342 



COL 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



COL 



ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla : unequal. Cater .- of the 

 fruit one-leafed, toothed ; of the flower, bifid. Seed : one 



under the calix of the flower. The species are, 



1. Collinsonia Canadensis ; Nettle-leaved Collinsonia. 

 Leaves ovate, both they and the stems smooth. It has a 

 perennial root, and attains to the height of four or five feet in 

 America, but seldom grows above three feet high in England : 

 the stalks decay in the autumn, and fresh shoots come out 

 in the spring ; they are square, with heart-shaped leaves, 

 opposite, and serrate ; the flowers are produced at the extre- 

 mity of the stalks, in loose spikes ; they -are of a purplish 

 yellow, and appear in July : the seeds ripen in autumn; one 

 seed only in general attains to maturity, the others being 

 almost always abortive ; this is globose, ash-coloured, ob- 

 scurely reticulated with dusky veins. Native of North Ame- 

 rica, in Pennsylvania, and that latitude, in little woods, and 

 among bushes, in a rich soilt Mr. Barton was the first who 

 discovered and sent it to Europe : it has a peculiar and very 

 strong, but agreeable scent, and is reputed to be an excellent 

 remedy against pains in the limbs, and a cold, if the affected 

 parts be rubbed with it : a decoction of it is also said to 

 have cured the bite of the rattlesnake. The Americans call 

 it horseweed, because the horses eat it in the spring before 

 any other plant comes up. It may easily be propagated by 

 parting the roots in October; they should be planted at 

 three feet distance, for they require much nourishment to 

 make them thrive, which they will do in the open ground, if 

 planted in a sheltered situation : unless, however, it be kept 

 warm and duly watered, it seldom flowers well ; therefore 

 man}' persons keep them in large pots ; but these very rarely 

 produce. good seeds : whereas those which stand in the full 

 ground, and are regularly watered, will ripen seeds very well 

 in good seasons. 



. Collinsonia Scabriuscula ; Rough-stalked Collinsonia. 

 Leaves ovate, subcordate, somewhat hairy; stem somewhat 

 hairy, scabrous. Native of East Florida : perennial. This 

 species is more tender than the first, and requires the pro- 

 tection of the green-house. 

 Columbine. See Aquilegia. 



Columnea ; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Angio- 

 spermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one- 

 leafed, five-parted, subventricose at thebase; divisions erect, 

 equal, lanceolate, permanent. Corolla: one-petalled, ringent, 

 villose ; tube long, gibbous above at the base ; border two- 

 lipped ; upper lip straight, emarginate; lower lip three- 

 parted ; lateral divisions lanceolate, the intermediate longer 

 and more deeply separated, lanceolate. Stamina: lilamenta 

 four, of which the two longer are hid under the upper lip ; 

 antherae simple, connected into a little crown. Pistil: ger- 

 men ovate ; style filiform, length of the upper lip ; stigma 

 bifid, obtuse. Pericarp: capsule two-celled, ovate. Seeds: 

 numerous, small, lying on a very large receptacle. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-parted. Corolla: ringent, 

 upper lip three-parted, the middle-part vaulted, emarginate, 

 gibbous above at the base. Antherte connected. Capsule : 

 tw<vcelleil. Seeds: nestling. As nil these plants are natives 

 of hot countries, and in general of the West Indies, they 

 are too tender to live in England out of the stove. They are 

 propagated by seeds sown in a good hot-bed ; and when the 

 plants come up they must be treated in the same way as 



other tender exotics which are kept in the bark-stove. 



The species are, 



1. Columnea Scandens ; Climbing Columnea. Leaves ovate, 

 acute, entire, subvillose ; leaflets of the calix entire ; corollas 

 rind culices pubescent, upper lip undivided. Stem scandcnt, 

 looting, angular, striated, succulent, brittle, somewhat hir- 



sute; leaves petioled, opposite, small, scarcely nerved : flowe;-- 

 peduncled, solitary, axillary, blood-red, somewhat vilk>se. 

 It is said to be subparasitical. Native of the Caribbee 

 islands, Martinico, and Guiana, in moist parts of woods at 

 the foot of mountains. The Columnea with a yellowish 

 flower is only'a seminal variation. 



2. Columnea Longifolia ; Long-leaved Columnea. Leaves 

 lanceolate, very long, somewhat serrated, smooth. Stem two 

 feet high, herbaceous, quadrangular, smooth, branched ; 

 leaves three inches long, opposite ; flowers red, opposite, in 



simple, long, erect, terminal racemes. Native of the East 

 Indies. 



3. Columnea Hirsuta ; Hairy Columnea. Leaves ovate, 

 acuminate, serrate, roughly hairv on the upper surface ; 

 calycine leaflets toothletted, lanceolate; theyand thecorollas 

 hirsute, the upper lip bifid. This beautiful vegetable is a 

 native of the cooler mountains of Jamaica ; it is very succu- 

 lent, and grows- luxuriantly in every rich and shady soil, 

 throwing its branches frequently to the height of four or five 

 feet, and higher when supported ; the stem is moderately 

 thick ; the leaves opposite, and alternately larger; the flowers 

 are large, beautifully variegated, and hairy on the outside, 

 like the other parts of the plant ; the divisions of the calix are 

 pinnated, somewhat like those of the garden rose. It has an 

 uncommon appearance, and it is highly worthy of cultivation : 

 it flowers in November. 



4. Columnea Hispida. Leaves ovate, obtuse, toothletted, 

 hispid-hirsute ; leaflets of the calix lanceolate, entire, hairy; 

 stem hairy, rugged. Native of Jamaica. 



5. Columnea Rutilans. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, villose, 

 toothletted ; leaves of the calix jagged ; corollas villose, the 

 upper lip two-parted. Native of Jamaica. 



6. Columnea Stellata ; Starry Columnea. Leaves stellate ; 

 flowers solitary ; stem creeping. Stem herbaceous, perennial, 

 round, slender, whitish; branches suberect, four inches Ions, 

 very tender; flowers white, striped with red, hirsute, axillary, 

 peduncled. It is an aquatic plant, of a very pleasing appear- 

 ance and agreeable smell, and being emollient and cooling, 

 it is used as awash by the women. Native of Cochin-china, 

 where it is cultivated in pots and tubs filled with water, 

 having earth at the bottom. 



Colutea : agenus of the classDiadelphia.orderDecandria. ' 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 bell-shaped, five-cleft, erect, nearly equal, permanent. Co- 

 rn/ la ; papilionaceous. Standard, wings, and keel, differ in 

 figure and various proportion ; the wings are pressed close 

 together, lanceolate. Stamina: lilamenta diadelphous, sin- 

 gle, and nine-cleft, ascending ; antherae simple. Pistil : 

 germen oblong, compressed, attenuated to each end ; style 

 ascending ; stigma is a bearded line, extended from the 

 middle of the style to its tip, from the upper part. Peri- 

 carp: legume very large, very broad, inflated, transparent 

 and membranaceous, the upper suture erect, the lower gib- 

 bous, one-celled, gaping on the upper suture at the 

 Seeds: several, kidney-shaped. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix : five-cleft. Legume : inflated, gaping on the upper 

 sutureat the base. The plants of this genus are, in general, 

 easily distinguished by their membranaceous inflated pod. 

 The species are, 



1 . Colutea Arborescens ; Common Bladder-Senna. Leaf- 

 lets oval-obcordate ; standard gibbous, abbreviated. This 

 species has several woody stems, which attain to the height 

 of twelve or fourteen feet, sending out many woody branc 

 with winged leaves, composed of four or five pairs of oval 

 lobes, placed opposite, terminated by an odd one ; these are 

 indented at the top in form of a heart, and are of a grayish 



