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A M E 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



A M M 



1. Arnellus Lychnitis ; Trailing Amellus. Leaves oppo- 

 site, lanceolate, obtuse, downy ; peduncles one-flowered. 

 This plant rises from two to three feet high, sending out 

 branches on every side, terminated by flower-stalks, each 

 supporting one violet-coloured flower, with a yellow disk, 

 which appears in July or August. It grows naturally at the 

 Cape ; and is a perennial plant, easily propagated by cut- 

 tings planted in the shade during any of the summer months, 

 and duly watered. They must be sheltered in winter. 



2. Amellus Umbellatus ; Umbelled Amellus. Leaves op- 

 posite, three-nerved, downy underneath ; flowers umbelled. 

 Stem from two, to two and a half feet high ; flower yellow. 

 Native of the cooler woods and mountains of Jamaica, 

 where it flowers in summer. It may be propagated by seeds 

 sown in a hot-bed in the spring. 



American Earth-nut. See Arachis. 



Amerimnum ; a genus of the class Diadelphia, order De- 

 caudria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed ; 

 tube bell-shaped, five-toothed ; teeth sharp. Corolla : 

 papilionaceous ; standard with an oblong claw, roundish, 

 heart-shaped, expanding, convex ; wings lanceolate, shorter 

 than the standard ; keel short. Stamina : filamenta ten, 

 conjoined; antherae roundish. Pistil: germen pedicelled, 

 oblong, compressed, leafy, varicose, with lateral veins, within 

 woody, not gaping; cells disposed longitudinally within. 

 Seeds : solitary, kidney-shaped, thicker at the base, appen- 

 dicled at the tip. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: two- 

 lipped. Legume : compressed, leafy, two-valved, gaping. 

 Seeds: few, solitary. The species are, 



1. Amerimnum Brownei. Unarmed : leaves petioled, 

 alternate, subcordate-ovate ; racemes compound, axillary, 

 and lateral. The shrub rises to the height often feet ; the 

 flowers, which are white, and have a very sweet scent, come 

 out in great abundance after the rainy season. Native of 

 Carthagena, Jamaica, and Domingo. 



2. Amerimnum Ebenus ; Prickly Amerimnum, or Jamaica 

 Ebony. Spiny; leaves subsessile, aggregate, obovate, oblong; 

 peduncles two-flowered. This is common in Jamaica, and is 

 sentto Englandunderthename of Ebony ; though it is not the 

 true ebony, but a plant of a very different genus. The wood 

 being of a fine greenish brown colour, and polishing well, is 

 much coveted by instrument makers, and is of a very hard 

 and durable nature. It is propagated by seed, which must be 

 procured from its native climate, and sown in pots of light 

 earth early in the spring. They will not bear the open air 

 of this country. 



Amethystea ; a genus of the class Diandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one-leafed ; 

 tube bell-shaped, angular, semiquinquefid, subequal, acumi- 

 nate, permanent. Corolla : one-petalled,ringent, little longer 

 than the calix ; border five-parted, subequal ; upper lip 

 erect, rounded, concave, two-parted, gaping ; lower three- 

 parted, the sides rounded, erect, shorter ; the middle quite 

 entire, concave, the length of the upper lip. Stamina: fila- 

 menta filiform, approximating, under the upper lip, and 

 longer than it ; antherae simple, roundish. Pistil : germen 

 quadrifid ; style size of the stamina ; stigma two, acute. 

 Pericarp: none, but the calix becomes more bell-shaped and 

 spreading. Seeds -. four, shorter than the calix, obtuse, 

 angular within. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: quinquefid, 

 the lower division more spreading. Stamina : approximated. 



Calix: subcampanulate. Seeds: four, gibbous. Only 



one species has yet been discovered, viz. 



1. Amethystea Cccrulea. An annual plant, with an upright 

 talk, about a foot high. Flowers small, but of a fine blue 

 colour, making a pretty appearance while they continue. The 



seeds should be sown in autumn ; they will appear in the spring, 

 and only require to be well weeded, and kept from growing 

 too close together. It is a native of the mountains of Siberia. 

 Ammannia; a genus of the class Tetrandia, and order 

 Monogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth bell- 

 shaped, oblong, erect, with eight streaks and folds, quadran- 

 gular, eight-toothed ; teeth alternate, bent in, permanent. 

 Corolla : none, or four-petalled ; petals vertically ovate, 

 spreading, inserted into the calix. Stamina : filamenta (from 

 four to eight) bristly, the length of the calix, into which they 

 are inserted ; antherae twin. Pistil : germen subovate, large, 

 superior; style simple, very short; stigma headed. Peri- 

 carp: a roundish, four-celled capsule, covered with the calix. 

 Seed: numerous, small. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: 

 four-petalled, inserted into the calix. Calix: one-leafed, 

 plaited, eight-toothed, inferior. Capsule: four-celled. 

 The species are, 



1. Ammannia Latifolia ; Broad-leaved Ammannia. Leaves 

 half stem-clasping ; stalk square ; branches erect. Root 

 annual. The plant grows about a foot high, with an upright 

 square stalk ; the leaves are of a pale green ; the flowers 

 come out in whorls, and the petals white. It is a native of 

 moist places in Jamaica. 



2. Ammannia Ramosior ; Branching Ammannia. Leaves 

 half stem-clasping ; stalk square ; branches very spreading. 

 This is an annual plant, a native of Virginia and Carolina, 

 rising about a foot high, with red succulent stalks. 



3. Ammannia Baccifera ; Berry-bearing Ammannia. Leaves 

 subpetiolate ; capsules larger than the calix, and coloured. 

 A tender, erect, low plant, without branches. Native of 

 China, and now naturalized in Italy. 



4. Ammannia Octandria ; Eight-stamined Ammannia. Flow- 

 ers petaloid, and eight-stamined. Stem erect; peduncles 

 axillary, very short, three or one flowered ; petals blood- 

 red. Found in the East Indies. 



5. Ammannia Pinnatifida ; . Pinnatifid-leaved Ammannia. 

 Stalks procumbent, rooting, compressed ; leaves linear, pin- 

 natifid. Corolla red. Found in the isle of Java. 



6. AmmanniaDebilis ; Cluster -flowered Ammannia. Leaves 

 lanceolate, attenuated at the'base ; stem branching ; flowers 

 in bundles from the axils ; capsules two-celled. An annual 

 plant ; petals pale purple. It flowers in July and August ; 

 and is a native of the East Indies. 



7- Ammannia Sanguinolenta. Leaves half stem-clasping, 

 cordate at the base ; flowers subpeduncled, eight-stamined ; 

 petal bearing. A native of Jamaica and Domingo. 



Ammi ; a genus of the class Pentandria, and order Digy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : universal umbel, mani- 

 fold, frequently of fifty rays ; partial short, crowded. Uni- 

 versal involucre of many linear, pinnatifid, acute leaflets, 

 scarcely the length of the umbel ; partial many-leaved ; leaf- 

 lets linear, acute, simple, shorter than its umbellet ; proper 

 perianth scarcely apparent. Corolla .- universal uniform, all 

 the floscules fertile ; proper of five inflex heart-shaped petals, 

 of unequal size in the ray, almost in the middle of the disk. 

 Stamina: filamenta capillary; antherae roundish. Pistil; 

 germen inferior; styles reflex; stigmas obtuse. Pericarp: 

 none ; fruit roundish, smooth, small, streaked, bipartite. 

 Seeds: two, convex, and streaked on one side, flat on the other. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Involucre: pinnatitid. Corolla : radi- 

 ate, all hermaphrodite. Fruit : smooth. The species are, 



1. Ammi Majus ; Common Bishop's Weed. Lower leaves 

 pinnate, lanceolate, serrate ; upper ones multiful, linear. It 

 is an annual, and grows in the vineyards and fields in the 

 southern parts of Europe, and in the East. It is propagated 

 by seeds sown in autumn where they are to remain. In the 



