501 



&f)e €rsa£urn of Mating. 



FGETI 



the plant Maravilla, or Maravilla del Campo. 

 Four species are known. [A. A. B.] 



FLOUYE. (Fr.) Anthoxanthv.m. — 

 DES BRESSANTS. Anthoxanthum odora- 

 tum. 



FLOWER. That assemblage of organs 

 in a plant, of which the stamens, or pistils, 

 or both, form part. 



FLOWER DE LUCE. An old English 

 name for the common species of Tris — ger- 

 manica,florentina, &c. 



FLOWER OF CRETE. Mesembryanthe- 

 mum Tripolium. 

 FLOWER OF JO VE. Lychnis Flos Jovis. 



FLOWER-FENCE. Poinciana. — , BAR- 

 BADOS. Poinciana puleherrima. — , BAS- 

 TARD. Adenanthera. 



FLOWER-GENTLE. Arnaranthus. 



' FLUELLIN. Linaria Elatine and spuria ; 

 also Veronica officinalis. 



FLUGGEA. A genus of Euphorbiacece 

 nearly related to Phyllanthus, from which 

 it may be recognised by the sterile flow- 

 ers having three stamens surrounding a 

 rudimentary ovary, there being no rudi- 

 mentary ovary in. those of Phyllanthus. 

 The genus consists of several much bran- 

 ched smooth and entire-leaved bushes 

 found in most tropical countries of the 

 eastern hemisphere. The leaves are obovate 

 or ovate. The flowers, sterile and fertile 

 on different plants, are minute, green, and 

 disposed in fascicles or cymes in the axils 

 of the leaves. The fruits are dry capsules 

 or berries about the size of a pea or 

 smaller. The bark of F. virosus, according 

 to Roxburgh, is strongly astringent, and 

 possesses the property of intoxicating fish 

 when thrown in the water, thus rendering 

 them easily caught. The white berries of 

 F. leucopyrus in India, and F. abyssinica 

 in Eastern tropical Africa, are eaten by 

 the natives. A Chinese species, F. suffrit- 

 ticosa, has long been known as Geblera 

 suffruticosa. [A. A. BJ 



FLUITANS. Floating upon the surface 

 of water. 



FLUVIAL, FLUVIATILE. Of or belong- 

 ing to the water. 

 FLCTEAU. (Fr.) Alisma Plantago. 



FLU VIALES. A natural order of mono- 

 cotyledonous aquatics established by Ven- 

 tinat. The plants are now included in 

 Natadace^e : which see. [J. H. B.] 



FLY-AGARIC. The common name of 

 Agaricus muscariv^s, a splendid scarlet 

 species studded with white or yellow 

 wart3, which is common in birch woods, 

 and is used to make a decoction for de- 

 stroying flies. Its narcotic properties 

 are so strong that in some countries it is 

 employed, mixed with the juice of cran- 

 berries, to produce intoxication, the dry 

 plant being more efficacious for this pur- 

 pose than the fre3h. The effects are some- 



what different from those of other narco- 

 tics, being characterised by extreme stimu- 

 lation of the muscles. The nervous system 

 is at times excited to such a degree as to 

 produce the most ludicrous actions. It is 

 a curious fact that the urine of persons 

 who have partaken of the fungus acquires 

 the same narcotic properties ; or, in other 

 words, that the narcotic principle, like some 

 other substances, passes through the urine 

 without change. (See E. A. Parkes on the 

 Composition of Urine, I860.) In excess it is 

 doubtless a dangerous poison, and we 

 have known temporary intoxication arise 

 from its accidental use. [M. J. B.] 



FLY-POISON. Amianthium musccetoxi- 

 cum. 



FLY-TRAP. Apocynum androscemifolium. 

 — , VENUS'S. Bioncca muscipula. 



FLY-WORT. A name applied to those 

 species of Catasetum formerly called My- 

 anthus. 



FCBMINEUS. Female, that is, bearing 

 pistils only. 



FCENICULUM. A genus of umbellife- 

 rous plants, with finely dissected leaves, 

 no involucres, and yellow flowers. It is dis- 

 tinguished from Anethum, to which it is 

 very closely allied, by the fruits being 

 somewhat compressed from side to side, 

 and not from back to front. F. vidgare, the 

 common Fennel, is a native of temperate 

 Europe and Western Asia ; in this country 

 it is usually found in dry chalky soil, at no 

 great distance from the sea. The Sweet 

 Fennel, F. dulce, is by some considered as 

 only a variety of the preceding ; but it 

 differs in being a smaller plant, in the 

 stem being compressed at the base, not 

 round, in the smaller number of rays to 

 the umbel, in the greater size of the fruit, 

 in flowering earlier, &c. It is grown in 

 this country as a potherb and for garnish- 

 ing ; its fruit supplies an aromatic oil, 

 which is carminative like dill. [M. T. M.] 



F03NUM GR^ECUM. Trigonella Fcenum 

 grcecum, so called because formerly made 

 into hay in Greece. It was also cultivated 

 by the Romans, and is still occasionally 

 employed in the agriculture of the south 

 of Europe. The plant and seeds are 

 strongly scented, with the new hay-like 

 odour of coumarin. 



FCETIDIA. A genus of shrubby plants 

 doubtfully placed in Myrtacea?, the leaves 

 being alternate and without dots, and the 

 flowers destitute of petals. The three 

 known species are natives of the Mauritius 

 and Madagascar, attaining a height of 

 thirty or forty feet, the ash-coloured 

 branches furnished at their extremities 

 with smooth entire, ovate or lance-shaped 

 leaves. The flowers are axillary and so- 

 litary, and have a three or four-sided calyx 

 tube, with a border of four triangular 

 lobes, and very numerous stamens. The 

 fruits are woody, four-sided, four-celled, 

 somewhat top-shaped nuts. F. mauritiana, 

 known as ' Le Bois puant ' in the Mauritius 



