89 



®t)e STrcaSurj) of 23otanj). 



[ARIL 



appendage : it, however, accords ill with 

 the other species of that genus. [J. T. S.] 



ARE OL ATE. Divided off into distinct 

 spaces usually more or less angular. The 

 skin of a plant is areolate. 

 I ARETHPSA bulbosa is a small swamp 

 plant, belonging to the order of orchids, 

 , with a one-leaved scape, terminated by a 

 i single very handsome rosy-purple sweet- 

 scented flower. It is found exclusively in 

 ! Xorth America, and is the only species of 

 | its genus. Other supposed species belong 

 j to Pogonia. 



ARGALOP. (Ft.) Paliurus aculeatus. 

 ARGAJvTA. A genus of plants belong- 

 I ing to the family of Sapotacece. The 

 ' calyx has ten sepals, in two rows ; the 

 ; throat of the corolla has five scales or 

 abortive stamens, alternating with the 

 i five fertile stamens ; anthers opening out- 

 wardly; style awl-shaped. A. Sideroxylon 

 ! is the Argan tree of Morocco, in certain 

 i provinces of which it grows in woods. 

 j It is a spiny evergreen tree, with a trunk 

 ! of considerable size, but of low stature. 

 It gives off branches at a few feet from the 

 j ground, which incline downwards till they 

 j rest on the earth; at length, at a con- 

 i siderable distance from the stem, they as- 

 | cend. A tree mentioned in the Journal of 

 Botany for April 1854, measured 16 feet 

 only in height, while the circumference was 

 as much as 220 feet. The fruit is an egg- 

 shaped or roundish drupe, dotted with 

 i white. These fruits are much relished 

 | by all ruminating animals, who, in chew- 

 : ing the cud, eject the hard seeds, from 

 | which a valuable oil is extracted. The 

 i culture of the plant for the sake of its 

 I oil has been recommended in Australia 

 ! and certain parts of Cape Colony subject 

 to droughts. The wood is very hard, and 

 so heavy as to sink in water. [M. T. M.] 



ARGEL, or ARGHEL. A Syrian name 

 for Solenostemma Arghel, the leaves of 

 I which are common in Egyptian senna. 



ARGEMONE. The name of a genus of 

 the Poppy family, Papaveracece, thus cha- 

 racterised : sepals 2-3 ; petals 4-8 : stamens 

 numerous; stigmas 4-7, radiating, ses- 

 I sile, or elevated on a very short style ; 

 j capsules obovate, opening at the top by a 

 ' number of little valves. A. rnexicana, a 

 native of Mexico, has become widely 

 distributed over the globe, abounding in 

 roadsides, and waste places in proximity to 

 human habitations. The seeds possess 

 acrid, narcotic, and purgative properties, 

 and are employed as a substitute for 

 ipecacuanha. They also contain an oil 

 which has been recommended — as what 

 has not?— as a remedy for cholera. The 

 yellow juice of the plant is used in 

 ophthalmia. [M. T. MJ 



ARGENTINE. CFr.) Cerastium tomen- 

 toswn ; also Potentilla anserina. 



ARGOMOXE. The same as Arge-mone. 



ARGOPHYLLFM. A small genus of 



Tasmanian Brexiacece, with alternate 

 stalked ovate undivided leaves, silky and 

 silvery on the under side. The flowers are 

 very small, in terminal many-flowered 

 corymbose or paniculate cymes. A curious 

 cup from which the stamens rise, is cut 

 into comb-like teeth. [J. T. S.] 



ARGOUSIER. (Fr.) Hippopliiie. — DU 

 CANADA. Shepherdia canadensis. 



ARGTLIA. A genus of Bignoniacece, 



containing eight species, from Chili, of 

 perennial herbs, with fleshy roots, an 

 angled stem, petiolate palmate and alter- 

 nate leaves, and white or purplish axillary 

 flowers. The genus has a five-partite 

 calyx ; a tubular corolla, with a flve-lobed 

 limb ; four didynainous stamens ; and a 

 bilocular ovary. [TV\ C] 



ARGYREIA. A genus of the natural 

 order Corivolviilacece, having large hand- 

 some flowers, with a bell-shaped corolla, in- 

 to the base of the tube of which the stamens 

 are inserted. The ovary is two-celled, 

 each cell containing two seeds, unless, 

 as often happens, some of them become ab- 

 ortive. Fruit berry-like, indehiscent. They 

 are natives of tropical Asia. The leaves of 

 A. bracteata and A. speciosa are used in 

 India as a poultice in cases of scrofulous 

 disease of the joints, and as a cooling 

 application in headaches. The root of 

 A. malabarica possesses purgative proper- 

 ties. Two or three species are in cultiva- 

 tion. They are climbing plants with white 

 or purple flowers, and much resemble Ipo- 

 mosa. [M. T. M.] 



ARGTROLOBIUM. A genus of the 

 pea-flower tribe of the natural family Le- 

 guminosce, containing upwards of forty 

 species, all of them herbs or dwarf shrubs 

 with trifoliolate stalked or nearly sessile 

 leaves, having two stipules at their base, 

 and generally covered with silvery hairs. 

 The flowers are yellow, solitary or racemed, 

 with bracts. About thirty species are 

 found in South Africa, a number in 

 the countries bordering on the Mediterra- 

 nean, and some extending through Aff- 

 ghanistan into N.W. India. The name of 

 the genus has reference to the pod which 

 is often clad with silvery hairs. [A. A. B.] 



ARGTRORCHIS. An obscure terrestrial 

 orchid from Java, with pinkish flowers. 

 It appears to be a mere Peloria of Macoucs 

 Petola. 



ARHTNCHIUM labrosum, an epiphyte 

 from tropical Asia, with dull green and 

 brown flowers, referred by the younger 

 Reichenbach to Renanthera bilinguis. Its 

 lip is so constructed as to look as if com- 

 posed of two tongues laid one upon the 

 other. 



ARIL, ARILLUS. A body which rises 

 up from the placenta, and encompasses the 

 seed like the mace in nutmeg, and the red 

 sac in Euonymus. 



ARILLODE. A false aril ; a coating of 

 the seed proceeding from its own surface, 

 and not from the placenta. 



