589 



GTIje Crnigurg nf botany. 



[hig 



its flowers produced in great abundance at 

 the ends of little side branches. H. vohibi- 

 lis, the largest species of the genus, has a 

 stiff climbing stem, and pale yellow flowers 

 two inches across, but most disagreeably 

 scented. [A. S.] 



HIBERNACULUM. The poetical name 

 of a bud or bulb. 



HIBERNAL. Of or belonging to winter. 



HIBISCUS. The Rose-mallow family, 

 a very large genus of Malvacece, character- 

 ized by their large showy flowers being 

 borne singly upon stalks towards the ends 

 of the branches ; by having an outer calyx 

 or involueel composed of numerous leaves, 

 and an inner or true calyx cut into five divi- 

 sions at the top, which does not fall away 

 after flowering ; by having five petals broad 

 at top and narrow towards the base, where 

 they unite with the tube of the stamens; 

 and by the latter forming a sheath round 

 the five-branched style, and emitting fila- 

 ments bearing kidney-shaped anthers 

 throughout the greater part of its length. 

 The fruit is five-celled, with numerous 

 seeds. The majority of the species are tro- 

 pical, but a few are found in temperate 

 regions, and one, H. Trionum, occurs in 

 the South of Europe and also in New Zea- 

 land. Most of them are shrubs, but a few 

 form moderately high trees. All possess 

 tie mucilaginous properties common to 

 the order, and several are eaten as pot- 

 herbs, while their inner bark yields more 

 or less fibre. 



H. cannabinus has a prickly stem, six or 

 eight feet high, and deeply-parted leaves 

 somewhat resembling those of hemp. The 

 flowers are pale yellow with a dark purple 

 blotch at the bottom of each petal. This is 

 a native of the East Indies, where it is cul- j 

 tivated on account of the fibre contained in 

 its stems, the seeds being sown thickly so 

 as to induce the plants to erow up tall, ! 

 straight, and unbranched. The fibre, like 

 that of other malvaceous plants, bears more 

 resemblance to jute than to hemp, though 

 it is sometimes called Indian Hemp. It 

 comes to this country in small quantities, 

 and is sometimes called Bastard Jute. In 

 Western India the plant is called Ambaree, j 

 and its leaves are eaten as a pot-herb, and 

 an oil is extracted from its seeds. 



B. Rosa sinensis, a well-known ornament 

 of our hothouses, is a native of India, i 

 China, and other parts of Asia. It is a tree j 

 of twenty or thirty feet high ; and has very I 

 variable flowers— double, sinele, red, dark J 

 purple, yellow, white, or variegated, ac- 

 cording to the particular variety. These j 

 flowers contain a quantity of astringent i 

 juice, and when bruised rapidly turn black j 

 or deep purple ; they are used by the | 

 Chinese ladies for dyeing their hair and i 

 eyebrows, and in Java for blacking shoes, ■ 

 whence the plant is frequently called the 

 Shoe-black Plant. 



H. syriacus, commonly called A Ithceafru- 

 tex, is a hardy deciduous shrub, with large 

 showy flowers, produced in great profu- I 



sion in the autumn months 



[A. SJ 



HIBISCUS, BASTARD. Achania Malva- 

 viscus. 

 HICKORY. Carya. 



HIDDEN-VEINED. Having the veins 

 so buried in the parenchyma, that they 

 are not visible upon external inspection. 



HIERACIUM. A large and exceedingly 

 difficult genus of cichoraceous plants, 

 mostly with yellow flowers, inhabiting the 

 temperate countries of the eastern hemi- 

 sphere, and distinguished among allied 

 genera by having a brown brittle pappus 

 and no beak to the fruit. From twenty to 

 thirty species are indigenous to Britain, 

 growing in hedges, woods, and mountains. 

 Oneof the best known and most attractive 

 of these is H. Pilosella, common on heaths 

 and in dry pastures, a dwarf plant with 

 creeping leafy scions, elliptical leaves 

 clothed above with scattered long hairs, 

 and bearing on leafless stalks a single 

 brilliant light yellow flower. Other com- 

 mon species are E. sylvaticum and H. 

 umbellatum, tall weeds with leafy stems 

 and uninteresting yellow flowers. Several 

 others are more or less frequent, but can 

 only be discriminated by the application of 

 much patient care. H. aurantiacum, called 

 Grim-the-collier from the black hairs which 

 clothe the flower-stalk and involucre, is 

 an ornamental plant with orange-coloured 

 flowers, often cultivated in flower gardens. 

 The systematic name Hieracium, the 

 English Hawkweed, the French Epervi&re, 

 and the German Habichtskraut, all have 

 reference to an ancient belief that birds 

 of prey made use of the juice of these plants 

 to strengthen their vision. [C. A. J.] 



HIEROCHLOA. A genus of grasses be- 

 longing to the Phalaridece, and consisting 

 of several species spread over the colder 

 parts of both hemispheres. They have 

 loose spreading or narrow crowded pani- 

 cles; three-flowered spikelets, the twolower 

 flowers being males with three stamens, 

 and the upper one smaller with two sta- 

 mens and hermaphrodite ; the glumes are 

 scarious, boat-shaped, and pointed. One 

 native species, H. borealis, found near 

 Thurso, occurs in mountain pastures in 

 Northern Europe, Asia, and America, and 

 also in New Zealand. The name Hierochloa, 

 sometimes written Hierochloe — whence 

 Holy-grass^refers to the practice, adopted 

 in some parts of Germany, of strewing it 

 before the doors of churches on festival 

 days. [T. M.] 



HIGGINSIA. A genus of small Peruvian 

 shrubs, belonging to the Cinchonacece. 

 The parts of the flower are arranged in 

 fours ; the corolla is somewhat bell-shaped, 

 with a short tube, concealing the stamens 

 within it; the ovary has two compart- 

 ments ; the ovules are numerous, the style 

 short, and the stigma cleft and projecting. 

 The fruit is berry-like, and two-celled. 

 See Cajipylobotrys. [M. T. MJ 



HIG-TAPER. Yerbascum Thapsus. The 

 name is, according to Dr. Prior, often in- 

 correctly spelt High-taper. 



