VOCABULARY. 
167 
Pr as'imps. Green, like a leek. 
Praten'sis. Growing in meadow land. 
Prickle. Differs from the thorn in be¬ 
ing fixed to the bark, the thorn is 
fixed to the wood. 
Prismatic. Having several parallel 
flat sides. 
Probos'cis. An elongated nose or snout, 
applied to projecting parts of vegeta¬ 
bles. 
Process. A projecting part. 
Procum'bent. Lying on the ground. 
Proliferous. A flower is said to be 
proliferous when it has smaller ones 
growing out of it. 
Prop. Tendrils and other climbers. 
Prox'imus. Near. 
Pseudo. When prefixed to a word, it 
implies obsolete or false. 
Pubes'cent. Hairy, downy, or woolly. 
Pulp. The juicy cellular substance of 
berries and other fruits. 
Pulverulent. Turning to dust. ' 
Pidmilus. Small, low. 
Punctate. Appearing dotted. See Per¬ 
forated. 
Pungent. Sharp, acrid, piercing. 
Purpu'reus. Purple. 
PusiVlus. Diminutive, low. 
Puta'men. A hard shell. 
Pyriform. Pear-shaped. 
Pyx'ide. (From puxis , a box.) Name 
of one of Mirbel’s genera of fruits. 
Q, 
Quadran/gular. Having four corners 
or angles. 
Quater'nate. Four together. 
Quinate. Five together. 
R 
Raceme. (From rax, a bunch of grapes, 
a cluster.) That kind of inflores¬ 
cence in which the flowers are ar¬ 
ranged by simple pedicels on the sides 
of a common peduncle; as the cur¬ 
rant. 
Ra'chis. The commom stalk to which 
the florets and spikelets of grasses 
.are attached ; as in wheat heads. 
Also the midrib of some leaves and 
fronds. 
Radiate. The ligulate florets around 
the margin of a compound flower. 
Ra'dix. A root; the lower part of the 
plant which performs the office of at¬ 
tracting moisture from the soil, and 
communicating it to the other parts 
of the plant. 
Rad’ical. Growing from the root. 
Radicle The part of the corculum 
which afterward forms the root ; 
also the minute fibres of a root. 
Ra'meus. Proceeding from the branches. 
35* 
Ramif erous. Producing branches. 
Ramose. Branching. 
Ramus. A branch. 
Ray. The outer margin of compound 
flowers. 
Recep'tacle. The end of a flower-stalk; 
the base to which the different parts 
of fructification are usually attached. 
Reclined. Bending over with the end 
inclining towards the ground. 
Rectus. Straight. 
Rccurv'ed. Curved backwards. 
Reflex'ed. Bent backwards, more than 
recurved. 
Reg'male. (From regma , to break with 
an explosion.) Name of one of Mir¬ 
bel’s genera of fruits. 
Ref rig'er ant. (From refrigero , to cool.) 
Cooling medicines. 
Re'niform. Kidney-shaped, heart-shap¬ 
ed without the point. 
Rcpand. Slightly serpentine, or wav¬ 
ing on the edge. 
Repcns. Creeping. 
Resu'pinate. Upside down. 
Reticulate. Veins crossing each other 
like net-work. 
Retuse. Having a slight notch in the 
end, less than emarginate. 
Reversed. Bent back towards the base. 
Rev’olute. Rolled backward or out¬ 
ward. 
Rhomboid. Diamond-form. 
i Rib. A nerve-like support to a leaf. 
Riband-like. Broader than linear. 
Rigid. Stiff, not pliable. 
Ring. The band around the capsules 
of ferns. 
Ringent. Gaping or grinning; a term 
* applied to some labiate corollas. 
Root. The descending part of a vege¬ 
table. 
Rootlet. A fibre of a root, a little root. 
Rosaceous. A corolla formed of round¬ 
ish spreading petals, without claws 
or with very short ones. 
Rose’us. Rose-coloured. 
Rostel. That pointed part of the em¬ 
bryo, which tends downward at the 
first germination of the seed. 
Rostrate. Having a protuberance like 
a bird’s beak. 
Rotate. Wheel-form. 
Rotun'dus. Round. 
Rubra. Red. 
Rufous. Reddish yellow. 
Rugose. Wrinkled. 
Run'cinate. Having large teeth point¬ 
ing backward, as the dandelion. 
Rupcs'tris. Growing among rocks. 
i 
S 
Sagit'tate. Arrow-form. 
Saliferous. Bearing or producing salt. 
