56. 



VERBENA LAMBERTI. 



Lambert's Vervain. 



DiDYNAMIA. AnGIOSPERMIxV. 



Class 14. Order 2. 



Verbena : from its being one amongst the herbs with which the 

 altars antl sacred places were adorned, and the chief priest was 

 crowned. The laurel, olive, myrtle, &c. were termed Verbenas for 

 the same reason. 



Linn. gen. n. 32. Bot. Mag. 2200. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Cal. Perianth one-leafed, angular, tubular, linear, five-toothed j the 

 fifth toothlet truncate, permanent. Cor. one-petalled, unequal j 

 tube cylindrical, straight for the length of the calyx, then widening 

 and curved in ; border spreading, half five-cleft; segments round- 

 ed, almost equal. Stum. Filaments two or four, bristle-shaped, 

 very short, lying within the tube of the corolla ; two of them 

 shorter (where there are four). Anthers curved in, as many as 

 there are filaments. Pist. Germ four-cornered. Style simple, fili- 

 form, length of the tube. Stigma obtuse. Per. very slender, and 

 scarcely manifest, or almost none. Calyx containing the seeds. 

 Seeds two or four, oblong. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



Spike solitary, long. Stem hairy, decumbent from the root. Leaves 

 deeply cut into lobes unto the e.\^tremity. 



Root biennial. Stem decumbent, from which the leaves and 

 shoots appear in pairs, very much haired, affording a marked 



