ISO 



A R G 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



A R I 



7. Arcthusii Biplumata ; Two-feathered Arethusa. Scape 

 sheathed ; spathe cowled ; flower terminal, erect, purple ; the 

 two lower petals elongated, bearded on the upper side; roots 

 fascicled, or in bundles. Found at Buenos Ayres. 



Aret'w; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Monog-ynia. 

 GBNKBIC CHARACTER. Calii : perianth one-leafed, bell- 

 shaped, semiquinqucfid, bluntish, permanent. Coru/la:mo- 

 nopetalous, salver-shnped; tube ovate, the length of the calix, 

 contracted at the neck; limb five-parted; divisions obovate. 

 Stamina : filamenta five, conic, in the middle of the tube 

 very short; antherte erect, sharpish, within the throat of the 

 corolla. Pistil: gcrmen roundish; style filiform, the length 

 of the tube; stigma flat-headed. Pericarp: capsule one- 

 celled, five-valved. Seeds : five. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Corolla : salver-shaped, five-cleft ; tube ovate ; stigma flat- 

 headed. Capsule: one-celled, globular, with about five seeds. 

 These little Alpine plants are rather difficult to preserve in 

 gardens ; they require a shady situation, where the seeds 

 should be sown as soon as ever they can be procured. They 

 may be also propagated from offsets or slips, and by parting 

 the roots. The species are, 



1. Aretia Helvetica ; Imbricated Aretia. Leaves imbri- 

 cate ; flowers subsessile. Root perennial, corolla white. 

 Native of the western Swiss Alps, and of Dauphiny. 



2. Aretia Alpina ; Linear-leaved Arntia. Leaves linear, 

 spreading ; flowers pedunculated. Found in various parts of 

 Switzerland, and in Austria. There are besides two varieties 

 of this species : the first has white flowers with a purple eye; 

 and the second forms beautiful tufts of red flowers, which 

 grow upon Mount St. Bernard, at the height of almost ten 

 miles above the level of the sea ! 



3. Aretia Vitaliatia ; Grass-leaved Aretia. Leaves linear, 

 recurved : flowers subsessile. A small plant, always lying 

 on the ground ; flowers of a deep yellow. Native of the 

 Pyrenees, and high Alps between the Valais und Italy, and 

 in Dauphiny. 



Argentine ; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth three-leaved, 

 roundish ; leaflets roundish with a point, concave caducous. 

 Corolla: petals six, roundish, from erect spreading, larger 

 than the calix. Stamina : filamenta numerous, filiform, the 

 length of the calix; anthera oblong, erect. Pistil: gernien 

 ovate, five-angled; style none; stigma thickish, obtuse, re- 

 flex, quinquefid, permanent. Pericarp: capsule ovate, five- 

 angled, one-celled, half-valved. Seeds: numerous, very 

 small. Urtf /itiiclts : linear, fastened to the angles of the 

 pericarp, not gaping. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla .- 

 six-petalK-d. Calix: three-leaved. Capsule: half-valved. 

 The species are, 



1. Argemone Mexicana ; Prickly Argemone, or Poppy. 

 Capsules six-valved ; leaves spiny. This is called the Yelluir 

 Thistle in the West Indies, where it is a troublesome weed in 

 cultivated lands. The whole plant abounds with a milky 

 glutinous juice, which turns to a fine bright yellow in the air, 

 and when rrduced to consistence, is not distinguishable from 

 gamboge; and, in very small doses, it is probably equally 

 efficacious for dropsies, jaundice, and cutaneous eruptions. 

 It is reckoned very detersive, and generally used in diseases 

 of the eyes ; but the infusion is looked upon as a suderific and 

 iitive, which may be most successfully applied. The 

 arc said to be a much stronger narcotic than opium. 

 The inhabitants of the sugar colonies think them an excel- 

 lent ri medy in diarrhoeas and bloody fluxes ; they have apun- 

 v arm taste, but it is not immediately perceived by the 

 palate. They work both by stool and vomit, and have been 

 administered in the dry belly-ach; but we have much bet- 



ter medicines for both these disorders, though this may be 

 successfully given when the parts are relaxed or weakly, or 

 the disorder proceeds from indigestion, which is frequently 

 the case in hot climates. The seeds must be sown upon a bed 

 of light earth in the spring, where they are to remain. They 

 must be thinned till each is four inches apart from the rest. 



2. Argemone Armeniaca. Capsules three-valved. Disco- 

 vered in Armenia by Tournefort. 



3. Argemone Pyrcnaica. Capsules four-valved ; stem 

 naked. Native of the Pyrenees. 



Argophyllum ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth short, quin- 

 quefid ; divisions sharp. Corolla : petals five, lanceolate, 

 spreading, three times greater than the calix. Nectary five- 

 angled, pyramidal, open at the top, consisting of many con- 

 verging papillae, connate at the base. Stamina : filamenta 

 five, subulate, inserted into the receptacle ; shorter than the 

 nectary ; antherae ovate. 1'islil : gcrmen turbinate, fastened 

 at the bottom to the calix, flat above; style filiform, the 

 length of the nectary ; stigma globular. Pericarp-, capsulr 

 hemispherical, flat above, growing to the calix, three-celled, 

 opening into three parts. Seeds : very many, globular, porous. 

 ESSEX-HAL CHARACTER. Capsule: three-celled. Nectary: 



pyramidal, five-angled, the length of the corolla. One 



species only is known, viz. 



1. Argophyllum Nitidum. A perennial; found in New 

 Caledonia. 



Argythamnia ; a genus of the class Monoecia, order Te- 

 trandria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Male flowers. Calix : pe- 

 rianth four-leaved ; leaflets lanceolate, erect. Corolla : 

 petals four, lanceolate-ovate, ciliate on the margin, shorter 

 than the calix ; nectary four glands between the petals, 

 roundish, depressed. Stamina: filamenta four, longer than 

 the petals approximated at the base, dilated ; antherse sim- 

 ple. Putil: rudiment of a style. Female flowers, in the 

 same raceme under the male ones. Calix : perianth five-leaved 

 leaflets lanceolate. Corolla: none. Pistil: germen ovate, 

 somewhat three-cornered ; styles three, spreading, half two- 

 cleft ; each of the clefts bifid ; stigmas lacerate. Pericarp .- 

 capsule tricoccous, three-celled, six-valved. Seeds: solitary, 

 roundish. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. Calix : four- 

 leaved. Corolla: four-petalled. Female. Calix: five-leaved, 

 ,'((. none. Styles: dichotomous. Capsule.: tricoccous, 

 with solitary seeds. The only species known is, 



1. Argythamnia Candicans. A shrub seldom rising above 

 five feet high, with long branches, and common upon the 

 lower hills and gravelly soils of Jamaica. The leaves when 

 bruised are very odorilen 



Aristea ; a genus of the class Triandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Culii : spathes bivalve. Corolla: 

 petals six, oblong, spreading, nearly equal. Stamina: fila- 

 menta three, filiform, shorter than the petals; antheree ob- 

 lotiir, erect, incumbent. Pin til : germen inferior, three- 

 cornered; style filiform, longer than the filamenta, declinate; 

 stiirma funnel-form, gaping, limbriated on the margin, some- 

 what three-cornered. Pericarp: capsule oblong, three- 

 cornered, three-celled, three-valved. Seeds : very many. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Petal*: six. Sti/le: declinate. 

 Stigma : funnel-form, gaping. Capsule: inferior, with many 

 seeds. The only spivies yet discovered i>, 



1. Aristea Cyanca: (irans-teari-it Aristea. A small fibrous 

 plant, six or ciicht inches high; native of the Cape. 



Ar'istella. See .Si 



Aristiila a genus of the class Triandria, order Digynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calijc : glume one-flowered, bi- 

 valve ; valves linear-subulate, membranaceuus, unenual. 





