cond] 



£J)C Ercarfurg oi SSntann. 



320 



' The fruit is a top-shaped truncated capsule, 

 opening by two valves, and containing 

 several wingless seeds. [M. T. M.] 



CONDUPLICANT. Doubling up; as 

 when the leaflets of a compound leaf rise 

 up and apply themselves to each other's 

 faces. 



CONDUPLICATE,' CONDUPLICATION. 



A term of aestivation ; when the sides of 

 an organ are applied to each other by their 

 faces, 



CONDYLIUM. The antherid of a Cham. 



CONE. The strobilus or conical ar- 

 rangement of scales in the fruit of a Pinus 

 or fir-tree. 



CONE-FLOWER. An American name 

 for Radbeckia. —.PURPLE. An American 

 name for Echinacea. 



CONE-HEAD. A garden name for Stro- 

 bilanthes. 



CONENCHYMA. The conical cells which 

 constitute hairs. 



CONFERRUMINATE. Glued together. 



CONFERTUS. When parts are pressed 

 closely round about each other; packed 

 close. 



CONFERVA. The typical genus of Con- 

 fervaceai, the species of which are either 

 attached to various bodies or float in 

 dense masses on ponds swollen up with 

 bubbles of gas, from whence the genus 

 takes its name. The branched Confervce 

 are now separated under the name of 

 Cladophora. Confervce, when dried, were 

 once used as a packing instead of tow, to 

 support fractured limbs, a use which is 

 now quite obsolete. The name was also 

 applied to a vast heterogeneous mass of 

 plants, as may be seen in Dillwynn's His- 

 tory of British Conferva. [M. J. B.] 



CONFERVACEiE. A division of the 

 green-spored Algce characterised by their 

 simple or branched articulated threads, 

 diffused endochrome, and small zoospores. 

 The articulations are mostly as long as, or 

 longer than, their diameter, which forms 

 one of the main technical distinctions be- 

 tween them and the Oscillatorice, which 

 have, however, a very distinct habit. The 

 genera are numerous, and in some cases, as 

 in Chcetophora, the threads are compacted 

 into a solid mass by means of gelatine. The 

 zoospores sometimes occur in the ordinary 

 cells of the threads, but sometimes in dis- 

 tinct cysts, and sometimes privileged cells 

 are multiplied by cell-division for their 

 production, as in Stygeoclonium. They are 

 found in all parts of the world, but are 

 most plentiful in temperate regions. They 

 are sometimes so abundant that, after floods, 

 they form a thick coat, like paper, on the 

 ground, to which the name of meteoric 

 paper has been given. Chroolepus differs 

 from the rest in its being developed in the 

 air and not in water, and in its golden colour 

 when fresh, but the species when dry be- 

 come green. The fruit, however, like that 



of Callithamnion, externally contains zoo- 

 spores. [M. J. B.] 



CONFLUENT. The fastening together 

 of homogeneous parts. Gradually uniting 

 organically. 



CONFORM. Of the same form as some 

 other thing. 



CONGELATIO. In countries where frost j 

 is severe, most forest trees exhibit marks 

 of serious injury, either in formidable As- 

 sures caused by differences of temperature 

 in the different parts of the trunk, or in 

 the death of portions of the bark and wood. 

 Trees thus become accurate registers of 

 sevei-e winters. While, however, some 

 plants give way at once under a slight de- 

 gree of frost, others may be turned into a 

 solid mass of ice without losing their vital 

 powers, especially if the mass is thawed 

 gradually, and in the dark. The outward 

 parts of plan ts sometimes escape, when more 

 delicate and protected parts are destroyed. 

 Pear blossom, for instance, may be appar- 

 ently unaffected by frost and expand as 

 usual, when the pistils are completely de- 

 stroyed. The effect of frost on plants de- 

 pends greatly upon the condition of soil. 

 The wetter the soil, and the more saturated 

 the plants with moisture, the more destruc- 

 tive is it. A degree of cold, which is quite 

 harmless wh n the cells are comparatively 

 empty.is positively destructive under other 

 circumstances. [M. J. B.] 



CONGESTED. Crowded very closely. 



CONGLOBATE. Collected into a ball, as 

 the florets of Echinops. 



CONGLOMERATE. The same as Clus- 

 tered. 



CONGLUTINATE. Glued together, not 

 organically united. 



CONIDIA. Many Fungi, besides their 

 true fruit, produce little reproductive cells 

 in different parts, especially on the spawn 

 or mycelium which are known by the name 

 of conidia. The substance called ergot 

 is a good example, the conidia appearing 

 some months before the perfect fungus. 

 When these conidia are contained in 

 distinct cysts or perithecia, they are called 

 stylospores. In some cases undoubtedly, 

 as in Erysiphe, the conidia are reproduc- 

 tive, but in others it is possible that they 

 may perform the functions of male organs. 

 The subject of impregnation, in Fungi, is so 

 imperfectly known that it is not possible | 

 to speak with certainty about it. [M. J. BJ 



CONIDIUM. The gonidium of a lichen. 



CONIFER.E. (Conacece, Pinacece, Conifers, 

 the Pine family.) A considerable and im- 

 portant family, constituting with the 

 smaller groups of Cycadece and Chietacece 

 the sub-class gymnosperms of dicoty- 

 ledons. It consists of trees or shrubs, 

 mostly with resinous secretions. The 

 leaves are stiff, sometimes linear or needle- 

 like, sometimes short and scale-like, or 

 more rarely broad, lobed, or divided. The 

 flowers are unisexual, either in cylindrical 



