JACOB n.
e shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel. Gen. xxxii. 28. Jacob's ladder. (a) (Bot.) A perennial herb of the genus Polemonium (P. coeruleum), having corymbs of drooping flowers, usually blue. Gray. (b) (Naut.) A rope ladder, with wooden steps, for going aloft. R. H. Dana, Jr. (c) (Naut.) A succession of short cracks…
JERUSALEM n.
girasole i.e., sunflower, or turnsole. See Gyre, Solar.] (Bot.) (a) An American plant, a perennial species of sunflower (Helianthus tuberosus), whose tubers are sometimes used as food. (b) One of the tubers themselves. -- Jerusalem cherry (Bot.), the popular name of either of either of two species of Solanum (S. Pseu…
LILY n.
head of peculiar shape, used in capturing swordfish. -- Lily of the valley (Bot.), a low perennial herb (Convallaria majalis), having a raceme of nodding, fragrant, white flowers. -- Lily pad, the large floating leaf of the water lily. [U. S.] Lowell. -- Tiger lily (Bot.), Lilium tigrinum, the sepals of which are bl…
MOUNTAIN a.
of a brownish color, used in crayon painting; saxonite. -- Mountain sorrel (Bot.), a low perennial plant (Oxyria digyna with rounded kidney-form leaves, and small greenish flowers, found in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and in high northern latitudes. Gray. -- Mountain sparrow (Zoöl.), the European tree sparr…
MUSA n.
A genus of perennial, herbaceous, endogenous plants of great size, including the banana (Musa sapientum), the plantain (M. paradisiaca of Linnæus, but probably not a distinct species), the Abyssinian (M. Ensete), the Philippine Island (M. textilis, which yields Manila hemp), and about eighteen other species. See Illust…