Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/426

 414 MESEMBRYANTHEMUM MESHED plants called fig marigolds, and by the French Jicoides, as some species produce an edible "fruit resembling a tig. The genus is large, consisting of about 300 species, and the princi- pal one in a small family, the ficoidea or me- sembryanthemaceai. Some of the species are annual, others perennial, with half shrubby, branching stems, and in others the stem is very short, the leaves being collected in a compact rosette like a houseleek. They are natives of warm, dry countries, the greater number being from southern Africa; the leaves in all are exceedingly succulent and well adapted to resist the long droughts of their native regions. Perhaps half of the whole number are in cultivation ; the flowers are generally showy, and consist of four or five sepals united by the base and adhering to the ovary, and numerous, very narrow petals, which are often in several series and give the flowers much the appearance of a head of some composite plant; they are white or of different shades of yellow and rose color. The capsule has at the top a series of slits ar- ranged in a star-like manner; these slits re- main closed while the capsule is dry, but when the rains have rendered the soil suitable for the germination of the seeds, the slits open by the action of the moisture and allow them to escape. The best known annual species, M. crystallinum, is described under ICE PLANT. The perennials are cultivated as greenhouse plants, and are occasionally used for bedding out in summer. The flowers open only on bright days, and usually at noon, but the plants are cultivated quite as much for their striking and odd foliage as for their flowers. Mcscmbryanthemum dolabrifonne. The diversity of forms presented by the differ- ent species of this genus is remarkable. M. dolalriforrnt is so named from the resem- blance of the leaves to the ancient axe or hatchet ; in M. deltoideum a cross section of the leaf presents the outline of the Greek A ; both of these are tall and branching. M. tigri- num is one of the low compact species in which the leaves are fringed with strong, spiny teeth, suggestive of a tiger's jaw. The plants are of the easiest cultivation and re- Mesembryantheinum Leaves. 1. M. deltoideum. 2. M. felinum. quire but little water. For so large a genus it contains but few useful species. M. edule, the Hottentot's fig, has an edible fruit resem- bling a small fig, while the leaves of some spe- cies and the seeds of others serve as food. MESHED, or Meshid, a city of Persia, capital of the province of Khorasan, in an extensive valley of the same name, about 185 m. N. W. of Herat, 300 m. E. of the southern extremity of the Caspian sea, and 460 m. E. of Teheran ; lat. 36 20' N., Ion. 59 35' E. ; pop. estimated at 70,000. It is surrounded by walls 12 m. in circuit, enclosing much space occupied only by extensive burying grounds, and great tracts of ruins, the population being mostly confined to the centre. Its principal street is spacious and handsome. The place is chiefly known by the splendid mausoleums of Imam Riza, Haroun al-Raschid, and Nadir Shah. Next to Mecca, it is the most sacred place for a Shiah Mussul- man, and many pilgrims visit yearly the shrine of Imam Riza, which is crowned with a splen- did cupola and gilded minarets, and stands in a court 480 ft. long and 225 ft. broad. The court is incrusted with mosaic work of painted and glazed tiles, and entered by four lofty gateways. The shrine is entered through a sil- ver gate, the gift of Nadir Shah. Within the same court is the mosque of Gohur Shah, which is also very splendid. Meshed contains several colleges, a spacious but unfinished cara- vansary, and a palace which is also a citadel. There is an aqueduct whose banks are shaded with trees. Velvets esteemed the best in Per- sia, sword blades of celebrated temper, some kinds of armor, and some silk and cotton goods are manufactured; and many of the inhabi- tants are employed in cutting gems from the tur- quoise mines in the vicinity. There is an im- portant commerce, by the great caravan routes of Persia, with Bokhara, Khiva, Herat, Ker- man, Yezd, and other quarters ; rich caravans arrive daily. Near by are the ruins of Thus, the home of the poet Firdusi. The town suf- fered terribly from the famine of 1871.