MEXYANTHACEi. I. MEXTAKTHES. 



167 



ORDER CLV. MEXYAXTHA V CE./E (this order contains 

 plants agreeing with Menyanthes in important characters). Ge- 

 nera Gentianeis affinia, R. Br. prod. 456. Menyanthes, Lin. 

 and others. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla subrotate ; with a 5-parted, spread- 

 ing limb ; segments with a flat disk, which is bearded or squam- 

 mulose at the base, or bearded lengthwise ; having ascending or 

 simple margins, inflexed in aestivation. Stamens 5, alternating 

 with the segments of the corolla. Style 1 . Stigma 2-lobed : 

 lobes toothed. Hypogynous glands 5, alternating with the sta- 

 mens. Capsule 1 -celled, many-seeded, 2-valved, but in aquatic 

 species valveless ; axils of valves seminiferous ; that is, the seeds 

 are attached to parietal placentas on the edges of the valves. 

 Floating aquatic or marsh herbs. Leaves simple or trifoliate, alter- 

 nate, rarely opposite, entire, or toothed in most of the species, 

 dotted : having the petioles dilated and sheathing a little at the 

 base. Flowers subumbellate, axillary, sometimes seated on the 

 petioles, or panicled and terminal. Corolla yellow, white, or 

 reddish ; having the margins of the segments entire or fringed. 

 This order agrees with Gentianece in the parietal seeds, and in 

 their internal structure ; and moreover, the cotyledons are half 

 discrete, as in Asterias lutea, and finally, there are scales in 

 the throat of the corollas, as inSirertia; but it differs particularly 

 from Gentianeae in the leaves being alternate, and often toothed 

 or divided. In the true Gentianece, as in Apocyneae and Rubid- 

 ceae. the leaves are always entire and opposite, and verticillate> 

 with very few exceptions. Like Genttaneae, the properties of 

 this order are tonic, stomachic, and febrifugal ; their bitterness 

 being extreme. 



Synopsis of the genera. 



1 MEXYA'XTHES. Segments of corolla bearded lengthwise, 

 with simple margins. Leaves trifoliate. 



2 \ T ILLA'RSIA. Segments of corolla bearded or scaly at the 

 base ; wi;h ascending margins. Leaves simple. 



I. MENYA'XTHES (jitwavOtc, menyanthes, is reckoned by 

 Theophrastus and Dioscorides, and Minyanthes by Pliny, among 

 coronary trefoils. Linnaeus derives the name from pnv, men, a 

 month, and a-0oc, anthos, a flower ; because the flowers con- 

 tinue open about that time). Tourn. inst. t. 15. Gaertn. fruct. 

 2. p. 158. t. 114. R. Br. prod. p. 457. Roam, et Schultes, 

 syst. 4. p. XVII. Menyanthes species, Lin. gen. 202. Juss. 

 gen. p. 98. &c. Acopa, Mor. hist. 



Lix. SYST. Pentandria, Monogy'nia. Calyx 5-parted. Co- 

 rolla funnel-shaped ; with a spreading equal limb : segments 

 bearded or crested lengthwise, with flat margins. Stigma capi- 

 tate, 2-lobed, bearded. Capsule 1 -celled, 2-valved; valves 

 placentiferous at the axis. Seeds numerous, ovate or obovate, 

 surrounded with a membranous ciliated margin, fixed on each 

 side of the valves in a double row, parietal. Aquatic glabrous 

 herbs. Stems green, rooting. Leaves alternate, trifoliate. 

 Flowers white inside and reddish outside, disposed in an axillary 

 pedunculate thyrse. Segments with finely ciliated edges. 



* Leaves trifoliate. Florrers white. 



1 M. TRIFOLIA'TA (Lin. spec. 208.) leaves trifoliate ; ra- 

 cemes thvrsoid, axillary ; segments of corolla bearded length- 

 wise. If.. W. H. Native throughout Europe and Siberia, near 



Salair, and Bernaoul, in ponds and lakes ; plentiful in Britain. 

 Woodv. med. bot. 5. t. 2. Curt. lond. 4. t. 17. Oed. fl. dan. 

 t. 541. Smith, engl. bot. 495. Stev. et Church, med. bot. t. 

 46. Bulliard, herb. f. 131. Sabb- hort. 1. t. 88. Zorn. icon. 

 13. Bieb. cauc. 1. p. 141. Bess. vohl. p. 10. Trifolium majus, 

 Tabern. icon. t. 520. f. 2. Trifolium palustre, Bauh. pin. 327. 

 Blackw. t. 474. Trifolium paludosum, Ger. ernac. 1194. 

 Acopa Dioscoridis, Mor. hist. 3. p. 604. sect. 15. t. 2. Gmel. 

 sib. 4. p. 97. no. 55. Roots creeping, jointed. Stem procum- 

 bent, covered by die sheaths of the leaves. Leaflets ovate, 

 obtuse. Peduncles axillary, terminating in a thyrse of white 

 bearded flowers, which are rose-coloured outwardly. Anthers 

 purplish, with the tips curved inwards. This plant was for- 

 merly called Marsh Trefoil, and Marsh Clover or Cloter. It is 

 now generally called Buck-bean, or Bog-bean, from the German 

 Bocshohne, or Bitterklee, and the Danish Bukkeblade. The 

 whole plant, and particularly the root, has an intensely bit- 

 ter taste, which resides chiefly in an extractive matter, solu- 

 ble in water and spirit. Given in small doses, of about 10 

 grains, imparts vigour to the stomach, and strengthens digestion. 

 Its virtues were formerly properly estimated ; and strange it is 

 that so excellent and cheap a tonic should be so little employed. 

 It gives out its virtues to boiling water, and a tincture may be 

 made from it quite equal in its effects to that of gentian. Large 

 doses, either in substance or decoction, produce vomiting, like 

 many other vegetable bitters. Boerhaave was relieved from 

 gout from drinking the juice of the plant, mixed with whey. 

 An infusion of the leaves are extremely bitter, and of late 

 years has been in common use as an alterative and aperient. A 

 drachm of the powder is aperient and emetic ; and it is some- 

 times used as an anthelmintic. As an active and eccophrotic 

 bitter, it seems not ill adapted to supply the want of bile ; and 

 thus may be of use in protracted jaundice and other biliary 

 obstructions. Cullen mentions several instances of its good 

 effects in some cutaneous diseases of the herpetic and seemingly 

 cancerous kind. In a scarcity of hops this plant is used, in 

 the north of Europe, to give a bitter to the beer : 2 ounces will 

 supply the place of a pound of hops. The powdered roots are 

 sometimes used, in Lapland, instead of bread, but they are 

 unpalatable. Some say that sheep will eat it, and that it cures 

 them of the rot. 



Var. /3, Americana (G. Don, in Loud. hort. brit. p. 58.) plant 

 much more robust, but not otherwise distinct. It. W. H. Xa- 

 tive of Xorth America. Menyanthes trifoliata, Pursh, fl. amer. 

 sept. 1. p. 139. Native of New Jersey, Virginia, and Canada, 

 and of the island of Sitcha, in bogs and stagnant waters. 

 This is a much more robust plant than the European species. 

 The flowers are pale red and very handsome. 



Trifoliate Menyanthes, Buck-bean, or Bean-trefoil. Fl. May. 

 Britain. PI. aquatic. 



* * 



Leaves simple. 



2 M. CRISTA-GA'LLI (Menzies, mss. ex Hook. bot. misc. 1. 

 p. 45. t. 24.) leaves radical, on long petioles, reniform, cre- 

 nated ; scapes or peduncles corymbose ; segments of corolla 

 undulated, and crested lengthwise. If.. B. H. Native of 

 the north-west coast of America, in marshy mountain pastures, 

 at Prince William's Sound, and about Cape Edgecombe ; and of 

 the island of Sitcha. Bongard. in mem. acad. petersb. 2. 

 p. 156. Roots or rhizoma horizontal. Scapes a foot hi.h, 

 reddish at top. Corollas white. The crests on the segments 

 of the corolla are exactly similar to those of M. cristata, Roxb. 

 which has also white flowers ; but with the habit and mode of 

 growth of nildrsia. 



Cockscomb Buckbean. PI. 1 foot. 



