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e large edible berry of the Sarcocephalus esculentus, a rubiaceous climbing shrub of west tropical Africa. -- Palm peach, the fruit of a Venezuelan palm tree (Bactris speciosa). -- Peach color, the pale red color of the peach blossom. -- Peach-tree borer (Zoöl.), the larva of a clearwing moth (Ægeria, or Sannina, ex…

ccount of its pearly color. -- Pearl oyster (Zoöl.), any one of several species of large tropical marine bivalve mollusks of the genus Meleagrina, or Margaritifera, found in the East Indies (especially at Ceylon), in the Persian Gulf, on the coast of Australia, and on the Pacific coast of America. Called also pearl sh…

ny one of the several hundred species of the genus Piper, widely dispersed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the earth.

A genus of lowly organized arthropods, found in South Africa, Australia, and tropical America. It constitutes the order Malacopoda.

A genus of oceanic birds including the tropic birds.

ied to other compounds having similar properties. -- Metallic phosphorus (Chem.), an allotropic modification of phosphorus, obtained as a gray metallic crystalline substance, having very inert chemical properties. It is obtained by heating ordinary phosphorus in a closed vessel at a high temperature. -- Phosphorus di…

A physician. [R.] Shak. Physic nut (Bot.), a small tropical American euphorbiaceous tree (Jatropha Curcas), and its seeds, which are well flavored, but contain a drastic oil which renders them dangerous if eaten in large quantities.

erchiefs, etc., made from the fiber of the pineapple leaf, and perhaps from other fibrous tropical leaves. It is delicate, soft, and transparent, with a slight tinge of pale yellow.

erchiefs, etc., made from the fiber of the pineapple leaf, and perhaps from other fibrous tropical leaves. It is delicate, soft, and transparent, with a slight tinge of pale yellow.

A tropical plant (Ananassa sativa); also, its fruit; -- so called from the resemblance of the latter, in shape and external appearance, to the cone of the pine tree. Its origin is unknown, though conjectured to be American.

(Piper nigrum) is the type. There are about a dozen genera and a thousand species, mostly tropical plants with pungent and aromatic qualities.

A cactaceous shrub (Cereus Pitajaya) of tropical America, which yields a delicious fruit.

A treelike perennial herb (Musa paradisiaca) of tropical regions, bearing immense leaves and large clusters of the fruits called plantains. See Musa.

her allied genera of the family Pleurotmidæ. The species are very numerous, especially in tropical seas. The outer lip has usually a posterior notch or slit.

A prickly tropical shrub (Cæsalpinia, formerly Poinciana, pulcherrima), with bipinnate leaves, and racemes of showy orange-red flowers with long crimson filaments.

Any one of numerous species of tropical food fishes of the family Polynemidæ. They have several slender filaments, often very long, below the pectoral fin. Some of them yield isinglass of good quality. Called also threadfish.

Pertaining to the Pomacentridæ, a family of bright-colored tropical fishes having spiny opercula; -- often called coral fishes.

er and an enormous root. It is common in sandy places in the United States. (b) A similar tropical American plant (I. fastigiata) which it is thought may have been the original stock of the sweet potato.

rthern Atlantic States is Opuntia vulgaris. In the South and West are many others, and in tropical America more than a hundred more. O. vulgaris, O. Ficus-Indica, and O. Tuna are abundantly introduced in the Mediterranean region, and O. Dillenii has become common in India. -- Prickly pole (Bot.), a West Indian palm (B…

The wood of two small tropical American trees (Hamelia ventricosa, and Cordia gerascanthoides). It is brownish, veined with lighter color.