563 



Ef)e Creagttri? of 2Sfftang. 



[habz 



HAAGEA. A genus of Begoniacece, called 



I after Haage, an Erfurt horticulturist. The 



; flowers are rose-coloured, monoecious, with 



! two perianth leaves : the staminate ones 



' with numerous stamens ; and the pistillate 



i ones with an inferior three-celled equally 



three-winged ovary, a three-parted smooth 



persistent style, and broadly expanded stig- 



| mas, surrounded by a papillose band twisted 



once spirally. The only species, H. dipe- 



I tala, a shrub with semicordate petiolate 



leaves, and pendulous floral cymes, native 



of the East Indies, was formerly called 



Begonia dipetala. [J. H. B.] 



HABEL-ASSIS. (Fr.) Cyperus esculen- 

 ius. 



HABENARIA. A ■well-known extensive 

 genus of terrestrial tuberous-rooted or- 

 chids, more or less generally distributed, 

 though most numerous in India andAfrica. 

 It is represented in Britain by H. bifolia 

 and H. chlorantha, known respectively as 

 the small and large Butterfly Orchis. They 

 are both very similar in aspect, having a 

 stem a foot or more in length, with two 

 oblong obtuse leaves at the base, above 

 that a few narrow green bracts, and then 

 an erect terminal spike of very fragrant 

 long-spurred white flowers. The differ- 

 ence between the two is, that in H. chlo- 

 rantha the flowers are larger, the throat 

 or the nectary or spur much wider, and the 

 two pollen-masses more distant from each 

 other. For a most interesting account of 

 the mode of fertilisation in these two 

 plants, see Mr. Darwin's book, On the Ferti- 

 lisation of Orchids. Some of the Indian 

 species are notable for the length of spur, 

 as in the appropriately named H. longecal- 

 carata, where, with flowers an inch across, 

 the spur is four inches in length. The 

 habit of most of the species is similar to 

 that of our native Orchis, to which they are 

 closely related, differing chiefly in the two 

 glands of the pollen-masses being inserted 

 into separate pouches instead of into 

 a common one. The flowers vary much 

 in colour, some being green, others rose, 

 a goodly number golden yellow, but the 

 greater part white, and usually very fra- 

 grant. [A. A. B.] 



HABIXE. (Fr.) Bolichos melanoph- 

 thalmus. 



HABIT. The general appearance of a 

 plant ; its manner of growth, without re- 

 ference to details of structure. 



HABITAT. The situation in which a 

 plant grows in a wild state. 



HABLITZIA. A perennial Caucasian 

 twining herb, of the order Amaronthacece, 

 with a turnip-shaped root and furrowed 

 stem, large alternate lonsr-stalked glabrous 

 cordate-acuminate entire leaves, and 

 flowers in small cymes collected into dense 

 axillary panicles ; the perigone preen and 

 five-cleft, the stamens five. [J. T. SJ 



HABRACANTHFS. A genus of Acan- 

 thacece, containing three species from 

 Mexico, herbs or shrubs with oblong or 



oval leaves, and white or red flowers in 

 terminal panicles or in few-flowered axil- 

 lary cymes. The calyx is deeply five-parted, 

 and the corolla ringent, with the upper lip 

 falcate and entire, and the lower three- 

 parted , there are two exserted diverging 

 stamens , and the ovary is surrounded by a 

 broad disk at the base, has four ovules near 

 the middle, and is surmounted by an acute 

 stigma. [W. C] 



HABRANTHUS. A genus of hippeastri- 

 form Amaryllidaceoe, distinguished in that 

 group, which has a narrow-mouthed pe- 

 rianth "tube, by the perianth being decli- 

 nate, but not convolute into a tube-like 

 form as in the allied Phycella, and by the 

 faucial membrane being annular. They 

 consist of handsome South American bulbs, 

 found principally in Chili, Monte Video, 

 and Buenos Ayres. The plants have narrow 

 two-ranked flaccid leaves, and a precocious 

 scape which either is single-flowered or 

 bears an umbel of few or many flowers 

 of a crimson, scarlet, rose, purple, whitish, 

 yellow, or red and yellow colour. The 

 perianth is subcainpanulate with a short 

 tube, the limb more or less spreading, the 

 stamens unequal inserted at the mouth 

 of the tube, the faucial membrane annular, 

 and the stigma three-lobed. [T. MJ 



HABROTHAMNUS. A genus of beauti- 

 ful Mexican shrubs, belonging to the 

 Solanacece. The flowers have a bell-shaped 

 five-toothed calyx , a club-shaped tubular 

 corolla, with the limb contracted and five- 

 toothed ; five stamens concealed within 

 the corolla ; and a button-shaped stigma. 

 The fruit is succulent, surrounded by the 

 calyx, two-celled, each cell containing a 

 few seeds. The panicles of red or purple 

 flowers are borne in abundance, and 

 justify the name applied to them— which 

 signifies graceful branch. [M. T. MJ 



HABROZIA. A genus of Scleranthacece, 

 differing from the rest of the order in hav- 

 ing the utricle adhering to the seed, and 

 the calyx tube not constricted at the 

 throat. It is a small annual oriental herb, 

 with slender stems, setaceous leaves, and 

 many-flowered terminal cymes. [J. T. S.J 



HABZELIA. A small genus of Anonacea>, 

 having a very wide geographical distribu- 

 tion, two species being found in Malaya, 

 two on the western coast of tropical Africa, 

 and the remainder in Guiana and Cuba. It 

 belongs to the Xylopiew, and is distin- 

 guished from its allies by the torus being 

 flat, instead of drawn up into a cone 

 or hollowed out. The flowers are three- 

 sided, having three sepals joined together 

 at the bottom, and six petals arranged in 

 two series, the inner ones being rather 

 smaller than the outer. The fruit consists 

 of numerous long nearly cylindrical pods, 

 separate from each other, and containing a 

 number of oblong seeds. The plants are 

 either tall shrubs or trees about twenty or 

 thirty feet high, and have long simple 

 leaves of a leathery texture, from the 

 base of which the flowers are produced 

 either singly or in clusters. H. cethiopica, 



