103 



€l)t Crca£urg of 230tan». 



[aspl 



are cloarged up, the proper degree of aera- 

 tion cannot take place, and since the same 

 apertures are the safety-valves for the 

 discharge of superabundant moisture or 

 eases which have performed their office, 

 the whole system becomes gorged, and the 

 proper functions impeded. In such cases 

 a true Asphyxia or suffocation takes place ; 

 and the same effect may be produced by 

 the air-passages being filled with gummy 

 matter, or then- apertures covered by para- 

 sitic fungi, as Antennaria, Capnodium, Cla- 

 dosporium, &c. Plants may also be drowned 

 bv a few days' immersion in water, though 

 in some instances there is a provision by 

 which such an effect is altogether pre- 

 vented. [M. J. B.] 



ASPIC. (Tr.) Lavandula Spica. 



ASPIDIE^E. A section of polypodineous 

 ferns, in which the sori are punctif orm, or 

 dot-like, and covered either by renif orm or 

 peltate indusia. [T. MJ 



ASPIDISTRA. A genus of Liliacem 

 found in China and Japan. They are stem- 

 less glabrous herbs, with oblong-lanceolate 

 striate leaves, and radical one-flowered 

 peduncles, bearing a single dull purple 

 flower. The perianth is bell-shaped, six to 

 eight cleft, with spreading segments ; the 

 stamens six to eight, inserted in the tube 

 of the perianth ; the ovary small, cylin- 

 drical, three to four celled, with two ovules 

 in each cell ; the style short, thick, con- 

 tinuous with the ovary, terminated by a 

 large discoid, radiate, lobed stigma. Three 

 or four species are known. [T. M.] 



ASPIDICM. The name formerly given 

 to a group of polypodiaceous ferns, includ- 

 ing all those in which the dot-like or punc- 

 tiform sori were covered by a roundish 

 cover or indusium. In this sense it is 

 synonymous with the modern section As- 

 pidiecp. It is now, however, generally 

 divided into a greater or lesser number of 

 genera, according to the views of indi- 

 vidual pteridologists. The smallest amount 

 of division is adopted by those who sepa- 

 rate the group into two, having the in- 

 dusia respectively peltate or renif orm, the 

 first being then called Aspidium, and the 

 second Nephrodium. Those who subdivide 

 more extensively, and separate the free- 

 veined from the net-veined species, re- 

 strict the name to a few typical kinds 

 having the indusium orbicular and peltate, 

 and the veins of the fronds compoundly 

 reticulated, with free included veinlets, 

 which are divaricate or variously directed. 

 Thus limited it comprises about a dozen 

 species, with as many more doubtful ones, 

 chiefly found in India and the east, but 

 also occurring in South America and the 

 "West Indian Islands. The majority of the 

 species are strong-growing pinnate ferns, 

 with the pinna? sometimes lobed. The 

 typical A. trifoliatwm is sometimes seen 

 cordate and undivided, a stunted condi- 

 tion, caused probably by the depressing in- 

 fluences under which the plants are .grown ; 

 sometimes three-leaved, which seems to 

 have been the form originall described ; 



and sometimes decidedly pinnate, with the 

 ! pinnas more or less deeply lobed, all these 

 forms being sufficiently developed to be- 

 come fertile. These facts clearly show the 

 variableness to which the species of ferns 

 are liable. A. singaporianum, a simple- 

 fronded species, has the fronds very re- 

 markably narrowed at the base, and is 

 furnished with very numerous evenly ar- 

 ranged sori. [T. M.] 



ASPIDOSPERMA. A genus of Apocy- 

 nacece, consisting of about twenty-five 

 species of trees, from tropical America. 

 The leaves are alternate, and mostly entire. 

 The flowers are small and arranged in 

 solitary or numerous dichotomously- 

 branched cymes, at the ends of the 

 branches. The calyx is five-partite. The 

 corolla is hypogynous, suh-inf undibulif orm 

 and five-lobed. The five included stamens 

 are inserted in the middle of the corolla 

 tube ; they bear ovate sub-sessile anthers. 

 There are two ovaries, with many ovules 

 attached to the ventral suture. The fruit 

 is a double, rarely a single follicle, com- 

 pound, obovate, and woody, with numerous 

 membranaceous seeds. The wood of this 

 genus is valuable. A. excelsum, called by 

 the colonists Paddle-wood, is remarkable 

 for its singularly fluted trunk, composed of 

 solid projecting radii, which the Indians 

 use as ready-made planks. [W. C] 



ASPLENTDICTYOiSr. A synonyme of 

 Eemidictyum, a genus of large growing as- 

 plenium-like ferns. [T. MJ 



ASPLENIE^. A section of polypodine- 

 ous ferns, in which the simple linear or 

 oblong sori are parallel with the veins, 

 and oblique to the midrib, produced on 

 one side of the vein, and covered by in- 

 dusia of the same form. The modern 

 group, Aspleniece, is nearly synonymous 

 with the genus Asplenium of the older 

 and some modern writers. [T. M.] 



ASPLEXITJM. A genus of polypodiace- 

 ous ferns established by Linnaeus, and, as 

 originally defined, synonymous with the 

 modern group Aspleniem, including the 

 Scolopendriece, and Diplaziem. In this sense 

 it included all the ferns with lines of fruc- 

 tification lying parallel, or nearly so, on 

 the disk of the frond (not marginal). The 

 group is now considerably subdivided, and 

 the name Asplenium restricted to those 

 species in which the veins of the frond are 

 free, the sori are linear or oblong, and 

 lying obliquely on the parts of the frond, 

 and the indusia are simple and distinct. 

 Even thus reduced it is a very extensive 

 family, found in all parts of the world, 

 mostly evergreens, numbering about 300 

 species, of which nine are natives of Great 

 Britain. As might be anticipated in so 

 large a family, the species are exceedingly 

 varied, especially as to division, some being 

 simple, others lobed, or pinnate, or bipin- 

 nate, or tripinnate, or even decompound ; 

 and while some are delicately membrana- 

 ceous in texture, others are of a stouter 

 herbaceous character, and some are thick 

 and leathery. A. Adiantum nigrum, the 



