GENTIANACE-iE. 



purging, and frequently powerful diaphoresis. Recommended in inter- 

 mittent and remittent fevers, gout, herpetic complaints, rheumatism, 

 dropsy, scurvy, and worms. 



VILLARSIA. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla rotate, 5-lobed ; the limb stupose 

 at the base, with the margins inflected. Glands 5, alternating 

 with the stamens. Stigma 2-lobed. Capsule 2-valved, with the 

 valves half bifid. Placentae in the suture. 



1106. Villarsia nymphaeoides Vent, clwix. 9. — Menyanthes 

 nymphaeoides Linn. sp. pi. 207. Eng. Bot. t. 217. Smith 

 Eng. Fl. i. 275. — In bogs upon the banks of large streams in 

 many parts of Europe. 



Rhizoma long and stringy. Stems several feet long, round, branching, 

 floating by means of their roundish-heart-shaped, very smooth leaves, 

 which are mottled above, purplish beneath ; involute in the bud, as in 

 Nymphaea and Nuphar. Flowers axillary, on simple aggregate stalks, 

 without bracteas. Corolla 1| inch wide, spreading, yellow, with a dark 

 radiating disk. Ovary with 5 purplish glands at the base. Stigma 

 notched, deciduous. Capsule ovate, compressed. — Stems are bitter, 

 tonic, and febrifugal. 



SPIGELIA. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 298. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla funnel-shaped, with a 5-cleft equal 

 limb. Anthers converging. Capsule didynamous, 2-celled, 

 4-valved, many-seeded. 



1107. S. marilandica Linn. syst. veg. 197. Bot. Mag. t. 80. 

 Woodv. med. bot. ii. t. 105. Bigelow med. Bot.\. t. 14. Torrey 

 fl. i. 222. — Lonicera marilandica Linn. sp. pi. ed. 3. p. 249. — 

 Rich soils about the borders of woods in the southern states of 

 N.America. (Carolina Pink root; Wormseed.) 



Root perennial, fibrous. Stems simple, 4-sided, and nearly smooth. 

 Leaves opposite, sessile, ovate, acuminate, entire, smooth, with the mar- 

 gins and veins sometimes pubescent. Raceme terminal, usually solitary. 

 Peduncles extremely short. Calyx persistent, with 5 linear-subulate, 

 finely serrulate divisions, which are reflexed in the ripe fruit. Corolla 

 funnel-shaped, 5 times as long as the calyx, scarlet or crimson without, 

 orange-coloured within, the tube inflated and angular at top, the limb 

 divided into 5 acute, spreading segments. Stamens very short, inserted 

 into the mouth of the corolla between the segments ; anthers oblong- 

 heart-shaped. Ovary small, superior, ovate. Style longer than the 

 corolla, jointed near its base and bearded at the extremity. Capsule 

 consisting of 2, cohering, 1-celled, globular carpels attached to a 

 common receptacle. — Both root and leaves are active anthelmintics ; 

 their efficacy is much impaired by keeping. Also purgative and narcotic 



