Ys 
XANTHOCHYMUS, 
XANTHIUM. See Burwzep. 
XANTHOCHYMUS. A genus of yellow- 
| flowered, evergreen, tropical, small fruit-trees, of 
the guttiferous order. Seven species have been 
introduced to British hothouse collections from 
| India, and one from Guinea; and all very dis- 
tinctly possess the well-defined peculiar characters 
of the order to which they belong, and at the 
| same time produce a fruit sufficiently resembling 
that of Garcinia mangostana to win for them, 
throughout some parts of the East, the popular 
name of yellow mangosteens. Their generic 
botanical name of xanthochymus alludes also to 
one chief character of their fruit, and signifies 
“yellow juice.” Their fruit is a large rounded 
_ or oval berry, similar in appearance to a mango, 
but flatter, smooth, bright yellow, and in some 
cases about the size of an ordinary apple; and it 
contains a copious yellow pulp, of similar ap- 
pearance to liquid gamboge, and has a pleasant 
acidulous taste. All the species love a rich soil, 
and require to be raised from seeds, and refuse 
to fruit unless treated as analogously as possible 
to the circumstances of their native regions. 
The painter’s species, X. prctorvus, was introduced 
| to Britain in 1796, upwards of 20 years prior to 
the introduction of any of the other species; and 
the following brief notice, written in 1833, of a 
freely fruiting small plant of it in M. Boursalt’s 
collection in Paris, may be interesting :—“ This 
plant grows in a round box, 18 inches in diameter, 
plunged in a bark bed in the stove. The soil 
which agrees with it is pure heath mould, or ra- 
ther heath mould mixed with common garden 
soil or turfy loam. ‘The plant is 5 or 6 feet in 
height, and is devoid of branches for 2 or 3 feet 
up; the branches then commence, and form a 
rounded head, of no very great circumference. 
It is not upon atrellis. The stem at the bottom 
is not so thick as one’s wrist. The plant bears 
fruit as large as fine green gage plums (Lelles 
Reines Claudes), either single or more frequently 
united in twos, threes, or fours, and with flaves- 
cent flowers. It has borne fruit for several years, 
and receives no particular treatment. It is ne- 
cessary that it be kept in a hot and moist atmo- 
sphere, in a good hothouse; but, above all, the 
|, roots of the plant should be constantly kept very 
|| warm. 
| if the plant be kept any time out of the tan, it 
is immediately perceivable by the foliage. 
If the heat of the tan be weakened, or 
The 
fruit is delicious, and always cool, although ga- 
thered in a very warm atmosphere, and eaten 
immediately.” 
XEROPHYLLUM. 
xX 
American, evergreen shrub, of the ranunculus 
family. It constitutes a genus of itself; and is 
specifically called apizfolia, or the parsley-leaved. 
It was introduced to Britain upwards of 80 years 
ago. It has a height of about 3 feet, and blooms 
from February till April; and it loves a soil of 
sandy peat, and is propagated from suckers. 
XANTHORRHGA. A genus of curious, white- 
flowered, spring-blooming, evergreen, Australian 
plants, of the asphodel family. Six or seven spe- 
cies, varying in height from 2 to 5 feet, some 
shrubby, others herbaceous, and all loving a soil 
of sandy peat and propagable from suckers, have 
been introduced to the gardens of Britain. The 
name xanthorrhcea signifies “a yellow flowing,” 
and alludes to the exudation of a gummy fluid. 
XANTHOXYLUM. See Tootsacun-TREz. 
XERANTHEMUM. A genus of hardy, orna- 
mental, exotic, annual plants, belonging to the 
thistle division of the composite order. The 
name signifies ‘dry flower, and alludes to the 
durability of the flower, which is of the kind po- 
pularly called eternal or everlasting. Three spe- 
cies, comprising a number of varieties, princi- 
pally with either white or purple flowers, and all 
naturally blooming in July and August, have 
been introduced to Britain from the South of 
Europe and the Levant. The stem of the earli- 
est introduced and best known species—which 
comprises varieties with both white and purple 
flowers, and with both single and double ones— 
is slender, branched, angular, furrowed, downy, 
and about two feet high; the branches usually 
amount to four or five, and are leafy below and 
bare above, but carry the flowers on their extre- 
mity; the leaves are spear-shaped and hoary,— 
those of the stem sitting close to it yet spreading 
out from it, and measuring 14 inch in length and 
? of an inch in breadth,—and those of the branches 
similar but smaller; and the flowers are solitary, 
and comprise each a number of florets in one 
common, scaly, silvery-coloured calyx, and have 
such aconsistence that, if gathered when perfectly 
dry and kept from the air, they will retain their 
beauty during a great length of time. 
XEROPHYLLUM. A genus of ornamental, 
exotic, evergreen herbs, of the melanthium fa- 
mily. The name xerophyllum signifies “dry 
leaf,” and is descriptive. Three hardy species, 
the grassy, the tough-leaved, and the asphodel- 
like, all about 18 or 24 inches high, white-flow- 
ered, blooming in May and June, loving a soil of 
sandy peat, and propagable by radical division, 
have been introduced to Britain from North 
XANTHORIZA. An ornamental, hardy, North- | America;-and a hothouse medicinal species, X. 
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