344 



COM 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



C O M 



which they must be treated in the same way as other plants 

 troui the same climate, always keeping them in a stove, 

 which should be of a moderate temperature. 



9. Colutea Procumbens. Stems trailing ; leaflets ovate- 

 oblong, tomentose ; flowers axillary, on very long peduncles. 

 This species has many slender woody steins, which trail on 

 the ground, and are divided into many smaller branches ; 

 leaves composed of twelve or fourteen pairs of leaflets, termi- 

 nated by an odd one. The flowers are very small, of a purple 

 colour, and stand three or four together, upon very long 

 slender peduncles : they appear in June and July, and ripen 

 seeds in autumn. Native of the Cape. This is a perennial 

 plant, which, if sheltered in the winter, will continue several 

 years. It is raised from seeds on a moderate hot-bed in the 

 spring. 



( 'oiiiarum : a genus of the class Icosandria, order Poly- 

 ex nia. GENKRIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 ten-cleft, very large, spreading, coloured; alternate divisions 

 mailer, interior, permanent. Corolla ; petals five, oblong, 

 acuminate, three times smaller than the calix on which they 

 are inserted. Stamina: filamenta twenty, subulate, inserted 

 into the calix, length of the corolla, permanent; antherae 

 lunular, deciduous. Pistil: germina numerous, roundish, 

 very small, collected into a head ; styles simple, short, from 

 the sides of the germen , stigmas simple. Pericarp : none ; 

 common receptacle of the seeds ovate, fleshy, very large, 

 permanent. Seeds : numerous, acuminate, covering the 

 receptacle. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: ten-cleft. Petals: 

 five, smaller than the calix. Receptacle of the seeds : ovate, 

 spongy, permanent. The only species is, 



1. Comarum Palustre ; Marsh Cinque/oil. This plant 

 has creeping woody roots, which send out many black fibres, 

 penetrating deep into boggy ground ; stems many, herba- 

 ceous, about two feet high, generally inclined to the ground ; 

 at each joint is one leaf, composed of five, six, or seven 

 leaflets. The petals are not more than a third part of the 

 size of the calix. Native of most parts of Europe, on boggy 

 ground. A few plants grow upon a bog at Hampstead ; but 

 the nearest place to London where it grows wild in plenty, is 

 in the meadows near Guildford in Surry. It is found at Sel- 

 burne in Hampshire, nearBromsgrove Lickey in Worcester- 

 shire, Gamlingay in Cambridgeshire, in Norfolk, near Col- 

 chester in Essex, Giggleswick Tarn near Settle, and also in 

 Scotland and Ireland. It flowers in June. The roots dye wool 

 of a dirty red colour ; and have astringency enough, with other 

 plants of the same order, to tan leather. The Irish rub their 

 milk-pails with it,to make the milk appear thicker and richer. 

 Goats eat it. Cows and sheep are not fond of it. Horses 

 and swine refuse it. There is a variety with thicker and 

 more villose leaves, which grows plentifully in the north of 

 England, and in Ireland ; but after one year's growth in a 

 garden, it cannot be distinguished from the common sort. 

 As this plant is a native of bogs, it cannot well be preserved 

 in a garden, except it be planted in a soil resembling that in 

 which it naturally grows. The roots may be removed from 

 the place of their growth in October, and will be in no dan- 

 ger of failing, if they be planted in boggy ground. 



Combretum ; a genus of the class Octandria, order Mono- 

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

 superior, bell-shaped, four or five toothed, deciduous. 

 Corolla : petals four or five, ovate, acute, inserted into the 

 calix, and scarcely longer than it. Stamina : filamenta 

 eight or ten, bristle-form, erect, very long ; antherae a little 

 oblong. Pistil : germen inferior, linear; style bristle-form, 

 length of the stamina ; stigma acute. Pericarp: none, ex- 

 cept the crust of the seed. Seed : single, four or five angled ; 



angles membranaceous, acuminate. ESSENTIAL CHARAC- 

 TER. Calix: four or five toothed, bell-shaped, supcrim-. 

 Corolla : four or five petalled, inserted into the culix. Alu- 

 mina : very long. Seed : one, four or five angled ; the angles 

 membranaceous. The species are, 



1. Combretum Laxum. Spikes lax; leaves opposite. It 

 is a shrub, with round scandent branches, the younger ones 

 brachiate ; leaves three inches long, petioled ; spikes erect, 

 three inches long, axillary, and terminating; flowers small, 

 whitish on very short pedicels. Native of the West Indies. 



2. Combretum Secundum. Spikes in one row ; leaves op- 

 posite. A small tree, twelve feet high, supporting itself on 

 other trees by its round and very long branches ; leaves four 

 inches long, ovate-oblong ; flowers very numerous, with 

 scarcely any scent, yellowish-green colour, except the an- 

 therae, which are red, all turned upwardsand erect, altogether 

 appearing like a crest. The broken branches and the bruised 

 leaves have a fetid and very unpleasant smell. Native of 

 Carthagena in South America, and also of Guiana. 



3. Combretum Purpureum. Leaves ovate-oblong, both 

 they and the calices naked ; spikes simple, directed one way. 

 This is a smooth shrub, with round brachiate branches ; 

 flowers copious, scattered ; corolla purple ; seed roundish, 

 retuse, very smooth, of a shining golden colour. Native of 

 Madagascar, and the East Indies. 



4. Combretum Decandrum. Leaves opposite, oblong, 

 acuminate ; racemes lax. ; bractes larger than the flower ; 

 flowers decandrous, in two rows, white. Native of woody 

 mountains in the East Indies. 



5. Combretum Alternifolium. Leaves alternate ; flowers 

 ten stamincd. This is a weak branching shrub, climbing to 

 twenty feet in height, with prickles on the older branches ; 

 )>edicels very short ; flowers small and very numerous, coining 

 out usually before the leaves. Native of Carthagena, flower- 

 ing in May and June, and fruiting in July and August. 



Cometes ; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : involucre three- 

 flowered, (flowers sessile) four-leaved ; leaflets oblong, equal, 

 spreading, ciliate-hispid ; perianth four-leaved ; leaflets ob- 

 long, equal, length of the involucre. Corolla : none. Stamina : 

 filamenta four, capillary, length of the perianth ; anther* 

 roundish. Pistil : germen roundish ; style filiform, length 

 of the flower ; stigma three-cleft. Pericarp: capsule tricoc- 

 cous. Seed: solitary. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Involucre: : 

 four-leaved, three-flowered. Calix: four-leaved. Ca/isule : 

 tricoccous. The only known species is, 



1. Cometes Alterniflora. Root annual ; stem herbaceous, 

 a foot high, round ; leaves opposite, sessile, obovatc, acumi- 

 nate, very entire, smooth ; peduncles in pairs, terminal and 

 axillary. Native of Surat. 



Comfrey. See Symphytum. 



Commelina ; a genus of the class Triandria, order Mono- I 

 gyniu. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: spathe cordate, con- | 

 verging, compressed, very large, permanent. Corolla .- petaU'l 

 six, of which the three exterior are small, ovate, concave, I 

 resembling a perianth ; the three inferior ones alternate, very [ 

 large, roundish, coloured ; nectaries three, resembling sta- 1 

 miiiii, seated on their proper filamenta, cruciform, horizontal. 

 Stamina : filamenta three, subulate, reclined, agreeing in 

 figure and circuit with the filamenta of the nectary, but infe- | 

 rior to them ; antherse ovate. Pistil : germen superior, 

 roundish ; style subulate, revolute, length of the stamina ; 

 stigma simple. Pericarp : capsule naked, nearly globular, 

 three-celled, three-valved. Seeds . two, angulated. E^ 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: six-petalled. Nectaries: three, j 

 cross-shaped, pedicelled. Every species of this geno? 



