438 DICTIOKAKY OF POPULAK KAMES WHANGEE 



SO called, wliieli are of a leathery texture, and in old plants attain 

 the length of 5 or 6 feet with the breadth of a foot or more, their 

 apex being torn or divided, and they lie nearly flat on the gronnd 

 in opposite directions, their original axis or point of development 

 being overgrown above and below by the continued enlargement 

 of the trunk, giving the leaves the appearance of being artificially 

 inserted in two shts which extend nearly half-way round, 

 almost meeting each other. It is difficult to determine the age 

 of these plants ; the largest, w^hich have the appearance of flat 

 tables lying on the ground, may be presumed as not being 

 less than 500 years old. It belongs to a small family called 

 Gnetacese, allied to the Fir and Yew family. It presents a con- 

 trast to the long, slender, whipcord-like branches of the genus 

 U^Tiedra, which belongs to the same family. Several specimens 

 are to be seen in the Museum at Kew. 



Whangee Cane, a Chinese name for the stems of Fhyllo- 

 stachys, a genus of the Grass family (Graminacese), allied to the 

 bamboo. The regularly jointed walking-sticks, known by the 

 above name, are furnished by P. nigra ; walking-sticks are also 

 made of F. lamlusoides. 



Wheat [Tritimm vulgare, of which there are many varieties), 

 an annual corn-grass, cultivated in Egypt from remote antiquity, 

 and now throughout all the temperate regions of the world, and 

 in the Andes of South America, where it is cultivated at an 

 elevation of 9260 feet. It may be considered the most important 

 bread-food of the world, forming the staff of life to millions. 

 Large quantities of wheat-flour are made into starch, and used 

 for dressing woollen fabrics. {See Hard Grass.) 



Wheel Tree, or Paddle-wood (Aspidos^erma excelsnm), a 

 large tree of the Dogbane family (Apocynacese), native of Guiana. 

 Eemarkable in having the stem regularly fluted, often giving 

 the appearance of several small trees stuck to a large one ; they 

 are cut away, and used by the natives as paddles. These trunks 

 are sometimes 4 or 5 feet in diameter, and when cut trans- 

 versely the section has the appearance of the rays of a wheel. 



Whins. (>S^.^ Fur^e.) 



