CHAP. LXXXVH, 



FEllBENA CE.*:. Kl TEX. 



1285 



CHAP. LXXXVII. 



OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDERS ERBENA'CE^. 



This order, wliich is closely allied to LabiacciB, consists chiefly of plants 

 natives of troj)ical countries ; ami, among these, the most remarkable is the 

 Teclona grandis Z,., or teak tree, the oak of India. This tree, Mr. Royle informs 

 us, has been planted as far north as Saharunporc, lat. 29"^ 57' n., or about 

 the parallel of the Canary Islands ; from which we should think it might be 

 grown in the south of England against a wall. 



Genus I. 



til 

 FPTEX L. The Chaste Tree. Lin. Sijst. Didynamia Angiospermia. 



Identification. Liii. Gen., No. 790. ; Reich , N o. 853. ; Sclircb.,No. KitiO. ; Toum.,t. TiS. ; Juss.,107. ; 



Grcrtn., t. 56. ; Mill. Icon,, t. 275. ; N. Uii Ham., G. p. 115. ; Linill. Nat. Syst. Kot., p. '278. ; Don's 



Mill., i. 

 Synonymcs. Gatilier, Fr. ; Kenschbaiim, Gcr. 

 Derivation. From vico, to bind, as with an osier; in reference to the flexibility of the shoots. 



Gen. Char., S(c. Calyx short, 5-toothed. Corolla bilabiate; upper lip bifid, 

 lower one trifid ; middle segment of the lower lip the largest. Stamens 4. 

 didynamous, ascending. Stigma bifid. Drupe containing a 4-celled nut. 

 Celk 1-seeded. (Do7i's Mill.,iv.) — Deciduous shrubs and trees, natives of 

 the south of Europe, India, China, and North America. The only hardy 

 species is a native of Sicily. 



a 1. V. vI'gnus ca'stus L. The officinal, or trite. Chaste Tree. 



Identificatiun. Lin. Sp., 890. ; Lam. Diet, 2. p. 611. ; Don's Mill., -J. 



Synonyjnes. £leagnuin Theophrast/ Lob. Icon,, 2. 138. ; //'gnus castus Blackw. ; Arbre au Poivrc, 



Poivre sauvage, Fr. 

 Engravings. Blackw. Herb., t. 129. ; N. Du Ham., 6. t. 35. ; and our Jig. 1152. 



Spec. Char., ^c. Leaves opposite, digitate, 7 — 5-lobed : leaflets lanceolate, 

 mostly quite entire, hoary beneath. Racemes terminal, panicled. Flowers 

 verticillate. (Do7i's Mill.,iv.) A shrub, of the height of 5ft. or 6 ft., which 

 produces its white, bluish white, and sometimes red- 

 dish white, flowers in September. It is a native of 

 Sicily, Naples, the north of Africa, and Egypt, and 

 has been in cultivation since 1570. In favourable 

 situations, in the neighbourhood of London, it 

 grows to the height of 8 ft. or 10 ft. The flowers 

 are produced in spikes at the extremities of the 

 branches, from 7 in. to loin, in length. In fine 



' seasons, they appear in September, but in bad 

 autumns not till October ; and then they never ex- 

 pand freely. Its flowers have an agreeable odour ; 

 but the leaves have an unpleasant smell, although 

 aromatic. No seeds ai*e produced in England. 

 The plant received the name of chaste from the 

 Greeks; because, according to Pliny, the Athenian 

 matrons, during the festival in honour of Ceres, called 

 Thesmophoria, when they were dressed in white 

 robes, and enjoined to preserve the strictest chastity, 

 strewed their beds with it. The seeds Bergius states to be carminative ; 

 and those of Fitex trifolia L., a native of India and China, are much used, 

 on this account, by Indian practitioners. The plant grows freely in any soil 

 that is tolerably dry ; and it is readily propagated by cuttings, put in in 

 autuum, and protected with a hand-glass. Price of jjlants, in the London 

 nurseries. Is. iiiL; at BoUwyller, I franc 50 cents; and at New York, 50 cents. 



4 p 4 



1152 



