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Ci)£ &m£urg nf 330tan», 



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axillary panicles of white flowers, with 

 five or ten parted whorls, a wheel-shaped 

 corolla, an inferior ovary with from five 

 to ten compartments, one ovule hanging 

 from the summit of each of the cavities. 

 The fruit is a berry crowned by the limb of 

 the calyx. [M. T. M.j 



ERITRICHITTM. A genus of Boragina- 

 cece, consisting of small woolly Alpine 

 plants forming dense cushions ; racemes 

 short, bracteated, bearing a few small 

 bright blue flowers, with a salver-shaped 

 corolla closed at the throat by five small 

 obtuse scales. [J. T. SO 



EftNESTTA. A genus of Melastomacece, 

 represented by E. iene.Ua; which grows in 

 the mountain woods of New Granada, and 

 is a slender suffruticose hairy herb, with 

 opposite stalked oval leaves, and white 

 flowers disposed in loose terminal panicles. 

 The form of the stamens is that which 

 chiefly distinguishes the genus from its 

 allies; the anthers are awl-shaped, and 

 their connective has two erect bristle-like 

 appendages, about the length of the an- 

 thers, and is produced below into a short 

 spur. The genus bears the name of Ernest 

 Meyer, a Hanoverian botanist. [A. A. B.] 



ERNODEA. A genus of low-growing 



cinchonaceous plants, with lance-shaped 



I leaves ; sheathing many-parted stipules ; a 



\ salver-shaped corolla, with four to six 



! linear segments rolled back ; and an in- 



[ ferior two-celled ovary, surmounted by a 



fleshy disc. The fruit is a berry, crowned 



by the limb of the calyx, and contains two 



one-seeded stones. E. montana, a Sicilian 



plant, has dark red flowers. [M. T. MO 



ERODIUM. Stork's Bill. A genus of 

 Geraniaceoe, known by having five of the 

 ten stamens without anthers, and the tails 

 of the carpels bearded on the inside ; they 

 coil up spirally when they split away from 

 the central column. The species are gene- 



1 rally distributed ; a great many of themin- 



I habit the Mediterranean region; aud three 

 occur in Britain, of which the most com- 

 mon is E. cicutarium, which has the leaflets 

 of the pinnate leaves deeply pinnatifid, and 

 the flowers pink or white. E. moscluttum 



I is much more rare, and has the leaflets of 

 the pinnate leaves only deeply toothed, 



i and the flowers are smaller. [J. T. S.] 



j EROPHILA. A section of the genus 

 I Braba, distinguished by having the petals 

 | bifld, and the seeds numerous in each cell 

 ; of the pod. The common British Braba 

 i verna, or Whitlow Grass, belongs to this 

 ! section ; it is one of the earliest flowering 

 j plant; we have, and is often scarcely an 

 inch high. [J. T. S.] 



EROSO-DENTATE. Toothed in a very 

 irregular manner, as if bitten. 



EROSTRATE. Not having a beak. 



EROSE, ERODED. Having the margin 

 irregularly toothed, as if bitten by an 

 animal. 



ERPETIXA. A genus of Melastomacece, 



'■ nearly allied to Medinilla, but differing in 

 the structure of the anthers. These, in 

 Medinilla, open at top by a little pore, but, 

 here they open by two slits along the inner 

 face, from base to apex. The only species, 

 | E. radicans, is a smooth slender epiphytal 

 ! plant, growing on the stems of trees in the ' 

 | Solomon islands. The stems, about the 

 , thickness of a crow-quill, are furnished 

 with opposite stalked elliptical fleshy : 

 leaves, the little stalked flowers being pro- ■ 

 duced singly in their axils. [A A. B.] I 

 j ERPETION. Viola. 



j ERTJCA. A genus of Cruciferce, closely 

 • allied to Brassica, Sijiajris, and Biplotaxis, ! 

 ! but differing by having the beak of the j 

 fruit compressed, strapshaped, and acute. ! 

 i The seeds are in two rows, as in Biplotaxis. < 

 i Erect annuals, with lyrate-pinnatifld leaves, ' 

 ; and rather large white or yellow flowers, i 

 i The species occur in the Mediterranean [ 

 i region ; the most common, E. sativa, which \ 

 '. has large white flowers veined with purple, 

 I and very acrid leaves, is used in Southern 

 I Europe as a salad. ' [J. T. S.] 



! ERFCARIA. A genus of Cruciferce, 

 i known by its pod breaking into two parts, 

 | the lower with two cells, the upper one- 

 : celled and ensiform. Thespeciesareannuals 

 ! from South-east Europe aud Western Asia ; 

 the leaves pinnatifid and smooth, and the 

 . racemes of purplish or white flowers, ter- 

 j minal or opposite the leaves. [J. T. SO 

 ERS. (Fr.) Ervum Ervilia. 



I ERVA DE RATA. A Brazilian name for 



j Psychotria noxia, and Palicourea Marc- 

 \ rjravii. — MOIRA. A Brazilian name for 

 Solanum nigrum. 



I ERVALENTA. The same as Revalenta, 

 : a meal prepared from the seeds of Ervum 

 I Lens. 



j ERVUM. A genus of leguminous plants, 

 containing about twenty species of weak- 

 stemmed annuals, with pinnate leaves ge- 

 nerally terminating in tendrils. It is very 



! closely related to Vicia, both in general 

 appearance and botanical characters, the 

 principal difference consisting in the calyx 

 of Ervum having narrow sharp segments 

 of nearly equal length, and almost as long 

 as the papilionaceous corolla, while in Vicia 



I they are broader, and the two upper ones 

 are shorter than the others. The pods con- 

 tain from two to four seeds. 



E. Lens, the common Lentil, grows 

 about a foot and a half high, and has a 

 weak branching stem, leaves composed of 

 from eight to twelve oblong leaflets, and 

 pale blue flowers borne in twos or threes. 

 The pods are nearly as broad as long, 

 smooth, and contain one or two seeds. 



The Lentil was probably one of the first 

 plants brought under cultivation by man- 

 kind for the purpose of affording food. It 

 is several times mentioned in the Bible : 

 for instance, in Genesis xxv. we read that 

 Esau sold his birthright to his brother 

 Jacob for a mess of red pottage, made of 

 lentils. At the present day Lentils are still I 



