in botany: A genus of the monogy- Cerberus nia order, belonging to the pentandria clas of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 30th order, Contortae. The fruit is a monospermous plum. The most remarkable species is the araucaria, a native of the warm parts of America. It rises with an irregular stem to the height of eight or ten feet, sending out many crooked diffused branches, which towards their tops are garnished with thick succulent leaves of a lucid green, smooth, and very full of a milky juice. The flowers come out in loose bunches at the end of the branches; they are of a cream colour, having long narrow tubes, and at the top are cut into five obtuse segments, which seem twisted, so as to stand oblique to the tube. The wood of this tree stinks most abominably, and the kernels of the nuts are a deadly poison to which there is no antidote; so that the Indians will not even use the wood for fuel.