Xylopia 
Xylopia (zi-16'pi-a), n. [NL. (LlnnaBUs, 1763), 
for * Xylopicros, so called from the bitter wood; 
< Gr. fi'Aw, wood, + TTiKpof, bitter.] A genus 
of plants, of the order Anonaceie, type of the 
tribe Xylopiese. It is characterized by flowers with a 
conical receptacle bearing externally numerous stamens 
with truncate anthers, iu the center excavated and con- 
taining from one to five carpels, each with two to six ovules. 
There are from 30 to 40 species, nativesof the tropics, chief- 
ly in America, but with several in India and Africa. They 
are trees or shrubs with coriaceous and commonly two- 
ranlced leaves. The flowers are solitary or clustered in the 
axils, and are nearly or quite sessile, each with six petals, 
the outer elongated, thick, boat-shaped, curving, erect, and 
almost meetTng at the summit, surpassing the three inner 
petals. The fruit consists of oblong or elongated berries 
produced on a convex receptacle. X. Jithiopica, of western 
tropical Africa, is the source of African, negro, or Guinea 
pepper ; it is a tree with pointed ovate leaves, and a fruit 
consisting of several dry ulack qnill-like aromatic carpels 
about i inches long. These are sold in native markets as 
a stimulant ami condiment, and were formerly imported 
into Europe, forming the piper JUthiopieum of old writers. 
For X. poli/carpa, of tropical Africa, see yellow dye-tree (un- 
der yeltow). From the pervasive flavor of their wood va- 
rious American species are called bitter-wood, especially 
X. glabra in the West Indies and X. frutewens in Guiana. 
The fruit of X- sericea in Brazil serves as a spice, and 
its bark U^m from the tree in ribbon-like strii>s is twisted 
into coarse cordage, and would be available for matting. 
X. fruUieenn, known in Brazil as emhira, has similar uses. 
Several species have formerly been classed under the gen- 
era Urmna, Ucaria, and Habzelia. 
Xylopies (zi-lo-pi'e-e), n.pl. [NL. (Endlicher, 
1836), < Xylopia + -*«.] A tribe of polypeta- 
lous plants, of the order Anonaeete. It is charac- 
terized by densely crowded stamens, and thick exterior 
petals which are connivent or scarcely open ; the inner 
ones are included and smaller, and are sometimes minute 
or absent. It includes 8 genera, chiefly of tropical trees, 
of which the chief are Anona, Habzelia, and Xylopia (the 
type). 
Xylopinns (zi-lo-pi'nus), «. [NL. (Le Conte, 
186'J), < Gr. (v^Jw, wood, + irtivav, be hungry.] 
A genus of tenebrionid beetles, peculiar to 
North America, haring the autenusB slender 
with the distal joints triangular, the anterior 
tarsi of the male little dilated, and the ante- 
rior margin of the front not reflexed. Three 
species are known. They live under the bark 
of dead trees. 
zylopyrography (zi'lo-pi-rog'ra-fi), ». [NL., 
\ Gr. ^i'/jiv, woou, + irip, fire, + --jpai^ia, < ypd^iv, 
write.] Same a.s j>oker-painiing. 
xylorethie (zi-16-re'tin), w. [FoT'xylorrhetine ; 
<;Gr..;i//)i', wood, + /w^nVi?, resin: see resin.'] A 
subfossil resinous substance, found in connec- 
tion with the pine-trunks of the peat-marshes 
of Holtegaard in Denmark. 
Xyloryctes (zi-lo-rik'tez), «. [XL. (Hope, 1837), 
< Gr. ii'/ov, wood, -I- 
bpvKTTK, a digger.] A 
peculiargenus of scar- 
abteid beetles, having 
the head of the male 
armed with a long 
horn, and the female 
head tuberculate. The 
genua corresponds in the 
western hemisphere to the 
eastern Oryctejt, X. »aty- 
rus is rather common in 
the easteiTi Tnited Statt-s. 
Its larva is said to injure 
the roots of ash-trees. 
xylo8istron(z5-lo-Bi8'- 
tron), H. [< Gr. fiXoi', 
wood, + aclarpov, sis- 
trum : see .nstruni.] A 
miuical instrument, invented by Uthe in 1807, 
resembling Chladni's euphonium, but having 
wooden instead of glass rods. Compare xylhnr- 
monica. 
xylostein(zi-los'te-ln),n. [< NL. .Vi/?o«teMm (see 
<Tef.) (< Gr. ^v>Mv, wood. -I- ogt(ov, bone) + -in'^.l 
An active poisonous principle which has been 
Xyloryctes iatyrus, female, 
natural 5i2e. 
7005 
isolated from the seeds of LonicerH Xylosteum, 
a species of honeysuckle- 
Xylostroma (zj-lo-stro'ma), H. [NL.,< Gr. fi'/oi', 
wood, -I- arpu/ia, anything spread or laid out.] 
A genus or form-genus of polyporoid fungi, 
which continues indefinitely, without fruiting, 
as a thick dense leathery sheet covering the 
wood upon which it lives. 
Xylostromatoid(zi-lo-str6'ma-toid), fl. [< NL. 
Xylosiroma(t-) + -oirf.] In ftoi., resembling the 
genus or form-genus Xylostroma — that is, hav- 
ing a tough woody or leathery appearance — 
as the matted mycelium of certain polyporoid 
fungi- 
Distinguished by its distinct xylostromatoid sub-stra- 
tum. M. C. Cooke, Handbook of British Fungi, I. 282. 
Xylota (zi-lo'tii), K. [NL. (Meigen, 1822), < 
Gr. ^i'/xn; wood.] A large genus of syrphid 
flies, comprising medium-sized or large species, 
slender, with the abdomen more or less red, 
yellow, or metallic. More than 40 species are found 
in North America, and about 15 in Europe. The larva; 
are found in decaying wood, and the adults frequent the 
foliage of bushes in ))lossoni. 
Xyloteles (zi-lot'e-lez), H. [NL. (Ne^vman, 
1840), < Gr. f i/.oi', wood, + rf'Aof, end.] A genus 
of Polynesian cerambycid beetles, comprising 
about a dozen species from New Zealand and 
the Philippines. They are rather large pubes- 
cent beetles, with the intereoxal prominence of 
the abdomen in the form of an acute triangle. 
Xyloterus (zi-lot'e-rus), H. [NL. (Eriehson. 
1836), < Gr. ii?M>, wood, + rtpiiv, bore.] 1 . A ge- 
nus of bark-boring beetles, cortaining several 
very destructive species, as A'. hi''iit(itu,<i, which 
seriously injures the spi-uce in North America. 
They have the antennal club large, oval, solid, i)ubescent 
on both sides, the eyes completely divided, and the tibia; 
serrate. Five species occur in the Tnited States. By Eu- 
ropean authors the genus is considered a synonym of Try- 
podendron (Stephens, 1830). 
2. A genus of homtails, comprising two Euro- 
pean species. Harti<j, 1K37. 
Xylotile (zi'lo-til), ». [< Gr. fi/oi', wood, -I- 
tHo^, down.] A mineral of fibrous structure 
and wood-brown color, probably an altered 
form of asbestos. 
Xylotomous (zi-lot'o-mus), «. [< Gr. f/'/or, 
wood, -I- -ro/TOf, < 7/ ,uv( (r, ra/ieii\ cut.] Wood-cut- 
ting, as an insect. 
Xylotrogi (zi-lo-tro'ji), «. pi. [NL., < Gr. fi'/.oi', 
wood, + Tpu}en; gnaw.] In Latreille's classi- 
fication, a group of serrieom beetles, distin- 
guishe<l among serricoms from Malacodermi 
and from Sternnxi. 
Xylotrypes (zi-lo-tn'pez), ». [XL. (Dejean, 
18,34, as XylvlrtijHx), < Gr. ii'/.oi>, wood, -I- Tpv- 
irav, bore.] A genus of very large lamellicorn 
beetles, related to Dynn.Hlts, as A', gidcon of Ma- 
lacca, which attacks the cocoanut. The cephalic 
horn of the males is always forked, and the thoracic honi 
sonietiiues i)ifld. About a dozen sjjecies are known, be- 
longing mainly to the Australasian fauna. 
Xyricnthys (zi-rik'this), n. [NL. (Cuvicr and 
\ alenciennes, 1839). also Xirichthys, Zyrichthys ; 
< Gr. ffpoi', a razor, -I- (^"I'r, a fish.] In ichtli., 
a genus of brilliantly colored labroid fishes, of 
tropical seas, known as ra^or-finhcs. x. rermicn- 
latuil is West Indian, and differs little from the European 
type of the genus. A'. tineatuK of the West Indies, and oc- 
casional on the southern co.iat of the United States, is rose- 
red with a large blotch on each side below the pectorals. 
Xyridaceae (zir-i-da'se-e), w. })l. [NL., < .\yris 
(•ii(-) + -«rf,r.] Same as Xyridfir. 
Xjrridaceous (zir-i-da'shius), «. Characterized 
like Xyris : belonging to the Xyride^ (Xyrida- 
reir). 
XyrideaB(zi-rid'e-e), >i.p1. [NL. (Kunth, 181.5), < 
Xyris (Xyrid-) -f- -ea?.] Anorderof monocotyle- 
donouH plants, of the scries Cnrnnnrieif. It is 
characterized by slightly irregular bisexual flowers, ses- 
xystus 
sile and solitary under imbricated bracts in a terminal 
head. The perianth consists of three equal broad-spread- 
ingdelicate corolla-lobes, and a single laige petaloid cadu- 
cous sepal which wraps around the corolla, or is in the 
tropical American genus Abolboda absent. Tiiere are per- 
haps 48 species, belonging mostly to tlie genus Xyris 
(the type), the others to Abolboda. They are usually per- 
ennials, growing in tufts in wet places, cluefly in warm 
countries. They resemble the sedges and rushes in habit, 
the Heatiacese in the structureof their seeds, and the spider- 
worts in that of their ovules. 
Xyris (zi'ris), n. [NL. (Linnteus, 1737; earlier 
in Lobel, 1581), so called from the sharp-edged 
leaves; < Gr. fvp.V, a species of Iris, perhaps /. 
fwtidissima, < ^vpov, a razor, < ^veiv, scrape.] A 
genus of plants, type of the order Xyridcee. It is 
characterized by flowers with a broad petaloid sepal which 
is very caducous, and a style without any appendage. 
About 40 species have been described, but not all are now 
thought distinct. They are tufted herbs, the stems usu- 
ally flattish and two-edged, with linear rigid or grass- 
like leaves, and small globose or ovoid flower-l>eads with 
very closely imbricated rigid bracts. They are known as 
yellow-eyed grass, from the yellow petals; 17 species oc- 
cur in the southern United States, mostly in sands and 
pine-barrens; 4 extend northward, of which X. ^aJUO^rt, 
with a twisted, and X. Caroliniaua, with a flattish scape, 
occur from Massachusetts to Florida ; X. Jimbriata and 
A', torta occur in pine-barrens from New Jersey south- 
ward. The leaves and roots of X. Indica are used as a 
remedy against leprosy and the itch iu India, as are also 
those of X. Americana in Guiana and of X. vagiiiata in 
Brazil. 
xyst (zist), ti. [< L. xystiis, also xystiim, < Gr. ftw- 
t6(, a covered portico (so called from its pol- 
ished floor), < fftrriif, scraped, smoothed, pol- 
ished, < ^i-eiv, scrape, plane, smooth, polish.] 
In anc. arch., a covered portico or open court, 
of great length in proportion to its width, in 
which athletes performed their exercises; or. 
in Roman villas, sometimes, a garden walk 
planted with trees. Also xystos, xi/stiis. 
Xysta (zis'tii), ti. [NL. (Meigen, 1824), < Gr. 
ftwTof: see xyst.] 1. A genus of dipterous in- 
sects, belonging to the Muscidse cahj})tratee and 
subfamily Phasinee. They are medium-sized or small 
somewhat 'hairy flies of black or gray color, whose meta- 
morphoses are not known. Few species have been de- 
scribed, of which but one is North American. 
2. A genus of tenebrionid beetles, synonymous 
with Eleeodcs (Eschscholtz, 1829). 
zystarcll (zis'tark), H. [< LL. xystorches, < Gr. 
^vnrapxm, tlie director of a xyst, < ^vardq, a cov- 
ered portico, xyst, -t- apxeiv, rule.] An Athe- 
nian officer who presided over the gymnastic 
exercises of the .xyst. 
xyster (zis'ter), n. [< Gr. ivarf/p, a scraping- 
tool, < ii'iiv, scrape: see xyst.] 1. A surgeons' 
instrument for scraping bones. — 2. [cap.] 
[NL.] A genus of fishes. iMccpede. 
Xysticus (zis'ti-kus), «. [NL. (Koch, 183,')), < 
Gr. ^variKiii;, of or for scraping, < f iwrdf, scraped : 
see xysl.] A large genus of laterigrade spiilers, 
of the family Tliomisidee. About 30 species are 
described from North America. 
xystos (zis'tos), «. [NL. orL. : seerysf.] Same 
as X(/.s■^ 
Xystrocera (zis-tros'e-rii), II. [NL. (Serville. 
1834), < Gr. ^iarpa, a scrapor, + hTpaf, horn.] 
In entom., a genus of tropical longicorn beetles 
of large size, and usually of a reddish-yellow 
color variegated with metallic green. About 
30 species are known, nearly all from African 
and Australasian faunas. 
Xystroplites (zis-trop-li'tez), n. [NL. (Jordan 
MSS., Cope, 1877), < Gr. ^iarpa, a scraper (< 
frc/i', scrape), -t- o-kXitiji;, amied.] A genus of 
centrarchoid fishes, distinguished from Lepomis 
by the blunt pharyngeal teeth. A species is 
found in Texas, usually called Lcpiiinis herns. 
XystUS (zis'tus), H. 1. Sameasir(/.s7. — 2. [cap.'] 
[Nlj.l A generic name variously applied to 
certain hyraenopterous, coleopterous, and lepi- 
dopterous insects. 
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