ALT 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



A L Y 



base. Stamina : bending down. These plants are all found 

 in South America, and must be kept in a stove in England, 

 (except the first species) where they may be propagated by 

 parting their roots in autumn. The species are, 



1. Alstroemeria Pelegrina; Spotted-flowered Alstroemeria. 

 Stem erect; corollas bell-shaped, straight; leaves linear-lan- 

 ceolate, sessile. The flowers are whitish, most beautifully 

 stained, and veined with purple and red ; they flower from 

 June until October. This species may be treated as a green- 

 house plant ; it will however flower and ripen its seeds better 

 under the glass of a hot-bed frame, where air is freely ad- 

 mitted. It is generally raised from seeds, sown in a pot of 

 light earth in the s'priug, on a gentle hot-bed, either of dung 

 or tan. 



2. Alstroemeria Pulchella. Stem erect ; corollas reflex, 

 spreading, acute ; leaves sessile ; pedicles shorter than the 

 involucre. This much resembles the first species : its petals 

 spread from the base, recurved, acute, alternately less, whit- 

 ish, red at the tip, streaked or dotted with red at the base ; 

 filaments yellow, equal ; pistil red, rising ; stigma trifid. 



3. Alstroemeria Ligtu ; Stripe-flowered Alstroemeria. Stem 

 erect ; leaves spatulate-oblong ; peduncles of the umbel 

 longer than the involucre ; corolla two-lipped. This spe- 

 cies is remarkable for the largeness and fragrancy of the 

 flowers, which are scarcely inferior to Mignionette. It 

 flowers in February and March. 



4. Alstroemeria Salsilla. Stem twining; leaves petiolate, 

 lanceolate, acuminate ; umbel branching ; peduncles longer 

 than the involucre, bracted and loose. Leaves nervose ; 

 petioles naked ; the outer petals red, the inner greenish. 



5. Alstroemeria Multiflora. Stem twining ; leaves petio- 

 late, lanceolate, acuminate ; umbel simple ; peduncles shorter 

 than the bractes ; petals alternate, truncate. This species 

 is very distinct from the rest. 



6. Alstroemeria Ovata. Stem twining ; leaves lanceolate, 

 lanuginose on the upper surface, lucid on the lower ; corollas 

 tubular. Stem twining, contrary to the sun, slender, hardisb. 

 and rising three feet high. Flowers terminating in umbels. 

 Petals approximating into a tube ; the three outer scarlet and 

 green at the tip, the three inner green, flattish towards the 

 top, and variegated with black dots. A native of Peru. 



Althxa ; a genus of the class Monadelphia, order Polyan- 

 dria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth double ; outer 

 smaller, one-leafed, unequally novemfid; divisions very nar- 

 row : inner semiquinqueh'd ; divisions broader, sharper. Co- 

 rolla : five-petalled, united at the base, obcordate, praemorse, 

 flat. Stamina : filaments many, inserted in the corolla ; 

 antherae subreniform. Pistil: germ orbiculate; style cylin- 

 drical, short ; stigmas many, setaceous, the length of the style. 

 Pericarp: consists of arils not jointed, forming a flat ring 

 about a columnar receptacle ; they are deciduous, and open 

 on the inside. Seed: one, flat kidney-shaped in each aril. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Cain .- double ; outer nine-cleft. 



Arils: many, one-seeded. The species belonging to this 



genus are the following. 



1. Althsea Officinalis ; Common Marshmallow. Leaves 

 simple, downy. This species grows naturally on the banks 

 of rivers, and in salt marshes and ditches, in Cambridgeshire, 

 Norfolk, and Suffolk ; on the sea-shores of Cornwall ; and in 

 Holland, France, Italy, and Siberia. The root is perennial ; 

 the stalk annual, growing erect to the height of four or five 

 feet, putting out a few lateral branches ; the flowers are 

 axillary, shaped like those of the Mallow, but smaller, and 

 of a pale colour : they appear in July, and the seeds ripen in 

 September. The whole plant, particularly the root, abounds 

 with a mild mucilage, which is emollient in a much greater 



degree than common Mallow. The boiled root is much used 

 as an emollient cataplasm, and an infusion of it is very ge- 

 nerally prescribed in all cases wherein mild mucilaginous 

 substances are useful as a pectoral, and in complaints of ;i 

 gravelly nature. It is kept in most gardens on account of 

 its medicinal qualities. An infusion of it is excellent for 

 blunting and sheathing those sharp and acrimonious humours 

 which occasion tickling coughs, hoarseness, erosions of the 

 stomach and intestines, difficulty and heat of urine, and for 

 lubricating and relaxing the passages, and for the stone and 

 gravelly complaints. A syrup and ointment of it are kept 

 in the shops ; but, a strong infusion has far more virtues than 

 the syrup ; and a poultice made of the fresh root, with the 

 addition of a little white bread and milk, will prove more ser- 

 viceable, when applied externally, than the ointment. The 

 common Marshmallow may be propagated by sowing the 

 seeds in the spring, or parting the roots in autumn when the 

 stalks decay. The plant should be placed two feet asunder, 

 and will thrive in any soil or situation, but grow larger in 

 moist than in dry land. 



2. Althaea Cannabina; Hemp-leaved Marshmallvta. Lower 

 leaves palmate, upper digitate. This species has a woody 

 stem, which rises to the height of four or five feet, and puts 

 out many side-branches ; the leaves are alternate. The 

 flowers are axillary, not so large as those of the common 

 Marshmallow, but of a deeper red colour, with a larger calix. 

 It seldom flowers the first year, unless the summer prove 

 warm ; but when the plants survive the winter, they will flower 

 early in the succeeding summer, and produce good seeds ; 

 which should be sown in the spring where they are intended 

 to remain, in a sheltered situation and dry soil, or they will 

 not bear an English winter, and transplanting is hurtful to 

 them. In a stony soil, or in lime rubbish, their growth is 

 stinted, but they become more hardy. They seldom conti- 

 nue longer than two years in England, and are by no means 

 scarce. It grows naturally in Hungary, Istria, Carniola, 

 Italy, and by wood-sides in the south of France. 



3. Althaea Hirsuta ; Hairy Marslunalloui. Leaves trifid, 

 hairy -hispid, smooth above; peduncles solitary, one-flowered. 

 This is a low plant, with its branches trailing on the ground . 

 The leaves and stalks are beset with strong hairs ; the flow- 

 ers have purplish bottoms. If the seeds be sown in April. 

 the plants will flower in July, and the seeds ripen in Sep- 

 tember. It grows wild in Spain, Portugal, Italy, &c. 



4. AlthaeaLudwigii; Ludwig'sMarshiull<m\ Leaves lobed, 

 naked on both sides ; peduncles collected, one-tlowered. 



5. Althaea Narbonensis; Narbonne Mumlinmlluw. Leaves 

 tomentose on both sides ; the lower five-lobed, the upper 

 three-lobed; peduncles solitary, one-flowered. Hoots peren- 

 nial, stems annual, from four to six feet high. Corolla purple 

 rose-coloured, twice as long as the calix. First discovered 

 near Narbonne ; found also in Spain ; and flowers in August 

 and September. 



6. Althaea Corymbosa. Leaves simple, cordate or angular, 

 smooth ; peduncles and calices hairy ; flowers in corymbs. 

 A native of Jamaica. 



7. Althaea Racemosa. Leaves simple, cordate-ovate, ser- 

 rate, scabrous on the upper surface, raceme terminating 

 erect. Stems thick, stiff, five feet high, with many branches ; 

 corolla yellow ; the fruit composed of five bivalve capsules, 

 A native of Jamaica. 



Althtca Frutex. See Hiltim-iis. 



Ali/sstim ; a genus of the class Tetradynamia, order Silicu- 

 losa. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth four- leaved, 

 oblong ; leaflets ovate-oblong, obtuse, convergent, deciduous. 

 Corolla ; four-petalled, cruciform; petals flat, shorter than the 





