I 483 



£!)C &xca,£uvy of JSntang. 



near the base with a sessile or stalked 

 gland ; capsule two-seeded. [M. T. M.] 



EXALBUMINOSE. Having no albumen. 



EXANTHEMATA. Skin diseases, 



blotches of leaves, &c. 



EXAREOLATE. Not spaced out. 



EXARISTATE. Destitute of an arista, 

 awn, or beard. 



EXASPERATE. Covered with hard 

 short stiff points. 



EXCENTRIC. Out of the centre. 



EXCIPULE. That part of the thallus of 

 a lichen which forms a rim and base to the 

 shield. Also a similar part in certain fun- 

 gals. 



EXCCECARIA. A small genus of spurge- 

 worts consisting of about eighteen spe- 

 cies, five or six of which belong to India, 

 while the remainder are natives of the 

 West Indies and Brazil. Most of them 

 are woody shrubs, but a few form small 

 trees. Their leaves are usually alternate, 

 and either entire or with their margins 

 toothed. The flowers are produced in cat- 

 kins, some species having the males and 

 females on distinct trees, and others bear- 

 ing them in different parts of the same 

 catkin. The individual flowers have 

 neither calyx nor corolla, but their place is 

 occupied by a variable number of little 

 bracts. The fruit is three-celled. 



E. AgaUochitmwsLS atone time supposed 

 to yield the fragrant resinous Indian wood 

 called Agallochum, Aloes or Eagle wood, 

 which is now, however, known to be the 

 produce of Aquilaria Agallochum, a plant 

 belonging to a totally different natural 

 order. It is a native of India, where it is 

 commonly found growing in salt marshes, 

 and is sometimes employed for strengthen- 

 ing the banks of rivers in places within 

 the influence of the sea water. It forms a 

 small crooked tree or large branching 

 shrub, with egg-shaped leaves, having 

 round blunt teeth along their edges. The 

 different sexes of the flowers are borne 

 on distinct trees, the male catkins being 

 very long, and either solitary or in pairs, 

 while the females are much shorter, and 

 sometimes three together. "When the tree 

 is wounded, a white milky juice flowsf rom 

 it, which is of a very acrid nature, produc- 

 ing inflammation and ulceration if allow- 

 ed to come in contact with the skin. If it 

 gets into the eyes it causes blindness. 

 The wood is used for charcoal and firewood, 

 but the smoke from it is said to cause in- 

 tolerable pain in the eyes. [A. S.] 



Gu-?s<mia of Sprengel from Brazil, and 

 Gymnanthes of Swartz from the W. Indies, 

 both monoecious, are included by modern 

 authors in the present genus. 



EXCRETIOX. Any superfluous matter 

 thrown off by the living plant externally. 



EXCURRENT. Running out. When 

 a stem remains always central, all the 



other parts being regularly disposed round 

 it, as in the stem of a fir tree. 



EXEMBRYONATE. A name given to 

 cryptogams in consequence of their spores 

 not containing an embryo like the seeds of 

 phamogams. Though, however, the spores 

 contain no embryo in the higher crypto- 

 gams, the archegonia contain a cell which 

 goes through the same process of cell- 

 division as the embryonic cell in phasno- 

 gams, sometimes producing a distinct 

 I plant, sometimes only fruit. [M. J. B.] 



EXINDUSIATE. Not having an indu- 

 sium. 

 I EXINTINE. The middle coat of a pol- 

 len grain, or if three or four coatings are 

 present, then that which is next the in- 

 j tine. 



EXOCARPUS. A genus of Thymelacece 

 j or Daphnacece, though some refer it to a 

 separate order, Anthobolece. The flowers 

 '■ are sometimes perfect, at other times in- 

 complete. The perianth is four to five- 

 i parted ; stamens four to five, inserted on 

 J the base of the perianth, the filaments 

 : short ; ovary free, one-celled ; the style 

 very short, and the stigma capitate. Fruit, 

 | a single-seeded nut, supported on an en- 

 i larged berried peduncle. Trees and shrubs 

 i of New Holland ; found also sparingly at 

 ! the Moluccas. They have scattered, often 

 minute, leaves, which have no stipules ; 

 I flowers small in axillary spikes, with 

 caducous bracts, the flower-stalk enlarging 

 I after fertilisation. There are four known 

 j species. [J. H. B.] 



EXOCHORDA. A beautiful Chinese 

 bush of the rose family, cultivated in Eng- 

 land and quite hardy. It is remarkable 

 for the structure of its fruits, which con- 

 sist of five small compressed bony carpels 

 adhering round a central axis in a star-like 

 manner. From the axis or growing point 

 stand five erect placentary cords, which 

 enter the carpels on their inner face near 

 the top, suspending from the apex two 

 thin seeds. These cords remain after the 

 carpels have fallen, and have suggested 

 the name of the genus. The only species, 

 E. grandifiord, is a smooth bush with al- 

 ternate nearly lance-shaped entire leaves, 

 the stems terminated byracemes of hand- 

 some white flowers, which appear in May, 

 and are nearly as large as those of the 

 mock-orange ; they have a bell-shaped 

 calyx with a five-parted border, five 

 rounded petals, and fifteen to twenty sta- 

 mens. The plant bears also the name of 

 Spiraea grandiflora. [A. A. B.] 



J EXOC4ENS. A name given to one of the 

 great classes of the vegetable kingdom, 

 corresponding with the Dicotyledons. 

 The name Exogen is derived from the 

 Greek words signifying ' outwards ' and ' to 



| grow,' meaning growing outwardly, and 

 has reference to the mode in which the 

 woody circles are produced, viz. from the 

 centre outwardly towards the circum- 

 ference. The age of an exogenous tree, 

 particularly in temperate climates, may be 



