the inner series. This genus agrees in 

 habit with Microstemma, but differs in the 

 form of the staminal crown : on the other 

 hand, it resembles Boucerosia in the crown, 

 but has a widely different habit. [W. C] 



ERIOPHORUM. A genus of cyperaceous 

 plants belonging to the tribe Scirpece, 

 distinguished by the inflorescence being 

 either in single or compound spikes ; 

 glumes nearly equal, the lowest sometimes 

 empty : bristles ultimately silky ; nut, 

 trigonous. The British species all grow on 

 wet logs or turfy moors, where they fre- 

 quently form very conspicuous masses of 

 vegetation, in consequence of the long 

 showy silky bristles of the flowers. The 

 English name Cotton Grass is very ex- 

 pressive, the flowers of some of the species 

 appearing like tufts of cotton. [D. M.] 



ERIOSOLENA. A genus of Thymelacece, 

 or Daphnacece. Perigone coloured, villous 

 externally, funnel-shaped, with a four-cleft 

 limb, the alternate segments shorter, the 

 throat naked. Stamens eight.inserted in two 

 rows into the upper part of the tube of the 

 perigone, the alternate ones longer. Ovary 

 one-celled, witha single ovule ; style short ; 

 stigma capitate. Fruit drupaceous, single- 

 seeded. Shrubs from Java and India, with 

 alternate oblong-lanceolate coriaceous 

 leaves, which are glaucous below ; flowers 

 in solitary axillary heads with long pedun- 

 cles, and a two to four-leaved involucre. 

 There are three species. By De Candolle 

 they ar% included under Daphne. [J. H. B.] 



ERIOSORUS. Gymnogramma. 



ERIOSPH.ERA. A genus of Composite?, 

 consisting of a few South African herbs, 

 nearly related to Helichrysum, differing 

 chiefly in their less numerous, and densely 

 woolly involucral scales. Some are un- 

 branched, erect, and about six inches high ; 

 others much branched, with slender pros- 

 trate stems ; and all have their parts clothed 

 with a short white wool. The leaves are 

 oboval or spathulate, and entire, and the 

 yellow 'spherical flower-heads are few or 

 numerous, and disposed in dense clusters 

 on the ends of the stem, each being about 

 the size of a pea, [A. A. B.] 



ERIOSTEMON. A genus of shrubby 

 Eutacece, whose main characteristics are, 

 a corolla of five petals which do not soon 

 fall off, but remain on the plant for some 

 time in a withered condition ; ten hispid 

 stamens,— hence the name of the genus, 

 which signifies 'woolly stamen;' fruit of 

 five carpels which separate and open by a 

 long cleft to liberate the usually solitary 

 seed. They are natives of New Holland, 

 and have for the most part white or 

 pinkish flowers. [M. T. M.] 



ERIOSYNAPHE. A genus of umbelli- 

 fers, the name of which is derived from 

 two Greek words, signifying 'wool,' and 

 'junction,' or commissure, and points out 

 a prominent character— the presence of a 

 downy or wool-like covering near the line 

 which indicates the junction of the two 

 halves of the fruit. E. longifolia is a pe- 



rennial shrub, with the divisions of the 

 leaves long and narrow ; the flowers yellow. 

 It is a native of Siberia, along the course 

 of the Volga. [G. D.] 



ERISMA. A curious genus of tropical 

 American trees, belonging to the Vochy- 

 acece, and remarkable for the enlarged 

 calyx segments which crown the somewhat 

 pear-shaped ripe fruit. The species are 

 some of them upwards of 100 feet high, 

 with smooth, opposite or whorled laurel- 

 like leaves of a leathery texture ; some are 

 oval, pointed and entire, others oblong, 

 attenuate below into a stalk, and notched 

 at the apex. The pretty blue or yellow 

 flowers, disposed in terminal panicles, smell 

 like primroses, in some species. They are 

 like the others in the family, very unsym- 

 metrical, having a calyx of four or five 

 teeth ; a single nearly fan-shaped petal 

 narrowed below into a claw; one fertile 

 and four barren stamens ; and a one-celled 

 ovary crowned with a simple style. 



The Japura of Brazil, E. Japura, is a tree 

 of 80 to 120 feet, with stalked, whorled, 

 oblong leaves, and panicles of yellow 

 flowers. Mr. Spruce, its discoverer, thus 

 speaks of it:— This noble tree, called by 

 the Indians Japura, is frequent on the 

 Upper Rio Negro, and on the Uaupes. It 

 is said to be abundant on the Japura, and 

 to have given the name to that river. As 

 I came up the Rio Negro from the mouth 

 of the Uaupes to San Carlos, in March 1853, 

 .the large heads of the Japura, clad with 

 /red fruits, were observed dotted every- 

 where about the forest. The kernels are 

 l pleasant eating both raw and boiled : they 

 are also prepared in this way : having 

 been boiled from morning till night, they 

 are well covered up, and put into baskets 

 in running water, where they remain two 

 or three weeks. When at the end of this 

 period they are opened out, they have a dis- 

 agreeable stercoraceous odour. They are 

 now beaten in a mortar until they have the 

 appearance and consistence of pale butter. 

 To receive this, a large cylindrical basket, 

 three to five palms long by onein diameter, 

 is made of strips of the trunk of the gra- 

 vatana palm (Iriartea pruriens), and lined 

 with the leaves of a Heliconia. The basket 

 is placed on a stage over the fire, where it 

 is customary to put things that require to 

 be kept dry, and there the butter will re- 

 main good for two or three years. Japura 

 butter (as it may be called) is eaten along 

 with fish and game, being melted in the 

 gravy along with the fruits of various spe- 

 cies of Capsicum, which is an essential in- 

 gredient in the mohlo at every Brazilian 

 table, whether the guests be red or white. 

 People who can get over its vile smell, 

 which is never lost, find it exceedingly 

 savoury. The fruits call to mind those of 

 the Indian Dipterocarpus. [A. A. B.] 



ERISMA. The rachis or axis of grasses. 



ERITHALIS. A name applied to a genus 



of "West Indian shrubs, in consequence of 



[ their shining deep green leaves. They are 



■ included among the Cinchonacece, and have 



