CON 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



CON 



349 



parcels of small fibrous roots at the joints ; it spreads over 

 the neighbouring grass, and on the surface of the water, by 

 the side of which it naturally grows ; the stems and branches 

 are square, and each angle is bordered its whole length by a 

 Tery thin sharp leaf or wing; leaves opposite at each joint, 

 clasping, distant three quarters of an inch from each other, 

 kidney-form, plaited at the nerves, and waving on the edge ; 

 flowers either solitary or in pairs, opposite from the axil of 

 the leaves, on a slender peduncle an inch in length ; corolla 

 blue. Native of Guiana ; flowering in June. 

 Conservatory. See Green-house. 

 Contrayerva. See Dorstenia. 



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

 ijynia. GEXERIC CHARACTER. Calix : none Corolla: 

 monopetalous, bell-shaped, smooth; border six-cleft, obtuse, 

 open, reflected. Stamina .- filamenta six, subulate, inserted 

 into the petal, shorter than the corolla ; antherae oblong, 

 erect. Pistil ; germen globose ; style filiform, longer than 

 the stamina ; stigma obtuse, three-cornered. Pericarp : 

 berry globose, three-celled, spotted before maturity. Seeds : 

 solitary, or in pairs, roundish. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 



Corolla : six-cleft. Berry : spotted, three-celled. The 



species are, 



* Corollas bell-shaped. 



1. Convallaria Maialis ; Sweet-scented Lily of the Valley. 

 Flowers on a scape ; root perennial, with numerous round 

 fibres, transversely wrinkled, creeping horizontally just below 

 the surface to a considerable distance. The whole plant is 

 smooth. Leaves radical, two, on long petioles, elliptical, 

 ribbed, entire, acute, four to five inches long, of a bright 

 green colour ; flowers six to eight in a raceme, nodding, 

 white, fragrant ; berry scarlet when ripe. There are several 

 varieties of theLilyof the Valley.as : One, with narrow leaves, 

 mentioned as having been found byMr.Lawson in Westmore- 

 land, but upon being removed into a garden, it became in all 

 respects like the common sort. A second, with broader leaves, 

 from the Alps, which Mr. Miller informs us retained its dif- 

 ference in the garden in the same soil and situation with the 

 common sort, and therefore he has no doubt of its being a 

 distinct species. A third, with a double variegated flower, 

 supposed to be only a variety of the preceding, though the 

 flowers are much larger,and beautifully variegated with purple, 

 but the roots do not increase so much as the common sort. 

 A fourth, with reddish or red flowers, which Mr. Miller affirms 

 remained the same for forty years ; the flowers are smaller, 

 the stalks redder, and the leaves a darker green, than in the 

 common sort : both this and the white vary with double 

 flowers. The Lily of the Valley claims our notice both as an 

 ornamental and a medicinal plant; in the former point of view, 

 few are held in greater estimation, because few can boast such 

 delicacy with so much fragrance. When dried, they have a 

 narcotic scent ; and if reduced to powder, excite sneezing, and 

 relieve the head-ache : an extract prepared from the flowers 

 or the roots, partakes of the bitterness as well as of the pur- 

 gative quality of aloes ; the dose is from twenty to thirty 

 grains : an infusion of the flowers, constantly taken instead of 

 tea, is an excellent remedy for nervous head-aches, trembling 

 of the limbs, and other similar complaints. The Lily of the 

 Valley is a native of Europe, from Lapland to Italy, in 

 woods. Since the trees on Hampstead Heath near London 

 have been destroyed, it has been but sparingly found there : 

 it is found in lord Mansfield's wood, near the Spaniard ; be- 

 tween Shooter's Hill and Woolwich ; and in Norwood it 

 abounds, where large patches have been observed, with very 

 few flowers and no berries. It may also be met with on 

 Bushy Heath, and Cashioberry in Hertfordshire ; near Chisel- 

 VOL. i. 30. 



hurst, in Kent ; near Lee, in Essex ; near Woburn, in Bed- 

 fordshire, whence, according to Mr. Miller, the London 

 markets are generally supplied with the flowers ; it has been 

 observed in Wichwood forest in Oxfordshire ; in Beech- 

 wood, near Stokenchurch ; in Whitewood, near Gamlingay, 

 Cambridgeshire ; in Norfolk ; in Buddon and Okely woods, 

 Leicestershire ; King's Cliff, Northamptonshire ; Kendal, 

 in Westmoreland ; in the county of Durham ; upon Ingle- 

 borough in Yorkshire ; and in Scotland. It flowers in May, 

 and is therefore named May-lily. Gerarde calls it convall 

 lillie, and informs us, that in some places it is called liricon- 

 fancie. It is propagated by parting the roots in autumn, 

 placing the sets a foot asunder : they require a loose sandy 

 soil and a shady situation. They spread and multiply greatly 

 in a rich soil, but are less productive of flowers. The only 

 culture they require, is to keep them clean from weeds, and 

 to transplant and separate the roots every third or fourth 

 year; for if this be neglected, the flowers will be small, and 

 few in number. As the Lily of the Valley forces very well, 

 by that means its elegant flowers may be enjoyed in a suc- 

 cession for two months. 



2. Convallaria Japonica ; Grass-leaved Lily of the Valley. 

 Scape ancipital ; raceme drooping ; root-leaves ten or more, 

 linear, drawn to a point at bottom, three-cornered, flat on 

 one side, entire, striated, bent back, two feet long and up- 

 wards ; scape finely striated, smooth, a short span in height, 

 flowering at the end, four-cornered ; corolla white ; divisions 

 lanceolate, patulous, a line in length ; filamenta hardly any ; 

 anthers linear, acute, brown; style the length of the corolla ; 

 berry ovate, obtuse, smooth, blue, the size/if a pea, one-celled, 

 adorned with the permanent calix. There are two varieties, 

 a larger and a smaller. They are found near Nagasaki in 

 Japan, and are there used, as well as among the Chinese, in 

 some disorders for which the tubers of the roots preserved 

 with sugar, are supposed to be a remedy. 



3. Convallaria Spicata ; Spiked Lily of the Valley. Scape 

 striated ; raceme spiked ; flowers aggregate. Root fibrous ; 

 root-leaves linear, drawn to a point at bottom, bluntish, much 

 striated ; scape from four inches to a foot in height ; raceme 

 a finger's length, with the flowers scatteringly aggregate ; 

 corolla six-cleft, almost globular, violet. Native of Japan, 

 flowering in September. 



** Corollas funnel-shaped. 



4. Convallaria Verticillata ; Narrow -leaved Solomon $ Seal. 

 Leaves in whorls. Root perennial, toothed ; stem simple, 

 angular, striated, erect, eighteen inches high ; leaves three or 

 four in a whorl, three or four inches long, and from half an 

 inch to an inch in breadth, bright green, glaucous beneath j 

 peduncles axillary, solitary, branched, pendulous, two or three 

 flowered ; corollas oblong.greenish- white, striated at the ends, 

 and divided into six bluntish segments, bearded within at the 

 tip, three or four lines in length ; berries globular, blue. It 

 flowers in June ; and is a native of the north of Europe, Ger- 

 many, Switzerland, and Carniola. Ray observed it near Spa, 

 and on mount Saleve, near Geneva ; and it was found by Mr. 

 Arthur Bruce in the Den Rechip, four miles N. E. of Dun- 

 keld in Perthshire, in July 1792. All the Solomon's Seals are 

 very hardy plants ; they prefer a light soil and a shady situa- 

 tion, and are therefore very proper for plantations, where, if 

 they be not crowded by shrubs, they will thrive and multiply 

 exceedingly, making an agreeable variety during the summer 

 season. They have a very singular appearance ; and multiply 

 very fast by their creeping roots, in a proper soil and situa- 

 tion. The best time to transplant and part the roots is in au- 

 tumn, soon after the stalks decay ; but it may be safely done 

 at any time until they begin to shoot in the spring, when the 



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