NAT. ORDER. 



Acanthacece, 



JUSTICIA CARNEA. FLESH-COLOEED JUSTICIA. 



Class II. DiANDRiA. Order I. Monogynia. 



Gen. Char. Caly.r, four or five divided. Corolla, monopetalous. 

 Limb, ring-ent, two-lipped. Stamens, two, both bearing anthers. 

 Ovarium, two-celled, seated in the disk. Style, one. Stigma, 

 two-lobed, rarely divided. Capsule, two-celled. Cells, two, 

 many seeded. 



Spe. Cliar. Leaves, opposite, rarely in fours. Flowers, usually op- 

 posite, in spikes, sometimes alternate, with three bracteas. 



The stem, of this plant is from four to five feet high, branched, the 

 branches four-sided ; lea,ves opposite, ample, on long petioles, ovate, 

 attenuated at the base, sharply acuminated at the extremity, glabrous, 

 entire, reticulated, gradually smaller upwards, where they pass into 

 bracteas, which are very numerous, the outer ones ovate-lanceolate, 

 inner ones small and linear ; corolla very long and of a beautiful rose 

 color, two-lipped, upper lip erect, entire, lower one revolute, three- 

 toothed ; antlicrs deep pui-ple. Native of Florida. 



Medical Properties and. Uses. This plant has, when rubbed, a 

 strong and not unpleasant smell, and is, after being roasted, prescribed 

 in India in cases of chronic rheumatism attended with swelling in the 

 joints. Jasticia bijlora is used in Egypt for poultices. Justicia Ec- 

 bolium is said to be diuretic. The flowers, leaves, and root of Justicia 

 Adhatoda are supposed to possess antispasmodic qualities. They are 

 bitterish and subaromatic. Justicia pectoralis, boiled in sugar, yields 

 a sweet-scented syrup which is considered in Jamaica a stomachic. 



Vol. IV.— 169. 



