217 



and Coutoubea alba and pnrpuroa. The root of Gentiana lutea, notwith- 

 standing; its bitterness, contains a considerable proportion of sugar: it is, on 

 this account, sometimes manufactured into brandy, for which purpose it i* 

 exported from some parts of Switzerland. Menyanthes trifoliata and Vil- 

 larsia nymphoides are bitter, tonic, and febrifugal ; and the same has been 

 remarked of Villarsia ovata. Essai Med. 216. Sabbatia annularis is held 

 in estimation in North America for its pure bitter, tonic, and stomachic vir- 

 tues. Barton, 1. 259. The root of Frazera Walter! is a pure, powerful, and 

 excellent bitter, destitute of aroma. It is accounted in North America not 

 inferior to the Gentian or Columbo of their shops. In its recent state it is 

 said to possess considerable emetic and cathartic powers. Ibid. 2. 109. The 

 roots of Lisianlhus pendnlus are used by the Brazilians in decoction as a 

 febrifuge : they are intensely bitter. Tachia guianensis exudes little yellow 

 drops of pellucid resin from the axillae of the leaves; its bitter root is used as 

 a febrifuge. Von Martins. 



Examples. Gentiana, Chironia, Sabbatia, Coutoubea. 



CXCVIII. SPIGELIACEyE. The Wormseed Tribe. 



Spigeliace^, Martins N. G. et Sp. 2. 132. (1828.) 



Diagnosis. Monopetalous dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a supe- 

 rior 2-celled ovarium, several ovules, a valvate corolla, dry fruit, and opposite 

 leaves. 



Anomalies. 



Essential Character Calyx inferior, regularly 5-parted. Corolla regular, with 



5 lobes, which have a valvate 2esti\'ation. Stamens 5, insertfd into the corolla all in the 

 same line ; pollen 3-cornered, with gloliular angles. Ovarium superior, 2-celled ; style 

 articulated with it, inserted ; stigma simple. Fruit capsular, 2-celled, 2-valved, the valves 

 txu-ned inwards at the margin and separating from the central placenta. Seeds several, 

 small ; testa single; embryo very minute, lying in copious fleshy albumen., with the radicle 



next the hilum Herbaceous plants or under- shrtibs. Leaves opposite, entire, with sti- 



pulae, or a tendency to produce them. Flowers arranged in 1 -sided spikes. Pubescence 

 simple or stellate. 



Affinities. This order was founded by Dr. Von Martius, from whose 

 splendid work upon the Brazilian Flora I extract the following remarks : — 

 " There are many reasons for separating Spigelia from Gentianese ; and I am 

 the more disposed to attend to those reasons, from seeing daily instances of 

 the necessity of establishing new orders, to avoid weakening the characters of 

 old ones. For example, Aquilarinese, Datiscese, Hamamelideae, and other 

 orders constructed upon a few species, are so many instances of this practice, 

 by which the science is both embellished and strengthened by our most 

 skilful botanists. With regard to Spigelia, if we retain it among Gentianeae, 

 I do not know how we are to distinguish that order with certainty from those 

 in its neighbourhood ; for this genus approaches Scrophularinese in the divi- 

 sion of the two valves of the fruit, and in the central, not parietal, origin of 

 the placentae ; and Rubiaceae in the insertion of the style into the ovarium, 

 and the distension of the petiole into the form of a stipula. Scrophularineae 

 are, indeed, so nearly related to Gentianeae, that the best botanists have 

 admitted that there are scarcely any marks of distinction between them, 

 besides the regular number of the stamens of the latter, and the simplicity 

 of the valves of the capsule." (The position of the pericarpial leaves with 



