439 



QLl)t ©rratftirg at 33otang. 



[echi 



the clusters of spines sunk into their 

 edges at short intervals. The aggregate 

 number of these spines upon a single 

 plane is something enormous ; a compara- 

 tively small plant in Kew Gardens was 



Ecliinocactus Yisnaga. 



estimated to have 17,600, and a larger 

 specimen, at the same place, could not have 

 had less than 51,000. The Mexicans com- 

 monly use them for toothpicks, hence the 

 specific name Visnaga, which means a 

 toothpick. The flowers are bright yellow. 

 Some years ago a plant of this species, 

 weighing one ton, and measuring nine 

 feet in height by three in diameter, was 

 forwarded to Kew, where, however, it lived 

 only a short time. [A. SJ 



ECHINOCARPUS. A small genus of 

 Tiliacea>, found in India, Java, and Eastern 

 Tropical Australia. They are most nearly re- 

 ; lated to Sloanea,~b\it differ in having petals. 

 All are large trees with alternate stalked 

 I oval oblong or lance-shaped leaves. The 

 j flowers are arranged in short axillary 

 i racemes or fascicles, seldom in terminal 

 i panicles ; and each is about half an inch in 

 diameter ,with a five-parted calyx ,five lacer- 

 , ated petals, numerous stamens with point- 

 ed anthers, and a five-celled ovary crowned 

 with a simple style. In some species the 

 i fruits are beset with straight prickles, and 

 i resemble those of the vSpanish chestnut; 

 : in others the outer covering of the fruit 

 ; consists of short crisp closely-packed rigid 

 : hairs. In all they are five-celled with Ave 

 : seeds, and split when ripe into five woody 

 i portions. This prickly covering of the 

 I fruit has suggested the name. [A. A. B.] 



ECHINOCERETJS. A genus of Cactacece, 



■ : sometimes combined with Cereus, but in 



; the latter the tube of the flowers is very 



, long, while in Echinocereus it is always 



; short, besides which the fruit is crowned 



with the withered remains of the flower, 



and the seeds are always rough or warted, 



not smooth, as in true Cereus. The species 



number between twenty and thirty, and 



are all natives of the hot dry regions of 



Mexico and Texas. They seldom exceed a 



; foot in height, the stems being simple or 



\ branched, and either divided into very 



j numerous ridees, or with only from four 



■ to ten, all being formidably armed with 



sharp spines. E. pectinatus grows about 

 eight inches high, and two inches thick, 

 and has about twenty ridges bearing at 

 short intervals dense clusters of very 

 small yellowish and rose-coloured spines. 

 The fruit, like that of several other species, 

 is of a purplish colour, and very good 

 eating, resembling a gooseberry. The 

 Mexicans, who call the plant Cabeza del 

 Viego, eat the fleshy part of the stem as a 

 vegetable first carefully freeing it of the 

 spines. [A. SJ 



ECHINOCHLOA. A genus of grasses 

 of the tribe Panicem. The species are now 

 generally included under Panicum. [D. MJ 



ECHIKOCYSTIS. A North American 

 cucurbitaceous annual with climbing 

 stems, palmate leaves, branching tendinis, 

 and small greenish flowers ; the males in 

 clusters, the females in juxtaposition, 

 either solitary or in tufts upon a short 

 stalk. The calyx segments and petals are 

 six in number, the stamens three, in two 

 parcels, with connate wavy anthers. In 

 the female flower there are three abortive 

 stamens. The two-celled fruit is some- 

 what globular, spiny, at first juicy, but 

 subsequently dry and fibrous. [M. T. MJ 



ECHLNOLiENA. A genus of grasses 

 belonging to the tribe Panicece, now in- 

 cluded in Panicum. [D. MJ 



ECHINOPE DE RUSSIE. (Fr.) Echi- 

 nops sphcerocephalus. 



ECHINOPHORA. A genus of umbellifers 

 distinguished by the prickly character of 

 the parts which surround the flowers and 

 fruit. The species are perennial herbs, 

 having generally a rigid habit, and, as the 

 name implies, partly covered with spines. 

 They are chiefly found on the borders of 

 the Mediterranean, and are more of interest 

 owing to their peculiar appearance than 

 on account of any useful or economical 

 property which they possess. E. tenuifolia, 

 found on some parts of the Mediterranean 

 shore, is, however, reported as acting mod- 

 erately upon the kidneys. One species, 

 E. spinosa, still holds a place in the British 

 Flora, having been reported as found on 

 the sandy sea-shores of Lancashire and 

 Kent ; but it is now extinct. [G. DJ 



ECHINOPOGOK A small genus of 

 curious grasses belonging to the tribe 

 Agrostidece, having the inflorescence in 

 crowded ovate panicles ; stamens three ; 

 styles two, with plumose stigmas ; fruit 

 obloner-lanceolate, awned. The species are 

 all natives of Kew Holland. [D. MJ 



ECHINOPS. A genus of the composite 

 family, numbering upwards of thirty spe- 

 cies, many of them known as Globe 

 Thistles. They are remarkable for having 

 the heads one-flowered and arranged in 

 dense round clusters at the ends of the 

 branches, so that each cluster of flower- 

 heads has the appearance of a single head 

 containing many florets. They are found as 

 far eastward as Kumaon in the Himalayas, 

 extend westward to Spain, and appear in 



