

PENTANDRTA. MONOGYNU. Verbascum. ' 245 



I 



VERBA'SCUM. Bloss. wheel-shaped, nearly re- 

 gular: caps. 2-celled; 2-valved; many- 

 seeded. 



i 



V. Leaves decurrent, cottony on both sides: stem un- Thap'sus. 



branched : summit globular. 



Fl. dan. 631 -J?, hot. te<thWood<v. 125-Black<w. 3-Knipb. 9. 



From 4 to 6 feet high. Flowers in a long terminating spike. 

 Bloss. yellow ; rarely white. 



Great White Mullein. High Taper. C onus Lungwort. Ladies 



Foxglove. Dry ditch banks, in chalky and gravelly soil. 



B.July.* 



Var. 2. Tbapso-nigrum. Leaves egg-oblong ; lower ones 

 on leaf-stalks, middle ones sitting, upper ones decurrent : stem 

 branched: flowers several together, sitting. Mr. Robson. 



I am indebted to Mr. Robson, of Darlington, for this curious 

 hybrid plant, together with the following account of it. 



This was the produce of V. Thapsus and nigrum. In the 

 spring of 17&9> I planted a root of V. nigrum near a plant of the 

 V. Thapsus. Both species flowered well, and the latter was suf- 

 fered to stand and shed its seed. In the spring of 1790, several 

 plants appeared, different from either, but partaking of both 

 species. 



The specimen sent was taken from a plant which has come up 

 and flowered for $ years successively, but produces no perfect 

 seed. Whole plant hairy ; hairs branched. Root branched, pe- 

 rennial. Stem 5 or 6 feet high ; branched from the bottom. 

 ■Branches undivided, long, angular, lower part leafy. Leaves 

 egg-oblong, wrinkled, scolloped : lower ones on leaf-stalks ; 

 middle one sitting; upper ones decurrent, more acute than the 

 lower ; gradually diminishing to floral-leaves, and at length to 

 flower-scales. Spikes terminating the branches, 1~ to 2 feet long, 

 composed of many clusters of sitting flowers, about 6 or J in each. 

 Cal. segments spear-shaped. Bloss. segments inversely heart- 

 shaped, nearly equal, yellow. Filaments yellow, hairy, hairs 

 purple, 2 of them hairy only on one side. Anthers orange. 

 Germ, woolly. It is difficult to say to which of its parents it is 

 *nost nearly allied. In V. Thapsus the leaves are decurrent, in 

 nigrum on leafstalks ; in the hybrid the lower leaves have leaf- 

 stalks, the upper ones being decurrent. V. Thapsus has 3 of its 



Externally used it is emollient. Dr. Home advises a decoction of 

 n * 2 ounces to a quart, in diarrhoeas of an old standing ; he gave a quart 

 evt ' r .v day. Cini. Exp. p. 439, It eases the pains of the intestines; it is 

 u Wd as an injection m tenesmus with advantage; and is often applied ex- 

 ternally to the piles. 16. — It is said to intoxicate fish 60 that they may be 

 taken with the hand.— In Norway they give it to cows that are consump- 

 live— The down serves for tinder.— Neither cows, goats, sheep, horse*, • 



°i *wme will eat it. 





