M O N 
M O N 
695 
a foetus, or conception; becaufe the germen has, from 
the firil, the rudiments of but one feed, by which this 
genus is diftinguilhed from others of its natural order.] 
In botany, a genus of the clafs pentandria, order mono- 
gynia, natural order epacridese, Brown. Generic charac¬ 
ters—Calyx : perianthiufn inferior, of five equal ereft con¬ 
cave permanent leaves, with a pair of fmaller ones at the 
bafe, which are fometimes deciduous. Corolla : of one 
petal, funnel-fhaped, twice the length of the calyx; its 
limb in five equal, fpreading, fmooth, beaked Segments; 
throat naked and pervious ; neftary a lobed cup-fhaped 
gland, furrounding the bafe of the germen. Stamina : 
filaments five, thread-fliaped, equal, inferted into the 
tube of the corolla, Ihorter than its limb ; anthers ob¬ 
long, incumbent. Piftillum: germen'fuperior, roundilh; 
ftyle columnar, fhort; Itigma obtufe. Pericarpium: 
drupe oval, pulpy; nut folitary, oval, of one cell. Seed : 
folitary.— EJJential Cha,“a 6 ier. Outer calyx of two leaves ; 
corolla five-cleft, funnel-fhaped, naked at the mouth and 
border; germen fingle-feeded ; drupe pulpy. This is a 
New-Holland genus of fhrubs, or fmall trees, leparated by 
Mr. Brown (Prod. Nov. Holl. i. 546.) from the Stypheliae 
of preceding authors, on account of the above characters. 
There are five fpecies. 
I. Outer calyx deciduous. Small trees, with dioecious 
flowers. 
1. Monotoca elliptica: clufters ereft, either nearly ter¬ 
minal and aggregate, or axillary and folitary ; leaves el¬ 
liptic-oblong, four times as long as broad. Sent by Dr. 
J. White, in 1793, from the neighbourhood of Port Jack- 
fon, New South Wales, where it was alfo gathered by 
Mr. Brown. The branches are varioufly divided, round, 
leafy, downy when young. Leaves numerous, fcarcely 
an inch long, entire, tipped with a fpinous point ; dark 
glaucous green and fmooth above ; pale, convex, with 
fomewhat radiating, but nearly parallel, ribs beneath, 
flowers fcarcely a line in length. 
2. Monotoca albens: clufters ereft, folitary, either 
terminal or axillary ; leaves oblong-linear, acute, fpinous- 
pointed, white beneath. Native of Port Jackfon. Like 
the former; but the leaves are longer, narrower, and paler, 
more tapering at the point, their edges appearing mi¬ 
nutely crenate under a microfcope. 
3. Monotoca lineata : fpikes axillary, very fhort, droop¬ 
ing, ftalked ; leaves elliptic-oblong, acute, fpinous- 
pointed, nearly flat. Native of Van Diemen’s Land, 
where it was gathered by Labillardiere and Brown. The 
fhape of the leaves is moft like the firft fpecies ; but the 
very fhort, axillary, ftalked, obtufe fpikes (not clufters), 
which Mr. Brown fays are drooping, though the French 
author reprefents them ereft, diliinguifh the prefent plant. 
The germen is, erroneoufly it feems, drawn with five cells 
in Labillardier’s plate. 
II. Outer calyx permanent. Shrubs, with both organs of 
the flower perfeft. 
4. Monotoca fcoparia : fpikes axillary, very fhort, near¬ 
ly feflile, drooping, of few flowers ; leaves linear-oblong, 
lomewhat revolute. Stem ereft. Native of Port Jackon, 
New South Wales. The ftem is very bufhy, branched in 
a determinate manner, fmooth throughout. Leaves nu¬ 
merous, about half an inch long, narrower, but fomewhat 
elliptical, entire, fpinous-tipped, the edges reflexed. 
Flowers fmall, three or four, in a little recurved, minute¬ 
ly brafteated, fpike. 
5. Monotoca empetrifolia : fpikes axillary, drooping, of 
two or three flowers. Leaves oblong-oval, pointed, diva¬ 
ricated ; convex above ; ftriated and whitifh beneath 
Stem proftrate. Gathered by Mr. Brown in Van Diemen’s 
Land. 
MON'OTONE, f. [See Monotony.] Uniformity of 
found ; want of proper cadence in pronunciation. — A 
kind of chaunt that frequently varies very little from a 
moiwtone. ftlafm on Church Mujick. 
MONOTON'ICAL, adj. Having an unvaried found ; 
wanting variety in cadence.—We fliould not be lulled to 
ileep by the length of a monotunical declamation. Ld. Chef- 
terjield. 
MONOT'ONOUS, adj. Wanting variety in cadence.— 
Every line was perhaps uniformly recited to the fame mo¬ 
notonous modulation. Warton's Iii/t. E. P. Emend. —The 
melodies, whether old or new, ought to be executed in a 
lefs monotonous, and confequently more intelligible, Plan¬ 
ner. Mafon on Ch. Mujick. 
MONOTONY, f. [from the Gr. povoc, Angle, and rim?, 
a tone.] Uniformity of tone, want of variety in cadence. 
■—I could objeft to the repetition of the fame rliimes 
within four lines of each other as tirefome to the ear 
through their monotony. Pope's Letters. 
Monotony is laid to be one of the principal faults of 
our Englifh orators. Dr. Blair obferves alfo, that mono¬ 
tony is the great fault into which writers $re apt to fall, 
who are fond of harmonious arrangement; and to have 
only one tune, or meafure, is not much better than hav¬ 
ing none at all. This fault is obfervable in two of our 
bell writers, Johnfon and Gibbon. A very vulgar ear will 
enable a writer to catch fome one melody, and to form the 
run of his fentences according to it; which foon proves 
difgufting. But a juft and correft ear is requifite for va¬ 
rying and diverfifying the melody ; and hence we fo fel- 
dom meet with authors who are remarkably happy in this 
refpeft. 
MONOTRI'GLYPH, f. The fpaceof one triglyph be¬ 
tween two pilallers. 
MONOT'ROPA, f. [received that appellation from 
Linnaeus, in exchange for Hypopitys, though the altera¬ 
tion feems by no means for the- better. The word is 
formed from p.<wos, one; and rg£ rta, to regard or confider 3 
alluding to the regard paid by its author to the Angle ter¬ 
minal flower, for the determination of the clafs and genus, 
in preference to the lateral ones, according to a favourite 
principle affumed by liimfelf and exemplified in this genus, 
Ruta, Adoxa, Chryfofplenium, and others. The name 
previoufly bellowed on this plant by Bauhin and Dille- 
nius, from otto, under; and it.Clog, a fir-tree, alluding to 
its perhaps invariable ftation, was liable to no exception.] 
Bird’s Nest ; in botany, a genus of the clafs decandria, 
order monogynia. Generic charafters—-Calyx -. none, un- 
lefs the five outer petals be taken for a coloured calyx. 
Corolla : petals ten, oblong, parallel-ereft, ferrate at the 
tips, deciduous, of which the alternate outer ones are 
gibbous at the bafe, inwardly concave melliferous. Sta¬ 
mina : filaments ten, awl-fhaped, ereft, Ample ; antherae 
Ample. Piftillum : germen roundilh, acuminate; ftyle 
cylindric, the length of the ftamens ; ftigma blunt-headed. 
Pericarpium : caplule ovate, five-cornered, blunt, five^ 
valved. Seeds: numerous, chaffy. Such is the terminat¬ 
ing flower; but, if there be any lateral flowers, they ex.- 
elude a fifth part of the number, in all parts of the fruc¬ 
tification.— Effential Charader. Calyx none ; petals ten, 
the five outer hollowed-melliferous at the bale ; capfule 
five-valved, a fifth part excluded in fome. There are four 
fpecies. 
1. Monotropa hypopitys, or yellow, bird’s-neft : flowers 
fpiked, externally fmooth, as well as their braftes ; the 
lateral ones oftandrous. Native of fir-woods in Europe 
and North America, growing parafitically on the roots of 
thofe trees, and flowering in July. Dillenius fays, on the 
authority of Mr. Manningham, that it gro.ws-alfo in beech- 
woods. Michaux afferts the American plant to be bu-t 
half the flzeof the European. With us it is nearly a fpan 
high, of the fize reprelented in the Engraving, fig. 1. 
The whole herb fucculent, of a pale ftraw-coiour, turning 
brownifli when arrived at maturity, and then acquiring a 
fragrant fmell, like that ofprimrofe flowers, though gene¬ 
rally compared to their roots. The ftem is Ample, thick, 
round, clothed with fcattCred ovate feales, rather than 
leaves, and terminating in a ipike of feveral flowers, at 
firft drooping, finally ereft. Each flower is accompanied 
b£. 
