia, in which the 

 perianth is campanulately connivent, and 

 the stamens smooth. A.Liliastrmn, which 

 belongs to the last group, is a pretty plant 

 with broadish grassy leaves, and a scape 

 one and a-half foot high, bearing several 

 largish white sweet-scented flowers, marked 

 on each segment with a green dot. This 

 is called St. Bruno's Lily. [T. M.] 



ANTHERIDIA (Antherids). A term ap- 

 plied to the male organs in cryptogams, 

 which, though analogous to anthers in 

 phsenogams, cannot be considered as pre- 

 cisely the same organs, or, in strict botani- 

 cal language, their homologues. They are of 

 very various character and variously seated 

 in the different sections. While amongst 

 the higher cryptogams, in ferns and some 

 other allied sections, they consist of little 

 sacs, seated on the threads or membrane 

 immediately derived from the spores, pro- 

 ducing bodies altogether analogous with 

 the spermatozoa of animals ; in Selaginella, 

 Pilularia, &c, they appear under the guise 

 of a second smaller spore, which after a 

 time produces the spermatozoids ; and in 

 mosses they appear on the plant itself, once 

 only, or more frequently, according as it 

 is annual or perennial. In Characece the an- 

 theridia are of a very complicated structure, 

 as described under that head. 



In the lower cryptogams there is no less 

 difference in the character of the anthe- 

 ridia. Amongst the rose-spored and dark- 

 spored Algce there are several distinct 

 types ; amongst the green-spored we have 

 sometimes free bodies, analogous to the 

 small spores of Selaginella. The sperma- 

 tozoids are not, however, spiral, as in the 

 higher cryptogams, though still endowed 

 with active motion by means of delicate 

 appendages. Amongst funguses and lichens 

 we have again a totally different type, the 

 spermatozoids, or spermatia as they are 

 called, not having active motion or ex- 

 ternal motile appendages. Amongst the 

 lower kinds it is possible that they may be 

 merely representative, without any active 

 functions, and in some cases, probably, 

 they exist merely as a sort of conidia. 

 The whole subject is, however, at the 

 present obscure, as far as Fungi and lichens 

 are concerned. Organs which are some- 

 times called antheridia, are occasionally 

 so denominated without any sufficient 

 grounds, as for example the prominent 

 cells on the gills of the hotbed toadstools, 

 Coprini. [M. J.B.] 



ANTHEROMANIA. An unnatural de- 

 velopment of stamens. This may take 

 place without any detriment to the plant. 

 As the petals are multiplied, the stamens 

 are usually multiplied ; but where the 

 stamens are epigynous, the addition will 

 sometimes materially disturb the normal 

 construction of the flower. In some double 

 flowers, the apparent multiplication of the 

 petals is really a multiplication of the 



stamens, and as such petaloid stamens are 

 generally devoid of anthers, the fertility 

 of the plant may in consequence be af- 

 fected. [M. J. B.] 



ANTHISTIRIA. A genus of grasses of 

 the tribe Andropogonece. The flowers are 

 polygamous, the hermaphrodite being ses- 

 sile, or very shortly stipitate, whilst the 

 male flowers are pedicellate. The species 

 are all foreign, and many of them only 

 grow spontaneously in tropical countries. 

 One of the most interesting is the Kan- 

 garoo grass of Australia, A. australis, which 

 supplies a considerable portion of food to 

 the cattle in some parts of that country, 

 and is consequently, valuable to the colo- 

 nists. A. arundinacea grows from six to 

 twelve feet high, in the East Indies, ac- 

 cording to Roxburgh. [D. M.] 



ANTHOCARPOUS. Composed of flowers 

 and fruit blended into a solid mass, as in 

 the pine apple. 



ANTHOCERCIS. A genus of plants 

 allied to Salpiglossis and belonging to the 

 same natural family, Scrophulariacece. The 

 plants are shrubs, natives of the extra- 

 tropical parts of New Holland. Some of 

 them are cultivated in greenhouses. The 

 calyx is five-parted, equal; the corolla 

 bell-shaped, its tube contracted at the 

 base, its limb five-parted ; there are four 

 perfect stamens, and a rudiment of the 

 fifth. [M. T. MJ 



ANTHOCERIDEiE, ANTHOCEROS. A 



small natural order and genus of liver- 

 worts, distinguished by the capsule, which 

 is threaded by a linear columella, bursting 

 longitudinally on one or both sides, and 

 by the fronds being without the pores 

 which are so conspicuous in Marchantia- 

 cece. It consists of about three genera 

 only, which occur in different parts of the 

 world, one of which, Carpobolus,is remark- 

 able for the absence of the spiral vessels 

 or elaters in the capsule, that are so 

 characteristic of the tribe. Two species, 

 Anthoceros Icevis and A. punctatus occur in 

 this country on the ground, principally in 

 the eastern counties. None of the species 

 bear anything like the true leaves of the 

 higher Jungermannice. [M. J. B.] 



ANTHOCHORTUS. A genus containing 

 a single species of Restiacece, a native of 

 the Cape of Good Hope. It is a little- 

 known herbaceous plant with filiform 

 leafless stems. The flowers are dioecious, 

 I The male has a six-parted infundibuliform, 

 and purple-coloured calyx, and three sta- 

 mens ; the female is unknown. [W. C] 



ANTHOCYANE. The blue colouring 

 matter of plants. 



ANTHODISCUS. A genus of Rhizobola- 

 cece, containing a single species, a tree 

 from Guiana. It has alternate or opposite 

 trifoliate leaves, and flowers in racemes, 

 each flower having a short pedicel with 

 two bracts. The small persistent calyx 

 is cup-shaped, and obscurely flve-lobed. 

 The five caducous petals are concave and 



