A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Gun powder, an incendiary or explosive powder made of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal. The charcoal may derive from various vegetation, such as Willow or Oleander; it has a granular texture: pulvis pyrius: pulvis,-eris (s.m.III) pyrius (adj.A), abl. sg. pulvere pyrio.

NOTE: correctly spelled with a hyphen between the two words in the epithet.

- [NERIUM OLEANDER.] Arabes ex ejus carbone pulverem pyrium conficiunt (Desf.), the Arabs prepare ‘pyrogenic powder’ [i.e. gunpowder] from the charred remains of this [sc. plant].

- odore pulveris pyrii, with the odor of gunpowder.

Dendrophoma pulvis-pyrius, Melanomma pulvis-pyrius; Psilosphaeria pulvis-pyrius

Sphaeria pulvis-pyrius, Gunpowder Fungus (Sphaeria); “Sphaeria opaque black, the perithecia globose, extremely crowded and numerous, minute, minutely tuberculose-rugose.”