GENTIANACEJE. 



purging, and frequently powerful diaphoresis. Recommended in inter- 

 mittent and remittent fevers, gout, herpetic complaints, rheumatism, 

 dropsy, scurvy, and worms. 



VILLARSIA. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla rotate, 5-lobed ; the limb stupose 

 at the base, with the margins inflected. Glands 5, alternating 

 with the stamens. Stigma 2-lobed. Capsule 2-valved, with the 

 valves half bifid. Placentae in the suture. 



1106. Villarsia nymphasoides Vent, choix. 9. Menyanthes 

 nymphaeoides Linn. sp. pi. 207. Eng. Hot. t. 217. Smith 

 Eng. Ft. i. 275. In bogs upon the banks of large streams in 

 many parts of Europe. 



Rhizoma long and stringy. Stems several feet long, round, branching, 

 floating by means of their roundish-heart-shaped, very smooth leaves, 

 which are mottled above, purplish beneath ; involute in the bud, as in 

 Nymphaea and Nuphar. Flowers axillary, on simple aggregate stalks, 

 without bracteas. Corolla 1J inch wide, spreading, yellow, with a dark 

 radiating disk. Ovary with 5 purplish glands at the base. Stigma 

 notched, deciduous. Capsule ovate, compressed. Stems are bitter, 

 tonic, and febrifugal. 



SPIGELIA. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 298. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla funnel-shaped, with a 5-cleft equal 

 limb. Anthers converging. Capsule didynamous, 2-celled, 

 4-valved, many-seeded. 



1 107. S. marilandica Linn. syst. veg. 197. Bot. Mag. t. 80. 

 Woodv. med. hot. ii. t. 105. Bigelow med. Bot. \. t. 14. Torrey 



ft. i. 222. Lonicera marilandica Linn. sp. pi. ed. 3. p. 249 



Rich soils about the borders of woods in the southern states of 

 N. America. (Carolina Pink root; Wormseed.) 



Root perennial, fibrous. Stems simple, 4-sided, and nearly smooth. 

 Leaves opposite, sessile, ovate, acuminate, entire, smooth, with the mar- 

 gins and veins sometimes pubescent. Raceme terminal, usually solitary. 

 Peduncles extremely short. Calyx persistent, with 5 linear-subulate, 

 finely serrulate divisions, which are reflexed in the ripe fruit. Corolla 

 funnel-shaped, 5 times as long as the calyx, scarlet or crimson without, 

 orange-coloured within, the tube inflated and angular at top, the limb 

 divided into 5 acute, spreading segments. Stamens very short, inserted 

 into the mouth of the corolla between the segments ; anthers oblong- 

 heart-shaped. Ovary small, superior, ovate. Style longer than the 

 corolla, jointed near its base and bearded at the extremity. Capsule 

 consisting of 2, cohering, 1-celled, globular carpels attached to a 

 common receptacle. Both root and leaves are active anthelmintics ; 

 their efficacy is much impaired by keeping. Also purgative and narcotic 



524 



