VERBENA CEAE 677 



Ventenata Koel. Gramineae (9). 3 Eur., As. Minor. 



VentilagoGaertn. Rhamnaceae. ippalaeotrop. Some climb by hooks. 

 Fr. with wing on upper end, formed from style after fert. 



Ventral (surface), upper, towards axis, but not consistently used. 



Ventricose (C), with basal part swollen out all round. 



Venulose, thickly veined. 



Venus' comb, Scandix ; - flytrap, Dionaea ; - looking glass, Specularia. 



Veprecella Naud. Melastomaceae (i). 20 Madag. 



Vepris Comm. ex A. Juss. (Toddalia BH.}. Rutaceae (iv). 6 palaeo- 

 trop. 



Veratrilla Franch. Gentianaceae (i). i China. 



Veratrin, Sckoenocaulon, Veratrum. 



Veratrum (Tourn.) L. Liliaceae (i). 10 N. temp. Rhiz. with leafy 

 stem and racemes, lower fls. 5 but upper usu. <? by abortion (attdro- 

 monoecisui). Sometimes pi. occur with s fls. only. Protandr. Seeds 

 with membranous border. Veratrin is obtained from the rhiz. ; that 

 of V. album L. is known as white hellebore root. 



Verbascum Tourn. ex L. Scrophulariaceae (i. i). 180 N. temp. \%; 

 6 Brit, (mullein). Large perenn. herbs with stout tap-roots, wrinkled 

 like Taraxacum. Infl. primarily racemose, but lat. fls. often replaced 

 by condensed dichasia (cf. Labiatae). For structure and diagram see 

 fam. Fls. visited for pollen by bees and drone-flies. Those of several 

 formerly officinal (flores Verbasci). 



Verbena Linn. Verbenaceae (i). 100 trop. and temp. V. officinalis 

 L., the vervain (Brit.), was formerly in great repute as a remedy in 

 eye-diseases, its bright-eyed C, like that of Euphrasia, being supposed, 

 under the old doctrine of signatures, to indicate its virtues in that 

 direction. Several cult. orn. perf. fl. 



Verbena oil, I.ippia, Cyinbopogon. 



Verbenaceae (EP. ; BH. incl. Pluymaceae}. Dicots. (Sympet.Tubiflorae ; 

 Lamiales BH. ). About 70 gen., 750 sp. , almost all trop. and sub- 

 trop. Herbs, shrubs or trees; many lianes, e.g. sp. of Lantana, 

 Clerodendron, Vitex; xero. also, often armed with thorns, frequent. 

 L. usu. opp., rarely whorled or alt., entire or divided, exstip. Infl. 

 racemose or cymose, in the former case most often a spike or head, 

 often with an invol. of coloured bracts. The cymes usu. dich. with a 

 cincinnus tendency (cf. Caryophyllaceae) ; sometimes they also form 

 heads. 



Fl. usu. ? , -I-, usu. 5-merous. K (5) [or (48)], hypog.; C (5), 

 usu. with narrow tube, rarely campanulate, often 2-lipped; A 4, 

 didynamous, rarely 5 or 2, or of equal length, alt. with C-lobes, with 

 intr. anthers; G usu. (2), rarely (4) or (;), usu. 4-lobed, originally 2- 

 (or more) loc., but very early divided into 4 (or more) loc. by the 

 formation of a 'false' septum in each loc. (cf. Labiatae); plac. axile, 

 with 2 ov. per cpl. (i.e. i in each loc. after septation) ; ovules ana- 

 to ortho-tr., basal, lat. or pend., but always with the micropyle 

 directed downwards. Style term., rarely sunk between lobes of 

 ovary (contrast Labiatae); stigma usu. lobed. Fr. generally a drupe, 

 more rarely a caps, or schizocarp. Seed usu. exalbum. 



Several are useful as sources of timber, e.g. Tectona. See also 

 Lippia, Priva, Clerodendron, &c., for other economic uses. 



