63 



A G R 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



A G R 



lilue-bottle ; it flowers in June and July. The seeds are 

 diuretic ; they promote the menses, and are serviceable in 

 the dropsy and jaundice, but the use of them must be con- 

 tinued for a considerable length of time. Hill says, the 

 seeds are used ; they work by unne, and open all obstruc- 

 tions, promote the menses, and are good in dropsy and jaun- 

 dice : the best way of giving them is powdered, and put into 

 an electuary, to be taken for a continuance of time; for 

 those medicines whose virtues are against chronic diseases, 

 do not take effect at once. 



2. Agrostemma Coronaria ; Rose Campion. Tomentose, 

 leaves ovate-lanceolate ; petals slightly emarginate, crowned, 

 serrate. This is a native of Italy, the Valais, and Siberia, 

 and is a biennial plant. It has long been an inhabitant of 

 the English gardens, whereby its seed having scattered, it 

 is become a kind of weed. There are three varieties of this 

 plant, one with a deep red, another with a flesh-coloured, 

 and the third with a white flower; but all little esteemed, as 

 the double rose Campion, being a fine flower, has turned the 

 others out of most gardens. The single rose Campions pro- 

 pagate themselves best by their seeds ; but the variety with 

 double flowers is propagated by parting the roots in autumn, 

 jitter the flowers are past. 



3. Agrostemma Flos Jovis ; Umbellate Rose Campion, or 

 Flower of Jove. Tomentose : petals emarginate ; flowers in 

 a corymb. The flowers, which are of a bright red, appear 

 in July, and the seeds ripen in September. It grows natu- 

 rally on the Swiss and Piedmontese mountains, and in the 

 Palatinate. This requires a shady situation and moist soil. 



4. Agrostemma Coeli Rosa ; Smooth Campion. Smooth; 

 leaves linear-lanceolate; petals emarginate, crowned. An 

 annual plant, the stem a foot or eighteen inches high ; na- 

 tive of Italy, Sicily, and the Levant ; and having little beauty 

 is only preserved in botanic gardens. 



Agrostis ; a genus of the class Triandria, order Pigynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : a one-flowered, bivalve, acu- 

 minate glume. Corolla : bivalve, acuminate, one valve 

 larger than the other. Stamina : filaments longer than the 

 corolla, with forked anthers. Pistil : germ roundish ; styles 

 reflex, villous, with stigvnas longitudinally hispid. Pericarp: 

 corolla growing to the seed, not gaping. Seed : roundish, 

 pointed at both ends, the corolla adhering closely to it. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : bivalve, one-flowered, a 

 little less than the corolla. Stigmas: longitudinally hispid. 

 This is said to be an artificial genus, the species of which 

 are in general very ill ascertained. For the method of pro- 

 pagating and cultivating these grasses, see the article Grass. 



The species are. 



* Awned. 



1. Agrostis Spica Venti ; Silky Bent Grass. The outer 

 petal has a very long stiff awn ; the panicle is spreading. 

 This is from three to four feet high, annual, frequent in 

 sandy corn-fields, and flowering from June to August. 



2. Agrostis Interrupta ; Interrupted Spike Bent Grass. 

 The outer petal awned ; the panicle attenuated, contracted, 

 interrupted. It is an annual ; and native of France, Italy, 

 Switzerland, Carniola, and Germany. 



3. Agrostis Miliacea ; Millet Bent Grass. The outer pe- 

 tal terminating in a straight stiff awn of a moderate length. 

 This resembles the first species; and is a native of Mont- 

 pellier, Spain and Siberia. 



4. Agrostis Bromoides ; Brome-like Bent Grass. Panicle 

 simple, narrowed ; corolla pubescent ; awn straight, longer 

 than the calix ; culm a foot and half high. A perennial ; 

 growing wild about Montpellier. 



5. Agrostis Australis ; Southern Bent Grass. The panicle 

 approaching to a spike; the seed ovate, pubescent; awn 



the length of the calix. This species is three feet high ; and 

 a native of Portugal. 



6. Agrostis Arundinacea; Reedy Bent Grass. Panicle ob- 

 long ; outer petal villous at the base, and furnished with a 

 writhed awn, longer than the calix. Very erect, height some- 

 times two and sometimes four feet. It is perennial, and na- 

 tive of many parts of Europe. The Cahnuc Tartars weuv> 

 mats, and thatch their huts, with it. Goats will almost 

 starve rather than eat this species of grass. 



7- Agrostis Calamagrostis ; Branching Bent Grass. Pani- 

 cle thickened ; whole of the outer petal woolly, awned at 

 the tip; culm branching. Reaches three feet in height, is a 

 perennial, and native of Germany, Switzerland, and about 

 Verona. It resembles the preceding. 



8. Agrostis Serotina ; Late Bent Grass. Floscules oblong mu- 

 cronate ; culm covered with very short leaves. This species 

 is about a foot high ; and was observed by Seguier near Verona. 



9. Agrostis Rubra; Red Bent Grass. Flowering part of 

 the panicles very spreading ; outer petal smooth ; awn ter- 

 minal, spiral, recurved. This species is common in Sweden 

 and Scotland. 



10. Agrostis Spiciformis ; Spiky Bent Grass. Panicle re- 

 sembling a spike ; flowers two-awne J : one awn inserted 

 into the receptacle, jointed and longer than the other, which 

 is straight, and inserted below the tip of the corolla, which 

 is rough. This species is nine' inches in height, erect, very 

 smooth, and the culms perfectly simple. It has been ob- 

 served in the island of Teneriffe. 



11. Agrostis Hirsute; Hairy Bent Grass. Panicle ap- 

 proaching to a spike ; culm and leaves hirsute ; glumes of 

 the corolla awned on the back, and bifid at the tip. This 

 species is easily distinguished by its shagginess. Native of 

 the island of Teneriffe. 



12. Agrostris Matrella. The flowers in racemes ; outer 

 valve of the calix bent in, the tip of the keel only gaping. 

 This differs somewhat from the other species in character, 

 and is found in the sandy lands of Malabar. 



13. Agrostis Canina ; Brown Bent Grass. Calix elongate ; 

 a recurved awn on the back of the petals ; culms prostrate, 

 a little branching. This species is perennial. 



**Naked, or Aicnless. 



14. Agrostis Stolonifera ; Creeping Bent Grass. Branches 

 of the panicle spreading, naked ; culm creeping ; calices 

 equal. This is known by its creeping stems, putting out 

 roots, and producing new plants. It is a native of most 

 parts of Europe, flowering from June to August, and is found 

 in moist meadows. 



15. Agrostis Capillaris ; Fine Bent Grass. Panicle capil- 

 lary, spreading, flexuose ; calices subulate, equal, smooth , 

 coloured. Native of Lapland, common in pastures and by 

 road-sides. Perennial. 



16. Agrostis Sylvatica ; Wood Bent Grass. Panicle con- 

 tracted ; calices equal, those of the barren flower shorter 

 than the corolla, those of the fertile ones twice as long. It 

 is perennial ; and is found in moist woods, as in Bishop's 

 Wood, and Hornsey Wood, near London. 



17. Agrostis Alba ; White Bent Grass. Panicle loose ; <-a- 

 lices equal ; culm creeping ; it has purple an there. Grows 

 in ditches, marshes, and moist meadows; and is perennial. 



18. Agrostis Pumila ; Du-arf Bent Grass. Panicle on one 

 side ; culms erect in bunches. It is a perennial plant, na- 

 tive of Iceland, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, of dry 

 places in England, and of Wales and Scotland. 



19. Agrostis Minima ; Least Bent Grass. Panicle filiform. 

 This is an annual spring plant, which flowers early, and 

 ripens its seeds in May. Native of France and Geruianyj 

 and has been seen in Wales. 



