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2j2 PENTANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. Chironia. 



CHIRO'NIA. Bloss. funnel-shaped : pistil leaning : 



st am. fixed to the top of the tube of the 

 blossom : anthers becoming spiral : seed- 

 less. 2-celled. 



Centau'rium. C. Herbaceous: leaves spear-shaped: calyx shorter than 



the tube of the blossom. 



Dicks, h. s.-Curt. 247-E. hot. \\7-Woodv. 157-Fl. dan. 

 6\J-Kniph. %-Walc.Sheldr. %'2-Fuchs. 387-J- B. Hi. 

 333. 2-Matth. 655-Dod. o36-Lol>. obs. 21&-Ger. em. 

 517. \-Park. 272. \-Black<w. 452- Trag. UQ-Ger. 43?- 

 H. ox. v. 26. roiv 1. .?. ' 



Bloss. sometimes only 4-cleff. Huds. and sometimes white. 

 Ray. Plant 10 or 12 inches high ; upright, dividing at the top 

 into 3 flowering branches ; and sometimes one or two flowering 

 branches spring from the bosom of the leaves on the side of the 

 stem. Flowers forming a Corymbus. Calyx adhering to the tube 

 of the blossom, and that again to the germen. Bloss. funnel- 

 shaped, tube long, yellowish : border pinky red, segments lap- 

 ping over each other. Anthers twisted in a spiral after discharg- 

 ing the pollen. Style cylindrical, cloven at the top, and divi- 

 sible without much force all the way down. Summits 2, shaped 

 like a horse- shoe, yellowish green. 



Lesser Cent ory. GentianaCentaurlum. Linn. Barren pastures. 



A. June — Aug.* 

 Var. 2. Much branched. 



Vaill. 6. I. 



Var. 3. Dwarf; hardly 1 inch high. This grows on barren 

 limestone rocks, and has much the appearance of the Ch. pul- 

 chella, but, however small, it still preserves its dichotomous ha- 

 bit, and its leaves have not the woody ribs or nerves so evident 

 in the Ch. pulchella. The calyx best distinguishes the Ch. pul- 

 chella from the starved specimens of Ch. Centaurium* 



properties, judiciously applied, render it capable of doing essential service 

 in several diseases, as may be seen in Mr. 6 at taker's Treatise on the So- 

 larium. But its effects on the nervous system are so uncertain, and some- 

 times so considerable, that it must ever be administered with the greatest 



caution, 

 pa i n 



twine refuse it. 



. The leaves externally applied abate inflammation, and assuage 

 The flowers smell like musk. Horses, cows, goats, sheep, and 



* Extremely bitter. It is the basis of the famous Portland Powder, 

 which prevents tits of the gout, when taken in a large quantity, and a 

 long tune together; but brings on hardness of the liver, palsy, and apo- 

 plexy. A tincture of the leaves, and the upper part f the root, is a good 

 medicine in weak stomachs and cachectic habit*. A decoction ot the 

 whole plant destroys lice, and cures the itch.— Cows are not fond of it. 

 Linn, and in sheep pastures it is frequently left untouched. Dr. Srofcts- 



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