arth] 



&\)t Crca^urii of Watmy. 



96 



ARTHROPODIUM. A genus of Aus- 

 tralian and New Zealand Liliacew, allied to 

 Anther team, with grass-like radical leaves, 

 fasciculate roots, and small purplish or 

 white flowers in lax racemes or panicles; 

 the filaments of the stamens are clothed 

 with fine short hairs for half their length. 

 A few species are cultivated in our green- 

 houses. [J- T. S.] 



ARTHROPTERIS. A name proposed 

 for a few tropical ferns distinguished by 

 having a jointed stalk. They are referred 

 severally to the genera Lastrea, Nephru- 

 lepis, and Polypodium. [T. M.] 



ARTHROSTEMMA. A genus of tro- 

 pical American Melastomacece, which have 

 little resemblance to each other, but agree 

 in having the parts of the flower in fours, 

 the anthers eared at the base, the ovary 

 bristly at the apex. Some of the species 

 are handsome, resembling the Bhe.rias. 

 A few of the species are cultivated in 

 our stoves and greenhouses. [J. T. SJ 



ARTHROTAXIS. A genus of Goniferce, 



consisting of much branched evergreen 

 trees of no great height, with short, thick, 

 densely imbricated leaves, closely covering 

 the branches. The male flowers form very 

 short terminal spikes with two-celled an- 

 thers. The ripe cones are also terminal, 

 sessile, small, and globular, with almost 

 woody peltate scales, each bearing three 

 to six inverted seeds. There are only 

 three species known, all natives of Tas- 

 mania. 



ARTICHAUT. (Fr.) Cynara Scohjmus. 



ARTICHOKE. Cynara Scolymus. — , 

 JERUSALEM. Helianthus tuberosus. 



ARTICULUS. A joint ; a place where 

 spontaneous or easy separation takes 

 place. 



ARTILLERY PLANT. Pilea serpylli- 

 folia, and herniaricefolia. 



ARTOCARPACEvE (Artocarpece, Artocar- 

 pads). A group of apetalous trees.not unlike 

 the plane trees of Europe, but for the most 

 part inhabiting the tropics and always the 

 warmer parts of the world. They abound 

 in a milky juice, and have for the most 

 part their female flowers collected into 

 fleshy masses or heads. Moreover, they 

 have great sheathing convolute stipules 

 like those of a fig tree. The more im- 

 portant genera are Artocarpus and An- 

 tiaris. 



ARTOCARPUS. This name, signifying 

 Bread-fruit, is applied to the genus of trees 

 furnishing the well-known fruit of that 

 name. It gives the name to the order 

 Artocarpacece, and is distinguished by hav- 

 ing its male or stamen-bearing flowers 

 borne on long club-shaped spikes, and the 

 pistil-hearing ones in round heads. The 

 male flowers have a tubular calyx of two 

 sepals containing a single stamen ; the 

 female flowers have a simple ovary, con- 

 taining a single ovule, and surmounted by 

 a style with two stigmas curved down- 



wards. These female flowers soon grow 

 together, and form one large fleshy mass, 

 which becomes the fruit, which is thus 

 formed exactly in the same way as the 

 mulberry is, but in the bread-fruit fari- 

 naceous matter takes the place of the 

 suerar and vegetable jelly of the former. 



The Bread-fruit tree of the South Sea 

 Islands (A. incisa) is a moderate-sized tree, 

 whose young branches are marked with 

 ring-like scars indicating the spotwhere the 

 large convolute stipules have been placed. 

 The leaves are large rough dark green, di- 

 vided into lobes, something like those of a 

 fig tree. The fruit is roundish, of the size 

 of a melon, rough on the exterior, marked 

 with hexagonal knobs, or in some of the 

 varieties smooth and of a green colour. 

 The pulp in the interior is whitish, and of 

 the consistence of newbi-ead. It is roasted 

 before it is eaten, but has little flavour. 

 The best varieties contain no seeds, the tree 

 being propagated bj shoots that spring from 

 the roots. The tree contains a viscid milky 

 juice, containing caoutchouc, which is 

 used instead of glue, and for caulking the 

 canoes of the South Sea Islanders, who 



Artocarpus incisa. 



make use also of the timber of the tree, 

 which is soft, and is said to attain a ma- 

 hogany colour by exposure. The bark of 

 the young tree is also fabricated into a 

 coarse cloth. In the South Sea Islands, the 

 bread-fruit constitutes the principal article 

 of diet, which is prepared by baking it in 

 an oven heated by hot stones. The plant 

 is now cultivated in the West Indies, but 

 does not equal the plaintain as an article 

 of food. The history of its introduction 

 into these islands is associated with the 

 well-known incidents of the mutiny of the 



