MIRITI OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 273 



and P. miliaceii7ii, two strong annual grasses, are cultivated 

 under the name of Millet; they produce a dense cylindrical 

 head of small grains, which are chiefly used for feeding poultry. 

 Several others of the Fanicum group, as also Eleusme coracana, 

 a decumbent grass, are cultivated in various warm countries, 

 and called Millet. 



Millet Khoda, a name in India for the grains of Fasjjalwn 

 sm^dbieulatum, cultivated as a kind of Millet. 



Mint. (Se& Peppermmt, also Spearmint ) 



Mio Mio, a name in the Argentine Eepuhlic, Banda Oriental, 

 and Uruguay, for Baccliaris coTdiifolia, a shrub of the Composite 

 family (Composite). It grows in pastures, and is poisonous to 

 sheep. 



Mirabel, a French name for candied or preserved plums. 



Miriti or Ita Palm the Indian name for Mauritia flexuosa, 

 native of the swamps of the Orinoco. It is also st;ated to be 

 found at the sources of the Orinoco, at an elevation of 4263 feet. 

 It is a magnificent palm, its cylindrical stems rising like Grecian 

 columns to a height of 100 or 150 feet, terminated by a crown 

 of large fan-shaped leaves, from the base of wliich is produced 

 a big bunch of pendulous fruits, some measuring 8 to 10 feet 

 in length, weighing 2 or 3 cwts., and containing several 

 bushels of fruit. Each fruit is about the size of a small apple, 

 having a reticulated, polished, smooth shell. The Guarane tribe 

 of Indians, during the period of the inundations by the Orinoco, 

 suspend their dwellings from the stems of this palm. These 

 dwellings consist of a floor made of its leaves, on one part of 

 which they place a little earth whereon to make their fire. 

 Its shelly fruit, its farinaceous pith (sago), and its juice abound- 

 ing in saccharine matter, and the fibres of its petioles, furnish 

 them with food, wine, and thread for making cord and w^eaviug 



hammocks. 



" "Wide o'er his isles, tlie bran clung Oronoqiie 

 EoUs a blo^\^a. deluge ; and the native drives 

 To dwell aloft on life-sufficing trees ; 

 At once his dome, his robe, Ms food, and arms." 



Thomsok. 

 T 



