n& HOUTUS JAMAICENSIS. lavenia 



style, and two-lo1)ed stigma; there is no pericarp, calyx converging with the 

 month, aud guarding Uie seed ; seeds four, ob-ovate, 



SMCA. SPIKED. 



Leaves sessile, lanceolate-lineur, rolled back at the edge; spilic interrupted, 

 nuked. 



Common lavender has a perennial, thick woody root; stem shrubbv, branched, fre- 

 t^uently rising five or six feet high, four-cornered, acute anglcLl, tomenlose ; leaves 

 numerous, blunt, hoary, the upper ones sessile, the lower petioled. The flowers are 

 produced ia terminating spikes, on long peduncles ; the spikes are composed of inter- 

 rupted whorls, in wliich the flowers are from six to ten, the lower, whorls more remote. 

 The common colour of the corolla is blue, but it varies with white flowers. The whole 

 plant is covered witii a down composed of forked hairs. This plant has long been cele- 

 brated for its virtues, atid fine aroma'^ic scent. Whether used externally or internally, 

 Dr Cullen thought it a powerful stimulant to the nervous system ; it is also in esteen 

 for putting among clothes. The flowers are gathered by cutting the spikes close in a 

 dry day, and tying them in small bunches for use. They are given in palsies, vertigos, 

 lethargies, tremors, and s.uppression of menstrua. The compound spirit distilled from 

 them IS celebrated for destroying the pecliculi ungidnales, and other cutaneous insects. 

 If soft spungy paper, dipped in this oil, either alone, or mixed with oil of almonds, be 

 applieu at night to tlie parts infected, the insects will certainU', says Geofl"roy, be all 

 found dead in the morning. The lavender plant has been long and generally cultivated 

 in the gardens of Jamaica; and the following species hare also been introduOed : 

 Stoechas, or French lavender; the dentata, or tooth-leaved; and the tnuliijida, or 

 f^intiry lavender. All the species are easily propagated by slips or cuttings. 



No English Name. LAVENIA. 



Cl. 19, OR. 1. ^i/)igenesia polygamia tequaUs. Nat. or. Compnsit/e. 

 Gen. char. Calyx common, sub-imbricate; scales ten to fourteen, lanceolate, 

 equal, permanent; corolla compound, uniform; stamens five filiform filaments, 

 shorter than the tube ; anthers oblong, flattish, twin, slightly connate ; the pistil 

 has an oblong germ, a filiform two-parted style, and a flattish clubbed stigma; 

 there is no pericarp ; the calyx permanent, spreading ; seeds sub-clavate, a little 

 'wrinkled, viscid with glandules ; down with three awl-shaped awns, glanJulose at 

 the base ; receptacl* naked. One species is a native of Jamaica. 



DECUMBENS. DEC OMBENT. 



Chrysa'iithemum sylvaticw.n repens minus, chamwdryos folio, flore 

 iuteo imdo,semine i-ostrato. Sloane, v. 1, p. 262, t. 155, f 2. 

 Jlcrbaceum, erectuvi ; foliis cordatis, crenatis, oppositis; capitulis 

 paucioribus, remoiis, terminalibus. Browne, p. 316. 



Stem simple, decumbent; leaves sub^ordate, bluntly serrate. 

 Stem herbaceous ; leaves opposite, petioled, cordate, sometimes, but seldom, ovate, 

 tlunt, bluntly serrate i peduncles terminating, long, usually bifid, aad two-flowered ; 



calyx 



