159 



B A L 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



BAN 



the length of the flower, much shorter than the leaves. 

 Native of China, and called there tiongina. 



BtEobotrysi a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth double; 

 exterior three-leaved ; leaflets roundish, concave, smaller ; 

 inferior one-leafed, bell-shaped, short, growing to the ger- 

 inen, five-cleft ; clefts ovate, permanent, converging after 

 flowering, and crowning the fruit. Corolla: one-petalled, 

 tubular ; tube very short ; border five-cleft, erect ; clefts 

 rounded, very short. Stamina i filamenta five, very short, 

 in the middle of the tube; antherae heart-shaped. Putil: 

 germen globose, half superior ; style cylindric, very short, 

 permanent ; stigma obtuse, tuberculated. Pericarp : berry 

 globose, somewhat dry, one-celled, growing to the calix. 

 Seeds : several, angular, affixed to a columnar receptacle in 

 the bottom of the berry. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: 

 tubular, with a five-cleft border. Calix. double; outer two- 

 leaved ; inner one-leafed, bell-shaped. Berry : globose, 



one-celled, growing to the calix, many-seeded. The 



only species hitherto discovered, is, 



1. Baeobotrys Nemoralis. Native of the isle of Tanna, in 

 the South Seas. 



Ballota ; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Gymno- 

 spermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, tubular, salver-shaped, five-cornered, oblong, ten- 

 streaked, erect, permanent, equal; moutli acute, patulous, 

 plaited, five-toothed ; Involucre of linear leaflets under the 

 whorls. Corolla : monopetalous, ringent ; tube cylindric, 

 the length of the calix; upper lip erect, ovate, entire, crenate, 

 concave ; lower trifid, obtuse ; the middle segment larger, 

 euiarginate. Stamina : filamenta four, the two shorter subu- 

 late, bending towards the upper lip, and shorter than it. 

 Antherae oblong, lateral. Pistil: germen quadrifid ; style 

 filiform, in the same situation und form with the stamina. 

 Stigma slender, bifid. Pericarp.- none. Calix: unchanged, 

 fostering the seeds in its bosom. Seeds . four, ovate. ES- 

 SENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: salver-shaped, five-toothed, 

 ten-streaked. Corolla: upper lip crenate, concave. The 

 European sorts being common stinking weeds, are never in- 

 troduced into gardens. The species are, 



1. Ballota Nigra ; Stinking or Black Horehound. Leaves 

 cordate, undivided, serrate ; calices acuminate; corolla pur- 

 ple, twice the length of the calix ; filamenta brown. It is a 

 perennial hairy plant, with an acrid pungent smell ; common 

 ia most parts of Europe, in waste places and hedges, flower- 

 ing in July. It is recommended in hysterical cases. In Goth- 

 land, it is an universal remedy in disorders incident to cattle; 

 but the Swedish plant is not supposed to be the same with 

 ours. This, says Meyrick, is one of those neglected English 

 plants, which are possessed of great virtues, though they are 

 but little known, and still less regarded. An infusion of the 

 green leaves, or a conserve made of the fresh-gathered tops 

 is one of the best remedies for hypochondriacal and hysteric 

 complaints. It likewise promotes the menses, and is good 

 in low-spiritedness, and all the numerous train of nervous 

 disorders. The flowers are sometimes found white. 



2. Ballota Alba; White-flowered Black Horehound. Leaves 

 cordate, undivided, serrate ; ralices aubtruncate. This has 

 a pale stem and white corollas, with rounded cordate veined 

 leaves, It is a native of Sweden. 



3. Ballota Liuiata ; f foully Black Horeltound. Leaves 

 palmate, toothed ; stem woolly. The stems are white with 

 wool ; corollas extremely hirsute,p;ilc yellow,white on the out- 

 side.--lt is a hardy plant, a native of Siberia, towards China. 



4. Ballota Suaveolcns ; >>,/(< t-smvlimif Black llorehound. 

 Leaves cordate; spikes leafy; calices truncate; awns linear; 



root annual ; stem upright, shrubby at bottom, branched, 

 hirsute; branches almost upright, villose. .Browne says, 

 that it commonly rises to the height of three or four feet; 

 and that it is a very grateful cephalic and alexipharmic. It 

 is a very odorous plant, and the people of St. Domingo use 

 it in their warm baths. A native of the West Indies. It 

 requires the protection of a stove. 



5. Ballota Disticha ; Betony-leaved Black Horeliouwi. 

 Whorls halved, two-parted, half-spiked ; stem pubescent, one 

 to two feet high. Native of the East Indies. It must be 

 placed in a stove in England. 



6. Ballota Pilosa. Leaves ovate, crenate, tomentose ; 

 whorls hairy ; calices ten-toothed ; stem perennial, four feet 

 high, weak, streaked, hairy. Native of Cochin-china. It 

 will not live without a stove in this country. 



Baltimora ; a genus of the class Syngenesia, order Poly- 

 gamia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : common cylindric ; 

 leaflets seven, lanceolate, erect, the interior ones shorter. 

 Corolla: compound, radiate; corollules hermaphrodite of 

 the disk many ; females of the ray five; proper of the herma- 

 phrodites funnel-form, with a five-cleft tomentose border; 

 of the females ligulate, ovate, trifid, the middle ones less. 

 Stamina: in the hermaphrodite, filamenta five; antherae 

 cylindric. Pistil: in the hermaphrodite, germen obscure, 

 style short ; stigma none. In the females, germen oblong, 

 crowned with a toothed deciduous calicle ; style filiform, 

 very short ; stigmas two, filiform, longer than the corollule. 

 Pericarp: none; calix unchanged. Seeds: in the herma- 

 phrodite, none ; in the females three-sided, naked, gibbous 

 at the top. Receptacle: chaffy. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix : cylindric, many-leaved ; ray of the corolla five- 

 flowered. Down: none. Receptacle: chaffy. One spe- 

 cies only is yet known, 



1. Baltimora Recta. An annual plant, with a stem two 

 feethigh, four-cornered, upright, green, with the sides deeply 

 channelled, and the angles rugged ; flowers yellow. Native 

 of Maryland, near Baltimore; it flowers in June and July. 



Bambusa; a genus of the class Hexandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calit: none, except glume- 

 like bractes scattered, often three under each spikelet, 

 oblong, pointed, concave, keeled unequal, shorter than the 

 floscules, two opposite, the third leaning on the flat side of 

 the spikelet ; spikelets lanceolate, distichous, compressed, 

 sharp, nearly five-flowered. Corolla, glume two-valved ; 

 valve inferior, oblong, ventricose, acuminate, towards the 

 tip keeled and streaked : interior lanceolate, flat, with compli- 

 cated margins, ciliate, alittle longer than the inferior, and pro- 

 jecting from it. Nectary two-leaved, flat at the anterior side 

 of the germen ; leaflets ovate, acuminate, bearded at the tip, 

 membranaceous. Stamina : filamenta six, capillary, almost 

 the length of the corolla; antherae parallelepiped, two-cleft 

 at the base. Pistil: germen oblong; style capillary, two- 

 cleft ; stigmas feathery. Pericarp: none. Seed : single, ob- 

 long. For the rest, see Arundo Bambos, and Nastus. 



iinnara; a genus of the class Dodecandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calit: perianth one-leafed, 

 six-parted, permanent ; parts ovate. Corolla : i>et;ils six, 

 roundish, concave, spreading, three times larger than the 

 calix, inserted into the receptacle. Stamina : filamenra fif- 

 teen and more, capillary, length of the corolla, inserted into 

 a glandule surrounding the germen ; anthers: roundish. 

 Pistil : germen somewhat globose, seated in a glandule ; 

 style filiform, of the height of the stamina ; stigma headed. 

 Pericarp: berry globose, but little succulent, one-celled, 

 crowned by the permanent style. Seeds: numerous, very 

 small, cornered, striated. ESSENTIAL CUAP.ACTKH. Calit: 



