60 



A C A 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL 



A C A 



equal, of middle length, opposite the calix; antherce four- 

 cornered, twin, erect. Pistil : germen inferior, obovate, 

 bristled ; style very small, bent in on one side ; stigma a 

 small, many-cleft, thickish, coloured membrane. Pericarp : 

 a dry, obovate, one-celled berry, beset with thorns bent 

 backwards. Seed: single. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: 

 four-leaved. Corolla: four-petalled. Berry dry, inferior, 

 one-seeded, with spines bent backwards. The only spe- 

 cies in this genus is the Acaena elongata, a Mexican plant. 

 Acalypha ; a genus of the class Monoecia, order Mon- 

 adelphia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Male flowers crowded 

 above the Females. Calix: perianth three or four leaved ; 

 leaflets roundish, concave, and equal. Corolla : none. Sta- 

 mina : lilumenta eight to sixteen, short, crowded, connected 

 at the base j antherae roundish. Female flowers fewer, be- 

 low the others, received into a large undivided involucre. 

 Calix: perianth three-leaved j leaflets subovate, concave, 

 converging, small, permanent. Corolla .- wanting. Pistil : 

 germen roundish ; styles three, branching, usually three- 

 parted, long; stigmas simple. Pericarp.- capsule roundish, 

 three-furrowed, three-celled ; the valves gaping two ways. 

 Seeds: solitary, roundish, very large. ESSENTIAL CHARAC- 

 TER. Male. Calix: three or four leaved; no Corolla; from 

 eight to sixteen stamina. Female. Calix: three leaved ; no 

 Corolla; three styles. Capsule: three -grained, three-celled. 

 Seed : one. The species are as follows : 



1 . Acalypha Virginica ; Virginian Acalypha : with female 

 involucres, heart-shaped, gashed ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, 

 longer than the foot-stalk. It grows naturally in Virginia, 

 and other parts of North America, and even in Ceylon. It 

 is an annual plant, seldom above a foot high, and in its leaves 

 much resembles Pellitory. All the culture it requires, is to 

 keep it free from weeds, and to let it remain where sown, as 

 it does not bear removing well. It flowers in August, and 

 the seeds ripen in October. 



2. Acalypha Virgata; Jamaica Acalypha : has female spikes 

 \\ ith heart-shaped involucres, serrate ; males distinct, naked; 

 leaves spear egg-shaped. It is anative of the warmest coun- 

 tries, and grows plentifully in Jamaica: it is an annual plant, 

 which seldom exceeds a foot high in England. The leaves 

 are very like those of the annual Nettle, and will sting as 

 much when touched. It will not thrive in the open air in 

 this country, but must be sown in pots, and plunged into 

 hot-beds. 



3. Acalypha Indica ; Indian Acalypha. Female involucres 

 heart-shaped, and slightly notched; leaves ovate, shorter than 

 the petiole. It grows about three feet high ; and was dis- 

 covered in great plenty at Vera Cruz. It inhabits marshy 

 places ; but is found upon dunghills in the East Indies : it 

 is an annual plant, which flowers in July. 



4. Acalypha Villosa; Jillous Acalypha, Female involu- 

 cres very small, toothed, and extremely villose ; spikus elon- 

 gate ; leaves ovate, pointed, serrate, longer than the foot- 

 stalk. Grows in the woods of Carthegena. 



5. Acalypha Australis ; South American Acalypha. Fe- 

 male involucres quite entire ; leaves lanceolate-obtuse. It 

 is a native of South America. 



6. Acalypha Hernandifolia. Female spikes very long ; in- 

 volucres cordate, serrate ; males distinct, naked ; leaves sub- 

 cordate, serrate, on very long petioles. It is a native of the 

 West Indies. 



7. Acalypha Corensis. Female flowers terminating, dis- 

 tinct ; involucres three-leaved; males, spikes axillary, in- 

 volucred ; leaves ovate serrate. Grows in the West Indies. 



8. Acalypha Laevigata. Female spikes with many-parted 

 involucres; male spikes lax, naked; leaves wedge-ovate, 



acuminate, serrulate, very smooth. It is found in the West 

 Indies. 



9. Acalypha Elliptica. Female spikes with involucres 

 shorter than the germs, ovate-toothed, hirsute ; males naked, 

 lax ; leaves elliptic, acuminate-toothed. It is a native of 

 the West Indes. 



10. Acalypha Reptans. Spikes terminating, erect ; flowers 

 mixed ; females lower ; involucres cordate, serrate ; males 

 leafless ; leaves ovate, serrate ; stem creeping. Grows in 

 Hispaniola and Jamaica. 



11. Acalypha Tomentosa. Female spikes terminating, 

 solitary ; involucres many-parted ; males in spikes ; leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate, serrate, scabrous, villous, tomentose un- 

 derneath. It is a native of the West Indies. 



12. Acalypha Angustifolia. Female flowers subsessile, 

 terminating ; involucres serrate ; males in spikes ; leaves 

 linear, serrate. Found in the West Indies. 



13. Acalypha Scabrosa. Female spikes with cordate 

 gashed involucres ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, serrate, sca- 

 brous. It is a native of the West Indies. 



14. Acalypha Betulasfolia. Female flowers axillary, ses- 

 sile ; involucres cordate, crenate ; males in spikes ; leaves 

 roundish, crenate, smooth. Native of the West Indies. 



These plants having neither use nor beauty to recommend 

 them, they are preserved in botanic gardens for the sake of 

 variety. 



Acanthus ; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Angio- 

 speifoia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth with leaf- 

 lets in three alternate pairs, unequal, permanent. Corolla : 

 one-petalled, unequal ; tube very short, closed with a beard ; 

 upper lip none, under lip very large, flat, straight, very broad, 

 three-lobed, obtuse, the length of the upper lip of the calix. 

 Stamina : filamenta four, subulate, shorter than the corolla, 

 the two upper rather longer, recurved, incurved at the top; 

 anthers; oblong, compressed, obtuse, the lateral ones parallel, 

 villous before. Pistil: germen conical; style filiform, length 

 of the stamina; stigmas two, acute, lateral. Pericarp: cap- 

 sule subovate with a point, two-celled, two-valved, with a 

 contrary partition ; claws alternate, curved, fastened to the 

 partition. Seed: ovate, gibbous, single; sometimes two. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: two-leaved, bifid. Corolla: 



one-lipped, bent down, trifid. Capsule : two-celled. The 



species of this genius are, 



1. Acanthus Mollis; Smooth Acanthus, Drank Ursine, or 

 Bear's Breech. Its leaves are sinuate and unarmed. The 

 flowers are white. This species is used in medicine, under 

 the name Branca Ursina. Wherever it abounds, it is used for 

 the same purposes as the Althaea, or the Marshmallow. The 

 roots and loaves abound with a soft slippery mucilage, 

 which is readily extracted, either by boiling, or infusing 

 them in water ; and is of singular efficacy in tickling coughs, 

 catarrhs, defluxions on the lungs, hoarseness, erosions of 

 the bowels, and the strangury, and for lubricating the uri- 

 nary passages, in nephritic and calculous disorders. It may 

 be propagated either by seeds, or by parting the roots. The 

 seeds should be sown towards the end of March, and if the 

 season be favourable, they will appear in May ; they only 

 require to be kept six inches asunder, and free from weeds, 

 till autumn, when they should be transplanted whither they 

 are intended to remain. They take deep root, and when 

 once established in a irarden, are hard to eradicate. It re- 

 quires a warm situation. It is said that the leaves of this 

 species of the Acanthus, found accidentally growing round 

 a basket covered with a tile, gave occasion to Callimachus 

 to invent the Corinthian capital. It is a native of Naples, 

 Sicily, Provence, and the Archipelago. 



