567 



®t)e Ereatfurg al SSotanj?. 



[hame 



and violet-coloured. The genus is most, 

 nearly related to Alhagi ; but they are 

 spiny erect bushes, with more than one 

 i seed to the pod, while here the habit is 

 very different, and the minute compressed 

 pods have but one seed. Linnaeus named 

 the genus after Berger Martin Hall, one of 

 his pupils. [A. A. B.] 



HALOCXEMTTM. A genus of Chenopo- 

 diacece, allied to Salicornia, but having the 

 perigone of three scale-like leaves, not 

 monophyllous. They are small leafless 

 jointed-stemmed plants, with the flowers 

 collected into terminal spikes, much as in 

 Salicornia, They occur chiefly in Southern 

 Russia, Siberia, &c. [J. T. S.] 



HALODEXDROX SATIXE. (Fr.) Hali- 

 modendron argenteum. 



HALODULE. A genus of Naiadacew 

 allied to Zannichellia, of which it has the 

 habit, but with dioecious flowers ; the 

 leaves resemble those of Zostera in minia- 

 ture. The plant grows in estuaries in 

 Madagascar. [J. T. S.] 



H ALOGETOX. A genus of Chenopodiaceae 

 allied to Salsola, but having the seed ver- 

 tical instead of horizontal. They are herbs 

 or small shrubs found in Southern Russia, 

 Siberia, Persia, &c, with alternate or 

 opposite fleshy semi-cylindrical leaves, 

 and axillary glomerules of flowers, of 

 which the perigone is furnished with trans- 

 verse wings when in fruit. The seeds of 

 H. tamariscifolium, a Spanish species, are 

 called Spanish Wormseed from their an- 

 thelmintic properties. [J. T. S.] 



HALOPHILA. •>■ A genus of small her- 

 baceous plants growing in salt marshes in 

 Madagascar and elsewhere, usually referred 

 to the Podostemacece, but excluded by 

 Tulasne in his elaborate treatise ou that 

 order. They are plants of little general 

 interest, having unisexual flowers, with a 

 two-leaved perianth, and three stamens ; 

 and in the female ones, a stalked one- 

 celled ovary. [M. T. M.] 



HALORAGACE.E. (Haloragece, Hippuri- 

 dece, Cercodiance, Hydrocaryes, Hippurids.) 

 A natural order of calycifloral dicotyle- 

 dons, belonging to Lindley's myrtal alliance 

 of epigynous Exogens. Herbs or under- 

 shrubs, often aquatic, with alternate oppo- 

 site or whorled leaves, and small frequent- 

 ly incomplete flowers. Calyx adherent, 

 with a minute limb ; petals inserted into 

 the upper part of the calyx, or absent; 

 stamens attached to the calyx ; ovary with 

 one or more cells ; ovules pendulous ana- 

 tropal. Fruit dry, not opening ; seeds 

 solitary, pendulous. The plants may be 

 regarded as an imperfect form of Onar 

 graces. They are found in damp places, 

 ditches, and slow streams in all parts of 

 the world. Some yield edible seeds. The 

 kernels of Tmpa nutans and T. bicornis, 

 called water chestnuts, and of T. bispinom, 

 singhara nuts, are used as articles of diet. 

 The fruit of these plants has a peculiar 

 horned aspect. Hippuris vulgaris is the 



common mare's-tail of our ponds. There 

 are ten genera and about eighty species. 

 Examples : Hippuris, Myriophyllum, Halo- 

 ragis, Trapa. [J. H. B.] 



HALORAGIS. A genus of Haloragacew, 

 differing from the greater number of 

 plants of this order, in not being aquatic. 

 They occur in tropical Asia, and more 

 abundantly in Australia and Xew Zealand. 

 Their lower leaves are opposite, the upper 

 often alternate ; and the flowers are axil- 

 lary, solitary or aggregated, combined into 

 spikes, racemes, or even panicles. H. 

 citriodora, the Piri-jiri of the Xew Zea- 

 landers, has scented leaves. [J. T. SJ 



HAMADRYAS. A genus of Ranuncu- 

 lacece from the Antarctic regions. More or 

 less silky herbs, with palmately-parted or 

 undivided leaves, and scapes with one to 

 three flowers, the calyx and corolla ex- 

 ternally hairy, the former with five or six 

 sepals, the latter with ten or twelve long 

 linear subulate petals. The flo%vers are 

 dioecious by abortion, and the female ones 

 have an ovate globose head of pistils ter- 

 minated by hooked styles. [J. T. S.] 



HAMAMELIDACE.E. (Witch Hazels.) 

 A natural order of calycifloral dicotyledons, 

 belonging to Lindley's umbellal alliance of 

 epigynous Exogens. Trees or shrubs with 

 alternate feather-veined leaves having de- 

 ciduous stipules. Calyx four to five-divi- 

 ded ; petals four, five, or wanting ; stamens 

 eight, the anthers introrse ; ovary two- 

 celled, inferior; ovules solitary or several ; 

 styles two. Fruit two-valved; seeds pen- 

 dulous, albuminous. In some of the plants 

 there are circular disk-like markings in the 

 woody tubes. Xatives of Xorth America, 

 | Asia, and Africa. There are thirteen 

 known genera, including Hamamelis, Eho- 

 doleia, and Bucklandia. [J. H. BJ 



HAMAMELIS. A genus of the witch- 

 hazel order, distinguished by its calyx 

 being four-parted ; the corolla of four 

 petals ; the stamens four, alternate with 

 the petals, and having four scale-like bodies 

 —rudimentary stamens -opposite the pe- 

 tals. The name was adopted from a Greek 

 l term used to indicate resemblance to an 

 I apple tree, a comparison which is scarcely 

 ! applicable. The species are shrubs of 

 I Xorth America and China, with alternate 

 leaves, and usually yellow flowers. H, vir- 

 ginica has been long known in cultivation. 

 It has obovate toothed leaves, and is widely 

 diffused in Xorth America, attaining a 

 height of ten or twelve feet, its yellow 

 flowers appearing in the fall of the year, 

 and its fruit ripening in spring. Its seeds 

 contain a quantity of oil, and are edible ; 

 while the leaves and bark are astringent. 

 It is employed as a remedy in various 

 ways by the aborigines. [G.D.J 



HAMATO-SERRATUS. "When serra- 

 tures have a somewhat hooked form. 



HAMELIA. Tropical American shrubs, 

 forming a genus of Cinchonacece, named in 

 honour of M. du Hamel, a noted French 

 vegetable physiologist. The flowers are 



