208 



B U P 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



B U P 



2. Buphthalmum Arborescens ; Tree Ox-eye. Leaves op- 

 posite, lanceolate, tomentose on both sides, toothless, quite 

 entire ; stem shrubby. This seldom grows more than three 

 feet high, sending out many succulent stalks from the root. 

 The flowers are produced at the end of the branches upon 

 footstalks two inches long, and are larger than those of the 



first species, and of a bright yellow colour. They appear in 

 July, August, and September, but often'continue till the end 

 of October. Native of the Bermudas. For its propagation 

 and culture, see the first species. 



3. Buphthalmum Sericeum ; Silky Ox-eye. Leaves scattered, 

 wedge-shaped, acute, quite entire, villose-silky ; branches 

 thick, woody, covered with scars left by the falling leaves; 

 flowers terminating, large and yellow. Found in Fuertaven- 

 t'lra, one of the Canary Islands ; flowering from May to July. 



4. Buphthalmum Spinosum ; Prickly Ox-eye. Calices 

 acutely leafy ; leaves alternate, lanceolate, stem-clasping, 

 quite entire. This is an annual plant. The ray of the corolla 

 is manifold, and very slender ; it is of a bright yellow colour ; 

 the disk is of a gold colour. The flowers appear from June 

 to August, and the seeds ripen in September. It is a native 

 of the south of France, Spain, and Italy, on the borders of 

 fields, and 01^ ditch-banks. The leaves were formerly used 

 in medicine. In Arragon it is called cevadilla, from its qua- 

 lity of exciting sneezing. The seeds of this, and of the fifth 

 species, should be sown in the beginning of April, on open 

 borders, where they are to remain, and will require no other 

 care but to keep them clear of weeds, and thin them to the 

 distance of a foot and a half, that their branches may have 

 room to spread. If the seeds be sown in the autumn, or be 

 permitted to scatter when ripe, the plants will come up soon 

 after, and these will more certainly ripen than the spring 

 plants. 



5. Buphthalmum Aquaticum ; Sweet-scented Ox-eye. Ca- 

 lices obtusely leafy, sessile, axillary ; leaves alternate, oblong, 

 obtuse ; stem herbaceous. This is also an annual ; seldom 

 growing more than a foot high in gardens, and, where it is 

 wild, not so high : it sends out many alternate spreading 

 brandies near the root ; the leaves are hairy and sessile ; 

 the flowers, which are sessile in the forks of the stem, have 

 an agreeable odour. Native of the south of Europe. It 

 flowers in July and August. For the mode of propagating 

 it, see the fourth species. 



6. Buphthalmum Maritimum; Sea Ox-eye. Calices obtusely 

 leafy, peduncled ; leaves alternate, spatulate ; stem herba- 

 ceous. This is a low perennial plant, with a shrubby stalk, 

 rarely rising a foot high, with many spreading branches ; 

 leaves hairy, narrow at their base, but broa,d and roundish at 

 the extremity ; flowers yellow. Native of Sicily, flowering 

 from July to September. This plant seldom produces seed 

 in England, but is easily propagated by slips during the sum- 

 mer season ; if the cuttings are planted in a bed of fresh loamy 

 firth, and covered with a hand-glass, observing to shade them 

 from the sun in the heat of the day, and frequently refreshed 

 with water, they will take root in about six weeks, when they 

 should be carefully taken up, and each planted with a sepa- 

 rate small pot filled with fresh undunged e;irth, and placed 

 in a shady situation till they have taken fresh root ; after 

 which they may be removed to a sheltered situation until the 

 end of October, when they must be placed under a frame for 

 the winter season ; but as they only require protection from 

 hard frost, they will thrive better when they have a great 

 hare of air in mild weather, than if confined in the green- 

 house ; therefore the best method is to place them in a com- 

 mon frame, where they maybe fully exposed in mild weather, 

 but screened from the frost. 



7. Buphthalmum Durum. Leaves alternate, lanceolate, . 

 quite entire; stem undershrubby ; flowers terminal, solitary. 

 Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



t Asteroidea of Tournefort. 



8. Buphthalmum Salicifolium ; Willow-leaved Ox-eye. 

 Leaves alternate, lanceolate, subserrate, villose, calicos 

 naked; stem herbaceous. The root is perennial ; the stem 

 upright, round, a foot or eighteen inches in height, with 

 upright one-flowered branches. It is thought to be the yel- 

 low Aster of the Italians, the juice of which, when applied 

 to the wounds which a dog had received from the bites of a 

 viper, enabled him to bear them without injury. Native of 

 Italy, the south of France, Switzerland, Austria, and Car- 

 niola. It flowers from June to October. This, as well as 

 the ninth and eleventh species, may be propagated by parting 

 the roots towards the end of October, when the stalks begin 

 ito decay. Those of the eleventh should be removed every 

 other year, to prevent their spreading too far. It is hardy, 

 and will thrive in any situation, but as the roots are apt 

 to extend, it is not proper for the borders of small flower- 

 gardens ; but in large borders, on the sides of rural walks, 

 or in spaces between shrubs, it will be ornamental during the 

 season of flowering. 



9. Buphthalmum Grandiflorum ; Great-Jlowered Ox-eye. 

 Leaves alternate, lanceolate, subdenticulate, smooth ; calices 

 naked ; stem herbaceous. This is also perennial, with an 

 annual stalk: it grows near two feet high, with slender 

 branching stalks, and oblong smooth leaves ending in a point ; 

 the flowers are produced at the extremity of the branches, 

 and are of a bright yellow colour. It flowers in June and 

 July, and the seeds ripen in autumn. It is a native of Italy, 

 Austria, and the south of France. There are two or three 

 varieties, differing in the breadth of their leaves, and the 

 size of their flowers, but they are all produced from the same 

 seeds. For its propagation and culture, see the eighth 

 species. 



10. Buphthalmum Speciosissimum. Leaves alternate, stem- 

 clasping, ovate, naked, serrate, subciliate ; stem one-flowered: 

 root fusiform, resembling a tuberous one. It grows wild in 

 the mountains about Brixen in the Tyrol, and is perennial. 

 The leaves of this, and those of the ninth species, have a taste 

 somewhat like those of Tea, and may be used instead of them. 



11. Buphthalmum Helianthoides ; Sunflower-leaved Ox- 

 eye. Leaves opposite, ovate, serrate, triply-nerved ; calices 

 leafy ; stem herbaceous. This is a perennial plant, a fathom 

 in height; root branched, whitish, fragrant. It is a native 

 of North America, and is said to be found wild every where 

 between the tropics. It flowers from July till October. 



12. Buphthalmum Oleraceum. Calicine leaflets acrte, 

 connected laterally ; leaves opposite, lanceolate, curved back; 

 stem herbaceous, two feet high, upright, round, whitish, 

 smooth, branched ; leaves linear, lanceolate, unequally 

 toothed, smooth, juicy, thick, ash-coloured ; flower large, 

 solitary ; calix hemispherical, with sharp leaflets, connected 

 by a lateral membrane ; disk of the corolla flat, with yellow 

 florets ; ray wide, spreading, with many white trifid florets; 

 receptacle flattish, with very small chaffs ; crown of the seeds 

 margined; the stigma in the hermaphrodite flowers is sim- 

 ple. It is an odorous plant, cultivated as a potherb in the 

 gardens of China and Cochin-china. 



Buplcuntm ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Diiry- 

 nia. GKNBBIC CHABACTBR. Culir: umbel universal, with 

 fewer than ten rays ; partial with scarcely ten rays, erect- 

 expanding ; involucre universal, many-leaved; partial h've- 

 leavcd, lander ; leaflets expanding, ovate, acute. Pcr'uinth 

 proper: obscure. Corolla: universal uniform; floscules all 



