ELEP] 



enijc Crea^urj? at 2Sotani?. 



446 



ing to the composite family. About a 

 dozen species are known, natives of 

 America, one, however, being a com- 

 mon weed in most tropical countries. 

 The alternate leaves are linear, or more 

 generally oblong, narrowed below. The 

 compound flower-heads, half an inch or 

 more in diameter, are arranged in loose 

 terminal corymbs, or in a spicate manner, 

 each separate head having an involucre of 

 narrow-pointed bracts, which enclose three 

 to five white or purple tubular four-tooth- 

 ed florets deeply cleft on one side so as to 

 appear palmate. The achenes are com- 

 pressed, ribbed, and crowned with a pap- 

 pus of numerous chaffy bristles. An in- 

 fusion of the leaves of E. Martii is used by 

 the Brazilians in pectoral affections, and 

 is known as Erva Grasso ; it grows from 

 two to three feet high, and has narrow 

 oblong root leaves, and compound flower- 

 heads disposed in loose corymbs terminat- 

 ing the simple stems. The leaves of E. 

 scaber, a plant very like the former in ap- 

 pearance, are used in Travancore, boiled 

 and mixed with rice, for pains in the 

 stomach, swellings in the body, &c. The 

 twigs of E. spicata are used in Jamaica for 

 making brooms. [A. A. B.] 



ELEPHANTORHIZA. A genus com- 

 posed of two Caflirarian bushes with tube- 

 rous woody root-stocks which are said to 

 bear some resemblance to an elephant's 

 foot. They belong to the Mimosa group of 

 the leguminous family, and are most 

 nearly allied to Prosopis, but differ in the 

 nature of their pods, which are nearly 

 straight, compressed, about six inches 

 long, and an inch broad, and contain nume- 

 rous seeds ; when ripe the two valves fall 

 away, and leave the entire rim of the pod 

 behind. The pods in Prosopis are spirally 

 twisted, and do not open when ripe. The 

 leaves, like those of many species of Acacia 

 and Mimosa, are bipinnate and alternate, 

 and are made up of six to ten pairs of 

 pinnse, each of which has eighteen to thirty 

 pairs of linear smooth leaflets. The nume- 

 rous small flowers are arranged in simple 

 or compound spikes. [A. A. B.] 



ELEPHANT'S-EAR. The common name 

 for Begonia. 



ELEPHANT'S-FOOT. Testudinaria Ele- 

 phantipes ; also the common name for Ele- 



plumtopus. 



ELETTARIA. A genus of Zingiberacece, 

 consisting of plants having much the ap- 

 pearance of Amomum, from which genus 

 the present is distinguished by the elon- 

 gated filiform tube of the corolla, by the 

 presence of the internal lateral lobes in 

 the shape of very small tooth-like pro- 

 cesses, and by the filaments not being pro- 

 longed beyond the anther. They are na- 

 tives of the tropical parts of India. E. 

 Cardamomum furnishes the fruits known 

 as the Small or Malabar Cardamoms of 

 commerce. These are collected either in 

 their wild state or from cultivated plants. 

 In the forests of Travancore the Cardamom 

 springs up spontaneously when the trees 



are felled. In four years' time the plant 

 attains its full developement.and produces 

 its fruits, which are gathered' in November 

 and ripened in the sun. The plant con- 

 tinues to yield fruit till the seventh year, 

 when the stem is cut down, new plants 

 arising from the stumps (Drury). As im- 

 ported the fruits are ovate triangular 

 capsules of a dirty yellow colour, contain- 

 ing several angular seeds. Three principal 

 varieties occur in commerce, called, accord- 

 ing to their length, shorts, short-longs, 

 and long-longs! The seeds are used 

 medicinally in this country, for their cor- 

 dial aromatic properties, which depend on 

 the presence of a volatile oil. In India 

 the fruits are chewed by the natives with 

 their betel, and are also used in bowel 

 complaints. Ceylon Cardamoms are said 

 by Dr. Pereira to be the produce of E. 

 major. [M.T. M.] 



ELETJSINE. A genus of grasses belong- 

 ing to the tribe Chloridece, distinguished 

 by the inflorescence being in close flnger- 

 like spikelets at the apex of the rachis ; 

 glumes five to seven-flowered, the valves 

 obtuse ; pales obtuse, upper bifid-toothed ; 

 scales truncate, fimbriate ; styles two, con- 

 fluent at the base. The species are mostly 

 natives of the warmer parts of the globe, 

 where some of them are of considerable 

 importance. E. coracana is cultivated in 

 Japan as a corn crop for its large farina- 

 ceous seeds, and also on the Coromandel 

 coast, where it is called Natchnee. [D. M.] 



ELEUTHEROS. In Greek compounds- 

 distinct, separate. 



ELISENA. A genus of pancratiform ama- 

 ryllidaceous bulbs, found in Peru. They 

 produce erect linear-lorate leaves, and 

 scapes supporting a few flowers, the short 

 tube of which is cylindrical, the limb re- 

 flexed, its segments linear, two of them as 

 well as the cup and filaments decimate ; 

 the cup is cylindrical with a repand re- 

 curved margin. One or two species are 

 known. E. longipetala is a pretty plant 

 with white flowers, sometimes met with 

 in gardens. [T. M.] 



ELIZABETHA. A genus composed of 

 two beautiful leguminous trees found in 

 British Guiana, nearly i*elated to Broicnea ; 

 but the stamens are nine in number, three 

 of them longer than the others and bear- 

 ing anthers, the remainder sterile ; while in 

 Brownea they are more numerous, and all 

 fertile. The uneq ually pinnate leaves of E. 

 princeps are made up of twenty to forty 

 pairs of narrow leaflets, while those of E. 

 coccinea have fewer and larger leaflets. The 

 rose or scarlet flowers are arranged in 

 dense terminal bracted spikes from two to 

 four inches long. The tubular calyx is five- 

 toothed, the upper tooth broader than the 

 others ; the five narrow petals are nearly 

 of equal length ; and the nine stamens are 

 free or shortly united at the base. The 

 broadly linear pod is compressed and 

 thickened on the upper edge, from three 

 to five inches long, velvety, and contain- 

 ing a number of seeds. The genus was de- 



