fern] 



Cf)e Creagurg at 3&atmxy. 



490 



FERNS. The highest of the sub-groups 

 of Acrogens, technically called FlLlCES : 

 which see. 



FBRONIA. The Wood-apple or Elephant- 

 apple tree of India, F. elephantum, is the 

 only species belonging to this genus of 

 Aurantiacece. It is common t hroughout In- 

 dia, Ceylon, and Burmab, and forms a large 

 tree, yielding a hard, heavy wood, of great 

 strength but not durable. When wounded, 

 there flows from it a transpai-ent gum, 

 which is mixed with other gums and sent 

 to this country under the name of East 

 Indian Gum Arabic. The tree has pinnate, 

 leaves composed of shining stalkless 

 leaflets, and the flowers are arranged in 

 racemes, containing a mixture of male, 

 female, and perfect blossoms ; these have 

 a flat five-toothed calyx, five (occasionally 

 four or six) white spreading petals, ten 

 stamens, and a five-celled ovary. The 

 fruit, which is about the size of an apple, 

 has a very hard, rough, woody rind, and 

 contains a pulpy flesh with numerous 

 seeds imbedded in it. This pulp is eat- 

 able, and, like that of the Bengal quince, 

 which is the fruit of a closely allied tree, it 

 exerts a beneficial action in cases of dys- 

 entery and diarrhoea ; a jelly resembling 

 black currant jelly is also prepared from 

 it. The leaves have an odour like that of 

 anise, and the native Indian doctors em- 

 ploy them as a stomachic and carmina- 

 tive. [A. S.] 



FERRARIA. A genus of Cape Iridaceo?, 

 with tuberous rhizomes, simple or panicu- 

 lately branched stems, two-ranked ensi- 

 form thick nervose glaucous leaves, and 

 very fleeting flowers, which consist of a 

 six-parted perianth, with oblong undulated 

 spreading or reflexed segments, the ex- 

 terior ones being broader than the others ; 

 three stamens, with the filaments connate 

 into a tube ; and a three-celled many- 

 seeded ovary, surmounted by a filiform 

 style, and three dilated petaloid multifid 

 stigmas. The flowers ai'e highly curious, 

 but dingy, and very fugacious. [T. M.] 



FERTILE. Having the power of pro- 

 ducing perfect seeds ; or fertilised ; or 

 producing a large quantity of seeds. 



FERULA. A genus of Umbelliferce. 

 characterised by the presence of com- 

 pound umbels, variable involucres, a five- 

 toothed calyx, ovate pointed petals, and 

 compressed fruits: each half of which is 

 surrounded by a membranous border, 

 and has three thread-like ridges, the two 

 lateral ones losing themselves in the wing- 

 like margin. There are three or more 

 channels for oil in the furrows between 

 the ridges, and four on the surface that 

 touches the other half of the fruit. 



The species are natives of the Mediter- 

 ranean and Persian regions, with tall- 

 growing pithy stems and deeply-divided 

 leaves, the segments of which are fre- 

 quently linear. F. communis attains some- 

 times in English gardens a height of 

 fifteen feet, and is known under the name 

 of Giant Fennel. It is a common plant in 



Sicily, where the pith in the interior of the 

 stem is used for tinder. F. persica, a dwarf 

 species, was formerly supposed to be the 

 source of asafoetida, but the greater por- 

 tion of this drug is the produce of Narthex 

 Asafoetida. F. orientalis and F.tingitana are 

 said to yield African Ammoniacum.a gum- 

 '• resin like asafcetida, but less powerful. 

 j Sagapenum, a similar drug, is supposed 

 I likewise to be the produce of some species 

 I of this genus, but great uncertainty pre- 

 j vails on the subject. [M. T. M.] 



j FESTUCA. A very extensive genus of 

 grasses, typical of the tribe Festucece. The 



I species haveeitherapanicledorracemed in- 

 florescence, with flattened spikelets, which 

 are two to many-flowered ; glumes two, un- 

 equal, thinner than the pales, which latter 

 are ribbed,rounded on the back, acute, with 

 the setae terminal or nearly so; stamens 

 three, rarely one to two ; styles two, short ; 

 stigmas feathery. The genus embraces 

 about 200 species, which have a wide geo- 

 graphical range over nearly the whole sur- 

 face of the globe, and are divided into four 

 sections, namely, Nardurus, Schlerochloa, 

 Yulpia, and true Festucece. There are nine 

 of the species natives of Britain, and among 

 them some of our most valuable meadow 

 and pasture grasses. F. pratensis, the 

 Meadow Fescue, and F. duriuscula, the 

 Hard Fescue, are both excellent kinds, and 

 highly prized for agricultural purposes. 

 F. ovina, the Sheep's Fescue, is important 

 for subalpine pastures, whene it grows 

 freely, and is much relished by sheep. It 

 is also useful for forming lawns, where 

 the grass is required to be kept short and 

 neatly dressed- Many of the foreign spe- 

 cies are also useful for the same purposes, 

 especially F, v heterophylla, Halleri, and 

 valesiaca. Although the Fescue grasses 

 are rather remarkable among the family, 

 for the large quantity of saccharine matter 

 in their composition, one species, F. qua- 

 dridentata, is said to be poisonous in Quito, 

 where it is called Pigonil. See Lindleifs 

 Vegetable Kingdom, p. 113, [D. MJ 



FETID. Having a disagreeable smell of 

 any kind. 



FETUQUE. (Fr.) Festuca. — DES BRE- 

 BIS. Festuca ovina. — TRACANTE. Fes- 

 tuca rubra. 



FEUILL^EA. A genns of tropical Ame- 

 rican Cucurbitacecv, belonging to the small 

 section of that order which is distinguished 

 by the anthers not being sinuous. The 

 species are perennial herbaceous plants, 

 with rather woody stems, climbing up 

 trees to a great height and supporting 

 themselves by means of tendrils, which are 

 said to proceed from the axils of the leaves, 

 instead of from the sides as in the common 

 gourd. They have large, roundish, smooth 

 leaves, frequently lobed, and the male and 

 female flowers are borne on distinct plants, 

 both having a five-lobed calyx, and a 

 wheel-shaped corolla with five divisions. 

 The fruit is globular and has a woody shell, 

 marked with a scar which forms a zone 

 round it, and shows the division between 



