gesn] 



QLfyt fltoatfurj) of 2SatattB. 



530 



Eerincquia : with a very long slightly 

 curved corolla tube, and straight limb, 

 and a five-lobed toothed ring : ex. G. liba- 

 nensis. [T. M.] 



GESNERIE BIZARRE. (Fr.) Tydcea 

 picta. 



GESNERWORTS. A name proposed by 

 Lindley for the Gesneracece. 



GESSE. (Fr.) Lathyrus. „ — CHICHE. 

 Lathyrus Gicera. — DE PRES. Lathyrus 

 pratensis. — GRANDE. Lathyrus lati- 

 folius. — SAUVAGE. Lathyrus sylvestris. 

 — VELTJE. Lathyrus hirsutus. 



GESSETTE. (Fr.) Lathyrus Cicera. 



GETHYLLIS. A small genus of Cape 

 Amaryllidacea, allied to Sternbergia and 

 Oporanthus, and consisting of dwarf bul- 

 bous plants, with linear leaves, and short 

 one-flowered flower-scapes. The perianth 

 tube is long cylindrical, the limb of six 

 segments regular and spreading ; the sta- 

 mens inserted in the mouth of the tube, 

 and sometimes by superfluity doubled or 

 trebled or multiplied numerously, with 

 erect anthers ; and the style connate with 

 the perianth tube, free and exsertedat top, 

 with a capitately trigonous stigma. The 

 capsule is berry-like and succulent, and is 

 said to be esculent. G. undulata has the 

 leaves remarkably waved at the edge, and 

 ciliated with strong bristles. [T. M.] 



GEUM. A genus of perennial Rosacece, 

 deriving its generic name from the Greek 

 word geuo, which signifies to have an agree- 

 able taste, on account of the slightly aro- 

 matic flavour of the roots of some of the 

 species. The main characters of the genus 

 reside in the calyx, whose limb is five-cleft, 

 with five little bracts on the exterior, and 

 in the carpels which are dry with hardened 

 hooked styles forming collectively a kind 

 of burr. Two species are natives of Bri- 

 tain, G. urbanum and rivale. The former, 

 known as Avens or Herb Bennett, has an 

 erect slightly branched stem ; the lower 

 leaves deeply divided in a pinnate manner, 

 with a large terminal lobe, the side lobes 

 in pairs, some of them much smaller than 

 the rest ; the flowers yellow, with small 

 spreading petals. The root of this plant, 

 called by the old herbalists Clove-root, 

 radix caryophyllata, has an aromatic clove- 

 like odour, and, as it possesses astringent 

 properties, it has been used in diarrhoea, 

 dysentery, intermittent fevers, &c. It was 

 formerly put into ale to give it a clove- 

 like flavour and prevent it turning sour, 

 and has been recommended to be chewed 

 when the breath is foul. The Water-avens, 

 G. rivale, has the leaves more hairy, the 

 flowers much larger, drooping, and of a 

 dull purple colour, and the head of fruits 

 separated from the calyx by a short stalk. 

 This plant is frequently found in a pro- 

 lified state, that is, with a branch or a 

 second flower in the centre of the original 

 one. Other species of this genus are 

 widely diffused over the temperate regions 

 of the northern hemisphere. G. canadense 

 is found in Canada and the United States, 



where it is known by the name of Choco- 

 late or Blood root, and is used as a mild 

 tonic. Several species are cultivated in 

 this country : among the handsomest is G. 

 coccineum, with scarlet flowers. [M. T. M.] 



GEVIN. (Fr.) Quadria. 



GHEKOOL, or GHET-KOL. An Indian 

 name for the acrid tubers of Typhouium 

 trilobatum. 



GHETCHOO. An Indian name for Apo- 

 nogeton monostachyun, the tubers of which 

 are used like potatos. 



GIBBER. A pouch-like enlargement of 

 the base of a calyx, corolla, &c. 



GIBBEROSE, GIBBOUS, or GIBBOSE. 

 More convex or tumid in one place than 

 another. 



GIESEKIA. A genus of Phytolaccacea?, 

 containing tropical or subtropical annual 

 herbs from Asia and Africa, with prostrate 

 dichotomous stems, linear-oblong or spa- 

 thulate entire fleshy leaves, rough with 

 subcutaneous glands, and small greenish 

 flowers, often becoming purple, in small 

 umbellate or contracted cymes opposite 

 the leaves. The fruit consists of three to 

 five rough utricles. The name is sometimes 

 written Gisekia. [J. T. S.] 



GIESLERIA. A gesneraceous plant of 

 herbaceous habit, now included in Tydma. 



GIG ARTINA. A genus of the large natu- 

 ral order of rose-spored Algce, called Cryp- 

 tonemiacece. The capsules, which are glo- 

 bose and external, contain several round- 

 ish masses of spores ; the frond' is flat or 

 cylindrical and mostly branched, composed 

 of innumerable longitudinal and horizon- 

 tal threads in a firm pellucid jelly ; and the 

 tetraspores are collected in little heaps or 

 sori. The genus is very nearly allied to 

 Iridcea and Chondrus. Many of the species 

 are covered with projecting tubercular or 

 spine-shaped processes, so as to make the 

 frond rough like a rasp. G. mamillosa is 

 often found amongst carageen. G. speciosa, 

 the Jelly-plant of the Australian colonists, 

 is now referred to Eucheuma. [M. J. B.] 



GIGOT. (Fr.) Iris fcetidissima. 



GILIA. A genus of pretty American 

 Polemoniacece. The calyx is bell-shaped 

 five-cleft ; the corolla funnel-shaped or ap- 

 proaching to bell-shaped ; the stamens five 

 in number, inserted at the throat of the 

 corolla ; and each cell of the capsule con- 

 tains several angular seeds. The species 

 have been distributed into several sub- 

 genera, of which the most familiar are : 

 Ipomnpsis, represented by G.coronopifolia ; 

 Leptosiphon, by G. androsacea ; Dianthoides, 

 by G. dianthoides, or, as it is also called, 

 Fenzlia dianthiflora ; Leptodaetylon, by G. ca- 

 lifornica ; and Eugilia, of which G. tricolor, 

 achilheefolia, and capitata are well-known 

 illustrations. Most of them are pretty 

 garden flowers, the different groups being 

 for the most part regarded as distinct 

 families by cultivators. G. coronopifolia, 

 elegans, and aggregata, known in gardens 



