1504 



SELAGO* Gillii. 

 Dr. Gill's Selago. 



DIDYNAMIA ANGIOSPERMIA. 



Nat. ord. Selagine;e Choisy. {Introduction to the natural system 

 of Botany, p. 238.) 



SELAGO.— Supra, vol. Z.fol. 184. 



§. Calyce regulari 3-partito. Choisy. 

 S. Gillii; caule subangulato pubescente, foliis oppositis alternisque anguste 



ovatis acutis glabris, corymbis terminalibus multifloris, calyce tripartito 



pubescente. 

 S. Gillii. Hooker in bot. mag. 3028. 



Suffrutex erectus, ramosus, ramis levissime pubcscentibus, junioribus sub- 

 angulatis. Folia anguste ovata, acuta, subcarnosa, glabra, nunc opposita, 

 scepiiis alterna. Corymbimultiflori, terminates, bracteisparvis,ovato-subulatis, 

 pubescentibus. Galyx 3-partitus, pubescens, lacinid intermedial duplb an- 

 gustiore. Corolla purpurea, hypocrateriformis, tubo subincurvo, limbo patente 

 5-partito, laciniis linearibus obtusis. Stamina 4, didynama, paulb exserta ; 

 antherarum locidis divaricatissimis, glabris. Ovarium oblongum, biloculare, 

 ovulis solitariis ; stylus rectus, subglaber ; stigma simplicissimum. — Obs. 

 Analysis partium male reprcesentatur, incurid pictoris. 



A native of the Cape of Good Hope, where it was ori- 

 ginally found by Dr. Gill, whose name it bears. By 



* " An ancient generic name in the works of Pliny, who observes, that the 

 plant so called was in great repute among the Celtic nations; its juice being 

 expressed and used by the Druids as a remedy for many disorders, especially 

 for diseases in the eyes. The name indeed (says De Theis) is expressive of 

 this latter quality, being derived from the Celtic words sel, sight, and jack, 

 good or salutary. The celebrated hall of Fingal, recorded in Ossian's 

 poems, owes its appellation to the same source; Selma meaning beautiful to 

 behold, belle-vue. Selago has also been thought to be derived from selego, 

 to choose ; the Druids having gathered or selected it both for medicinal and 

 religious purposes. It is impossible to make out the reasons which induced 

 Linnaeus to apply this name to the genus under consideration, which appears 

 to have nothing in common with the celebrated succulent Selago of the 

 ancients." — Smith in Recs. 



