ARRO] 



Cf)£ Ereagurg at SSotang. 



94 



America from Indian corn, Zea Mays. A 

 kind of Arrow-root, called Tous les mois, 

 which comes from the West Indies, is sup- 

 posed to be the produce of Canna edulis, 

 C. Achiras, and probably of other species. 

 That of the Sandwich Islands comes from 

 Tacca oceanica. Though the name Arrow- 

 root is that applied to the produce of 

 various plants, it is more particularly as- 

 sociated with that of the Maranta. The 

 word is a corruption of the name Ara- 

 root. [T. M.] 



ARROW-WOOD. An American name 

 for certain species of Viburnum, as V. 

 dentatum, pubescens, etc. 



ARRUDE A. A genus of the mangosteen 

 family (Clusiacece), differing from Clusia, 

 to which it is most nearly related, in having 

 a many-leaved calyx, a larger number of 

 petals and stamens, as well as a stalked 

 stigma. Three species are known ; two of 

 them found in Brazil, the other in Surinam. 

 Their leaves are opposite, smooth and 

 leathery, and their flowers solitary, stalked 

 at the ends of the branches, and sometimes 

 as large as those of a camellia. A. clusioidcs, 

 a Brazilian species, is said to be a small 

 tree, from the branches of which a viscid 

 gum exudes ; while A. rosea, the Surinam 

 species, is said to grow on the trunks of 

 other trees which it clasps with its long 

 stringy roots so tightly as eventually to 

 kill them. As in the other species, a gum 

 exudes from the stems, which sometimes 

 are upwards of forty feet long, while their 

 greatest thickness is two and a half feet. 

 The genus is named in honour of M. Arruda 

 de Camara, who wrote on fibrous plants of 

 Brazil. [A. A. B.] 



ARTABOTRYS. A genus of plants be- 

 longing to the family of Anonacew. Its 

 name is derived from the hook-like form 

 of the flower stalks, by the aid of which 

 the fruit is hung or suspended. The pro- 

 minent characters of the genus are: hooked 

 woody flower stalks ; three sepals, coherent 

 at the base ; six petals in two rows, all of 

 the same shape, and so placed in the flower 

 bnd that they touch by the margins only, 

 hollowed at the base, and constricted 

 around the ovaries ; numerous densely 

 packed stamens ; ovaries indefinite in num- 

 ber, each containing at the base two erect 

 ovules. The plants constituting this genus 

 are shrubs or climbing plants, natives of 

 India and the Indian Archipelago chiefly, 

 but one is found in the western part of 

 tropical Africa. A. odoratisslma is culti- 

 vated as an ornamental shrub, and for the 

 sake of its fragrant flowers, throughout 

 the East, and also in hot-houses in this 

 country. The leaves of certain kinds are 

 highly esteemed in Java, against cholera, 

 their value being probably dependent on 

 the warm aromatic principle pervading 

 them. [M. T. M.] 



ARTANEMA. A genus of Scrophulariacea?, 

 synonymous with Achimenes of Vahl. It 

 is characterised by a five-parted subequal 

 calyx ; a funnel or bell-shaped corolla, bear- 



ing four scales inside the tube, and having 

 a four-cleft somewhat two-lipped limb, the 

 upper segment of which is broader ; four 

 didynamous stamens inserted in the tube 

 of the corolla, the hinder ones shorter ; a 

 simple style with a bilammellate stigma ; 

 and a two-celled ovary containing many 

 ovules. The species are glabrous herbs of 

 India and the East, and have opposite 

 leaves, with terminal racemes of flowers. 

 A. fimbriatum is an ornamental species, 

 sometimes seen in gardens. [T. MJ 



ARTANTHE. The name of a genus of 

 plants belonging to the pepper family 

 (Piperacece). They are woody plants with 

 jointed stems, rough leaves, and spikes of 

 flowers opposite the leaves. The flowers 

 are perfect with peltate or hooded bracts. 

 A. elongata, formerly called Piper angustifo- 

 lium, furnishes one of the articles known 

 by the Peruvians as Matico, and which is 

 used by them for the same purposes as 

 cubebs, the produce of a nearly-allied 

 plant ; but its chief value is as a styptic, 

 the rough leaves of the plant having the 

 power of staunching blood. The under sur- 

 face of the leaf is rough, traversed by a 

 network of projecting veins, and covered 

 with hairs ; hence its effect in stopping 

 haemorrhage is probably mechanical like 

 that of lint.cobweb, and other commonly- 

 used styptics. It has also been employed 

 internally to check haemorrhages, but with 

 doubtful effect. Its aromatic bitter stim- 

 ulant properties are like those of cubebs, 

 and depend probably on a volatile oil, a 

 dark green resin, and a peculiar bitter 

 principle called maticin. A. aduncate made 

 use of in Brazil for its pungent aromatic 

 stimulant qualities, as well as for its spe- 

 cific effects. Other plants appear to furnish 

 leaves having similar properties, and called 

 by the same name by the Columbians. See 

 Eupatorium. [M. T. M.] 



ARTEMISIA. A genus of plants com- 

 monly called Wormwood, belonging to the 

 tribe Senecioneoe of the Composilo?. The 

 Wormwoods are shrubby or herbaceous 

 plants with their leaves usually much di- 

 vided and frequently of a grey colour. The 

 flower heads are small, borne in panicles, 

 and provided with an involucre of over- 

 lapping bracts ; the florets are as long as 

 the involucre, yellow or greenish, either 

 all tubular and five-toothed, or the central 

 ones tubular, five-toothed and barren, and 

 the outer ones filiform or three-toothed, 

 female and fertile; the florets are placed 

 on a receptacle without scales, and the 

 fruits are obovate and not provided with 

 a pappus. The genus is widely distributed 

 over the temperate and warmer temperate 

 regions of the globe, and most of them are 

 remarkable for their strong odour and 

 bitter taste. Three or four species grow 

 Avild in this country. In certain of the 

 Western states of North America, as Utah, 

 Texas, New Mexico, &c, are large tracts 

 almost entirely destitute of other vegeta- 

 tion than that afforded by certain kinds of 

 Artemisia, which cover vast plains, and 



