561 



Cfje Crsa£urn at SSntang. 



[gyno 



stamens six, inserted on the top of the 

 ovary (!) ? which is inferior, one-celled, with 

 four "parietal placentae ; ovules numerous ; 

 styles four. (Decaisne.) [M. T. M.] 



GYMXOTHRIX A genus of grasses he- 

 longing to the tribe Panicece, joined by 

 Steudel with Pennisetum. [D. MJ 



GYXAIOX. A genus of Cordiacece, con- 

 taining a single species from the Himala- 

 yas. It is a woody plant with alternate or 

 sub-opposite elliptical entire leaves, and 

 flowers in cymes at the ends of the branch- 

 es. The calyx is unequally four to six- 

 lobed ; the corolla funnel-shaped, with the 

 limb divided into four to six obovate oblong 

 lobes ; the five stamens have hairy fila- 

 ments ; and the four-celled ovary is globose 

 and glabrous, perforated at the apex, with- 

 out style or stigma. This remarkable plant 

 i has the habit of Varronia rotundifolia, but 

 : differs from it in the structure of the 

 flower, which seems to be the monstrous 

 flower of a Cordia wanting the style and 

 stigma ; it differs from Cordia in the struc- 

 : ture of the calyx and corolla. [W. C] 



I GYNAXDROUS. Having the stamens 

 and style and ovary all blended into one 

 : common body, as in orchids, Aristolochia, 

 I &c. 



; GYXERIT7M. A genus of grasses belong- 

 I ing to the tribe Arundinece, and dis- 

 i tinguisbed chiefly by the species having 

 j showy flower-panicles, the spikelets of 

 which are two-flowered, the male and fe- 

 male flowers on distinct plants. Steudel 

 describes six species, which are natives of 

 Brazil and Chili, save one, G. zelandicum. 

 i That which is best known and cultivated 

 ! in Britain is G. argenteum, the Pampas 

 I grass, so called from its being a native of 

 the vast plains of South America called 

 1 Pampas. This splendid grass has proved 

 sufficiently hardy to withstand the rigours 

 of our winters in Britain without protec- 

 tion; and blossoming as it does in October, 

 when most other flowers are past, its value 

 is much enhanced. Few plants produce a 

 finer effect than good tufts of this grass, 

 either when cultivated singly on lawns, or 

 in the front of shrubberies, where evergreen 

 plants afford a dark background, as a con- 

 trast to its large silvery-white feather-like 

 panicles. Under favourable circumstances, 

 the culms rise from ten to twelve feet high 

 or upwards, forty, fifty, or occasionally 

 more, springing from one plant. This 

 Pampas grass was first introduced to Eu- 

 rope in 1843, through seeds sent from 

 Buenos Ayres by Mr. Tweedie to the 

 Glasnevin Botanic Garden, and it is now 

 cultivated in most gardens of note through- 

 out Great Britain, as well as on the conti- 

 nent of Europe, and in Australia. [D. M.] 



GYXIXUS, or GYXIZUS. The depressed 

 stigmatic surface of orchids. 



GYXOBASE. The growing point insert- 

 ed between the base of carpels in a conical 

 manner, so as to throw them into an 

 oblique position. 



GYNOCARDIA. A genus of Pangiacece, 

 differing from others in the very numerous 

 stamens (about a hundred), and in the ste- 

 rile flowers, whose anthers are fixed by the 

 base. G. odorata, the only known species, 

 is a handsome East Indian tree, abundant 

 in hot valleys in the Sikkim Himalaya and 

 Khasya, comparable to the common syca- 

 more for size, having glossy entire alter- 

 nate leaves, and yellow sweet-scented flow- 

 ers an inch and a half across, growing in 

 clusters generally from the old wood, the 

 different sexes on separate plants. They 

 | have four or five calyx leaves, a like num- 

 ber of petals and scales opposite them, 

 ! numerous stamens in the sterile flowers, 

 I and a few abortive ones in the fertile, 

 I surrounding an ovary which is tipped 

 with five short styles. The fruits are 

 I globular ash-coloured berries the size of a 

 j shaddock, and enclose numerous seeds, 

 I imbedded in pulp. According to Rox- 

 ! burgh, the seeds contain an oil; and are 

 beaten up with clarified butter, and used 

 by the natives as a remedy for cutaneous 

 diseases. [A. A. B.] 



GYNOCEPHALIUM. A Japanese climb- 

 ing shrub, belonging to the Artocarpacece. 

 The leaves are heart-shaped and undivided; 

 the female flowers are globular, the male 

 in panicled heads. The penus is closely 

 allied to Conocephalus, but is distinguished 

 from it by the four-parted perianth of the 

 male flower, the cleft style, and the crum- 

 pled seed-leaves. [M. f . MJ 



GYXOECIUM. The pistil and all that be- 

 longs to it. 



GYXOPHORE. The stalk of the ovary, 

 within the origin of the calyx. 



GYXOPLEURA. A genus of Chilian 

 herbs, with entire or lobed leaves, and 

 yellow flowers in terminal clusters or 

 tufts. They belong to the Malesherbiacea?, 

 and are known by their bell-shaped calyx, 

 five petals inserted outside an annular 

 membranous slightly toothed corona, 

 which is attached to the throat of the 

 calyx ; and five stamens, inserted at the 

 base of a short stalk that supports the 

 one-celled ovary. [M. T. MJ 



GYXOSTEMIUM. The column of or- 

 chids ; that is to say, the part formed by 

 the union of stamens, style, and stigma. 



GYNOSTEMMA. A genus of Cucurbita- 

 eece, natives of Java, having entire or 

 lobed leaves, iinisexual flowers in panicles, 

 a two-ranked calyx, no corolla, five mo- 

 nadelphous stamens, and a half-inferior 

 ovary. The fruit is succulent, with three 

 or four one-seeded stones. [M. T. MJ 



GYXOXIS. A genus of composite plants 

 confined to America, and there found from 

 Guatemala southward to Peru. They are 

 nearly related to Senecio, and chiefly differ 

 in the style-branches beingprolonged into 

 conical hispid points, instead of being 

 obtuse. Some are trailing bushes with 

 alternate lance-shaped or ovate leaves ; 

 and the yellow flower-heads few and large, 



