ATTR 



Qtl)t Ereatfurw at 3Sfltang, 



no 



eaten as a delicacy ; the leaves of the same 

 plant are used for thatching, for making 

 hats, &c. A. speciosa and A. excelsa fur- 

 nish nuts, which are burnt to dry the 

 juice of Siphonia elastiea, which furnishes 

 India rubber. A. Cohune, a native of Hon- 

 duras, produces nuts called Cahoun nuts, 

 which yield a valuable oil. [M. T. M.J 



ATTRAPE-MOUCHE. (Fr.) Apocynum 

 androscemifolium ; also applied to Arum 

 crinitum, Dioncea museipula, Lychnis Vis- 

 caria, and Silene museipula. 



ATWISHA. An Indian poison, supposed 

 to be Aconitum ferox. 



AUBAINE ROUGE. (Fr.) A kind of 



wheat. 



AUBE'PINE. 

 cantha. 



(Fr.) Crataegus Oxya- 



ATJBERGINE. (Fr.) Solatium esculen- 

 tum, sometimes called S. Melongena. 

 ATJBOTJR. (Fr.) Cytisus Laburnum. 



AUBRIETIA. A section of the cruci- 

 ferous genus Farsetia, from which it is 

 separated by having the valves of the oval 

 pod convex and not flattened. The outer 

 sepals bulging at the base, and the shorter 

 stamens with a tooth on the filaments, dis- 

 tinguish it from the allied genera. The spe- 

 cies are low diffuse plants, with leaves some- 

 what like those of a stock in miniature, or 

 rather those of Arabis albida ; the short 

 flowering steins bear few flowers. A. del- 

 toidea, anativeof tlieeasternMediterranean 

 region, is a pretty early-flowering plant, 

 often introduced on rockwork. [J. T. S.] 



ACCKLANDIA. A name given to an 

 Indian composite plant, which proves to 

 be identical with Aplotaxis, which see. 



ATJCUBA. A genus of evergreen shrubs, 

 referred to the order Cornacece, and dis- 

 tinguished by their dioecious flowers, of 

 which the males have a small four-toothed 

 calyx, a four-petaled corolla, and four short 

 stamens alternating with the petals ; and 

 the females have, instead of the stamens, an 

 inferior one-celled ovary, surrounded by a 

 fleshy epigynous disk, the style short thick 

 tumid at the base, the stigma orbiculate, 

 and the ovary containing a single ovule. 

 The fruit is a one-seeded berry. The Ait- 

 cuba japonica is a well-known shrub of 

 vigorous habit, highly prized for its capa- 

 bility of enduring and even thriving in 

 the atmosphere of towns and cities. It 

 forms a dense roundish bush, furnished 

 with large glossy leathery leaves of an 

 elliptic form, remotely serrated, and in 

 our common garden form conspicuously 

 blotched with pale yellow, the green- 

 leaved type having been only lately intro- 

 duced. The flowers are inconspicuous. 

 Several variegated varieties are known. In 

 another species, of more recent discovery, 

 A. himalaica, the leaves are wholly green. 

 [T. M.J 



AUDOTJINIA. A genus of Bruniacm, 

 containing a single species, from the Cape 



of Good Hope. It is a small shrub with 

 erect branches, spirally arranged imbricate 

 leaves, and purple flowers in a terminal 

 oblong capitulum. The calyx tube is short 

 and adherent to the ovary, the limb being 

 deeply five-partite. The corolla consists of 

 five spreading unguiculate petals. The 

 five stamens are shorter than the petals 

 and alternate with them. The ovary is 

 slightly three-lobed, and three-celled, with 

 two ovules in each cell. There is a single 

 trigonous style, with three small papill-.B- 

 form stigmas. [W. C.J 



ATJGEA. An annual glabrous fleshy 

 herb, with the aspect of a Mesembryan- 

 themum, but with small inconspicuous 

 green flowers, without petals, ten short 

 stamens, and a ten-celled superior ovary. 

 It forms a genus of Zygophyllacece, and 

 is a native of sandy saline wastes in the 

 Cape Colony. 



AUGUSTIA. A genus of begoniads, 

 separated by some modern botanists from 

 Begonia, and consisting of succulent tube- 

 rous plants found at the Cape of Good Hope. 

 The staminate flowers have two, the pis- 

 tillate five sepals ; anthers small, elliptical, 

 lengthened into an obtuse cone; filaments 

 long, not united ; style persistent, its 

 branches furnished with a continuous pa- 

 pillose band, making two spiral turns ; 

 placentas split lengthwise, their trans vese 

 section ovate-oblong ; seed vessel with 

 three nearly equal wings. There are four 

 species known, viz.— A. Dregei, A. Caffra, A. 

 xiitfntticosa, found at the Cape, and A. na- 

 tit'lensis at Port Natal. The genus is named 

 after Dr. August of Berlin. [J. H. B.J 



AUGUSTINIA major (or Bactris ma- 

 jor of Jacquin) is the only known repre- 

 sentative of a genus of palms inhabiting 

 Venezuela and New Grenada, and bearing 

 an edible fruit of a pleasant acid flavour. 

 It grows from twelve to twenty feet high, 

 and its cane-like trunks, several of which 

 spring from the same root, form thick 

 bushes, quite impenetrable on account of 

 the spines with which the plant is clad. 

 The leaves are pinnate. The inflorescence, 

 enclosedin a double spathe, is axillary ; the 

 flowers are monoecious ; and the fruit is a 

 dark violet-coloured smooth drupe, about 

 the size of a pigeon's egg. [B. S.J 



AULACOSPERMUM. A genus of Um- 

 bellifera', containing two species of peren- 

 nial, glabrous, herbaceous plants, with 

 bipinnate leaves, natives of Altai. The 

 limb of the calyx is fl ve-toothed or obsolete. 

 The petals are ovate and entire. The fruit 

 is ovate and slightly compressed ; each 

 mericarp has five longitudinal winged 

 ridges, with intervening vittate furrows : 

 the commissure is plain. [W. C.J 



AULATA. A genus of Scrophulariacece, 

 containing eight species, natives of the 

 Cape of Good Hope. They are parasitic 

 herbaceous plants, having the habit of 

 Orobanche, with imbricate scale-like leaves, 

 and gaudy flowers. The calyx is campanu- 

 late and five-cleft, with two bracteoles. The 



