astb] 



Cije EreaSurjj at ISntanj). 



106 



plants 'belonging to the -papilionaceous 

 subdivision of the leguminous family. 

 They have woody roots ; unequally pinnate 

 leaves ; flowers in axillary clusters ; a tubu- 

 lar or bell-shaped calyx, with five teeth ; a 

 corolla with the standard larger than the 

 wings, and a blunt keel ; stamens in two 

 parcels ; a curved fruit or legume, divided 

 into two cavities by the projection inwards 

 of the hinder wall of the fruit. They have 

 compound leaves, and frequently spiny j 

 branches. There is a large number of j 

 species distributed all over Europe, Cen- 

 tral and Northern Asia, North America, I 

 the Andes, penetrating into the Arctic 

 regions, ascending high Alpine summits, 

 and abundant in the hot rocky districts of 

 the Mediterranean region. A great num- 

 ber are cultivated in this country, and 

 three species are found wild. One, A. glycy- 

 plu/llos, has long stems, trailing on the ! 

 ground like those of a pea, large leaves, \ 

 and yellow flowers. The other two are ; 

 humble plants with small leaves : A. hypo- 

 glottis has purplish flowers and erect pods, 

 rather longer than the calyx ; and A. alpi- 

 nus, which is only found in the Clova moun- 

 tains, has pendulous pods, which are three 

 times the length of the calyx. 



Astragalus gumraifer. 



The gum-like substance called Traga- 

 canth is the produce of several species of 

 Astragalus growing in Persia, Asia Minor, 

 Kurdistan, etc. The gum exudes naturally 

 from the bark in the same way that gum 

 exudes from the bark of cherry or plum 

 trees. The seeds of Astragalus bceticus 

 are used in place of, and sometimes mixed 

 with, coffee; the plant is cultivated for 

 those seeds in certain parts of Germany 

 and Hungary. [M. T.M.] 



ASTRANCE. (Fr.) Astrantia. 



ASTRANTIA. A genus of umbellifera, 

 natives of Europe and Western Asia, con- 



taining some ten or twelve species. They 

 are perennial herbs, with black, aromatic 

 roots, palmilobed, petiolate, radical leaves, 

 and few generally sessile stem leaves. The 

 umbels have a leaf-like involucre, and few 

 umbellules consisting of many white or 

 rose-coloured, often polygamous flowers, 

 surrounded by a conspicuous involucel, 

 consisting of many membranaceous, whit- 

 ish or slightly-coloured leaves. The tube 

 of the calyx is tuberculated, and the limb 

 has Ave foliaceous lobes. The petals are 

 connivent, oblong-obovate, and divided 

 from the middle. The fruit is compressed ; 

 the mericarp, without vittae, has five pro- 

 minent toothed juga, with smaller juga in 

 the intervening spaces. [TV. C] 



ASTRAP^EA. A genus of small trees, 

 belonging to the natural family Byttneri- 

 acece. Their leaves are alternate, stalked, 

 cordate, and from three to five-lobed, 

 generally hairy or viscid, and having at 

 their base large stipules. The peduncles 

 are axillary, long, pendulous or erect, 

 bearing on their apex an umbel of large 

 sessile flowers, enclosed in a leafy invo- 

 lucre. A. Wallichii has large leaves and 

 bright red flowers, nearly as large as those 

 of some rhododendrons ; the leaves are 

 sometimes one and a half feet long, and of 

 the same breadth. It has long been in cul- 

 tivation in England, is an elegant plant, 

 and the drooping heads of flowers give it 

 a peculiar appearance. A. inscosa has erect 

 peduncles and much smaller flowers, which 

 are white with a pink centre. The bark of 

 A. cannabina is used- in Madagascar (where 

 all the species are found) for making 

 cords. [A. A. B.] 



ASTROLOMA. A genus of Epacridacece, 

 containing eight species, natives of New 

 Holland and Tasmania. They are low un- 

 der-shrubs, often prostrate, with crowded 

 alternate linear or obovate-lanceolate and 

 mucronate leaves ; and with solitary ax- 

 illary flowers of a reddish colour. The 

 calyx is five-partite, with four or more 

 bracteoles. The corolla is hypogynous and 

 tubular, distended above the middle, and 

 with a short five-cleft limb ; it has five 

 bundles of hairs in the inside near its 

 base. There are five included stamens, with 

 linear filaments, and oblong simple an- 

 thers. The disk is hypogynous and cyathi- 

 form. The ovary is flve-celled, with one 

 ovule in each cell ; the style is simple, and 

 the stigma capitate. The fruit is a drupe, 

 composed almost entirely of solid putamen 

 with five cells. [W. C.] 



ASTRONIA. A genus of melastoma- 

 eeous trees, from the Moluccas, with the 

 habit of Melastoma. The leaves are op- 

 posite, long-stalked, three-ribbed, oblong 

 acuminate : the flowers small, purplish, in 

 terminal panicles; petals five or six; sta- 

 mens ten or twelve ; fruit a three or four- 

 celled many-seeded berry, branches four- 

 anpled, and, as well as the peduncles and 

 calyx, with dark scales. A. papetaria has 

 subacid leaves, which are cooked as a 

 sauce to fish. [J. T. S.] 



