LIX. 



SPIGELIA. 



(SPIGELIA ANTHELMIA.) 



Annual Wormgrass. 



Synonyms. — Anthclmiiithia quadriphylla, Brown, Jam., 156, t. 37, f. 3 



Foreign Names.— Fr. : Brinvilliere, Poudre aux Vers. Germ.: Wurmtre- 



chende, Spigelia. 



Nat, Order, Stellate, Linn.; Gentianeje, Be Cand., Juss. 



Pektanpria, Monogynia. 



Gen. Chab.— Calyx five-parted. Corolla funnel-shaped, with a five-cleft 

 equal limb. Anthers converging. Capsule didynamous, two-celled, 



four-valved, many-seeded. 

 Spec. Chab. — Stem herbaceous, upper leaves in four. 



History. — This plant was first introduced as a medicine by 



owne 



produces sleep almost as certainly as opium. Lindley states 

 that the Spigelias participate in the noxious properties of 

 Strychnos; and these poisonous qualities were known m the 

 middle of the seventeenth century, as, on the authority of 

 Guibourt (Hist, des Drogues), Spigelia anthelmintica was an 

 ingredient in the poison mixtures, known by the name of 

 "Poudres de Succession/ 5 of Exili, St. Croix, and 

 de Brinvilliers. 



Madame 



Fig. 1. Section of the corolla, exposing the stamens. 2. The calyx. 3. Germen 



dissections 



from Nees V. Esenbeck. 



