in botany: A genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the tetrandra clas of plants.—The perianth is four-leaved, coloured, and permanent, the leaflet oblong-eggged and obtuse; there is no corolla, unless the calyx be considered as such. There are four or eight filaments, shorter than the calyx, approaching by pairs, permanent; the anthers are small. The germ is large and roundish; the style very short; the stigma simple and obtuse. The berry is globular, sitting on the green reflected calyx, one-celled with an incurved point. There is one seed, lensform and rugged. This plant is called Solonoides by Tournefort, and Piercea by Miller. It grows naturally in most of the islands of the West Indies. The juice of the berries of the plant will stain paper and linen of a bright red colour, and many experiments made with it to colour flowers have succeeded extremely well in the following manner: the juice of the berries was pressed out, and mixed with common water, putting it into a phial, shaking it well together for some time, till the water was thoroughly tinged; then the flowers, which were white and just fully blown, were cut off, and their stalks placed into the phial; and in one night the flowers have been finely variegated with red; the flowers on which the experiments were made were the tuberose, and the double white narcissus.