V I T 



V I T 



VIOLET, DAMASK, and DAME'S. See 

 Hesferis. 



VIOLET, DOG-TOOTH. See Erythko- 



N1UM. 



VIPER'S GRASS. See Scorzonera. 

 VIRGA AUKEA. See Solidago. 

 VIRGINIAN ACACIA. See Rorinia. 

 VIRGINIAN CREEPER. See Clematis. 

 VIRGINIAN GUELDER ROSE. See Spi- 



B,M\ OPULIFOLIA. 



VIRGINIAN POKE. See Phytolacca 



DECANDRA. 



VIRGINIAN SILK. See Periploca. 



VIRGIN'S BOWER. See Clematis. 



VITEX, a genus containing plants of the 

 bardy and under-shrubby kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Didynamia 

 Angiospermia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Personates. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianth, tubular, cylindric, very short, 

 five-toothed: the corolla one-petalled, ringent: 

 tubecvlindric, slender: border flat, two-lipped: 

 upper lip trifid, with the middle segment wider: 

 lower lip trifid, with the middle segment big- 

 ger t the stamina have four filaments, capillary, 

 a little longer than the tube, two of which are 

 shorter than the others : anthers versatile : the 

 pistillum is a roundish germ: style filiform, 

 length of the tube : stigmas two, awl-shaped, 

 spreading: the pericarpium is a globular berry 

 or drupe, four-celled: the seeds solitary, ovate. 



The species cultivated are: l. V Agnus cas- 

 tas, Officinal Chaste Tree ; 2. V. incisa. Cut- 

 leaved Chaste Tree; 3. V. trifolia, Three-leaved 

 Chaste Tree ; 4. V. Negundo, Five-leaved 

 Chaste Tree. 



The first has a shrubby stalk eight or ten feet 

 high, sending out their whole-length opposite 

 branches, which are angular, pliable, and have 

 a grayish bark : the leaves for the most part op- 

 posite upon prettv long footstalks ; they are 

 composed of five, six, or seven leaflets, spread- 

 ing out like the fingers of a hand ; the lower 

 ones small, and the middle largest; thev are 

 smooth and entire ; the largest are about three 

 inches long, and half an inch broad in the mid- 

 dle, ending in blunt points, of a dark green on 

 their upper side, but hoary on their under : the 

 flowers are produced in spikes at the extremity 

 of the branches, from seven to fifteen inches in 

 length, composed of distant whorls; in some 

 plants they are white, in others blue. They are 

 generally late before they appear. They have 

 an agreeable odour when they open fair, and 

 make a good appearance in autumn, when the 

 flowers of most other shrubs are gone. It is a 

 native of Sicily. 



There are varieties with narrow leaves, with 

 broad leaves, with blue flowers, and with white 

 flowers. 



The second species has the stature of the pre- 

 ceding, but smaller in all its parts, with qui- 

 nate acuminate pinnatifid leaves pubescent un- 

 derneath. It is a shrub seldom rising more 

 than three feet high, sending out on every side 

 spreading branches, which are slender and an- 

 gular : the leaves opposite upon pretty long foot- 

 stalks; some composed of three, others of five 

 leaflets, which are deeplv and regularly cut on 

 theirsides, like pinnatifid leaves, and end in acute 

 points : the largest of these leaflets is about an 

 inch and half long, and three quarters of an 

 inch broad in the middle; they are of a dull 

 green colour on their upper side, and gray on 

 their under: the branches are terminated by 

 spikes of flowers three or four inches long, dis- 

 posed in whorls ; in some plants they are white, 

 in others blue, and some have bright red flowers: 

 they are in beautv from the middle of July to 

 the beginning of September. It is a native of 

 China. 



The third has the leaflets ovate, acute, quite 

 entire, tomentose underneath, the two nearest 

 to the petiole smaller : the stem is shrubby, 

 branched, round, eight feet high, the thickness 

 of a finger, procumbent, sometimes creeping: 

 the leaves ternate, seldom quinate : leaflets 

 waved, dusky, green above, cinereous-hoary 

 beneath, soft : common petioles long, opposite : 

 the flowers violet in dichotomous, terminating 

 racemes : the fruit small, globular, hard, 

 smooth, black, like pepper, four-seeded. It 

 is a native of trie East Indies. 



The fourth species has the stem arboreous, 

 twisted, the thickness of the human arm, with 

 spreading branches : the leaflets lanceolate, for 

 the most part quite entire, but sometimes ser- 

 rate, flat-veined, of a dusky ash colour, on op- 

 posite petioles : the flowers purplish, in loose, 

 terminating, erect racemes. It is a native of 

 the East Indies. 



Culture. — The first sort may be increased by 

 cuttings and layers : the cuttings should be 

 planted out in the early spring, in a fresh light 

 soil, being often refreshed with water till they 

 have taken root; afterwards the plants must be 

 kept clear from weeds, and be protected during 

 the following winter with mulch or mats; and 

 about the middle of the following March, when 

 the season is fine, be removed into the places 

 « here they are to grow, or into the nursery for 

 two or three years to become strong ; being 

 pruned up to form regular stems. 



The layers of the branches may be laid down 

 in the spring, being careful not to split them> 



