46-2 



D I P 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



D I 



is also good for obstructions of the liver, and the jaundice. 

 Many people erroneously think that the water contained in 

 the basin formed by the leaves is a good cosmetic. Teasel 

 is propagated by sowing the seeds in March, upon a soil that 

 has been well ploughed ; about a peck of seed will sow an 

 acre, for the plants should have sufficient room to grow, or 

 the heads will not become either so large or so numerous. 

 When the plants are come up, hoe them in the same manner 

 as is practised for turnips, cutting down all the weeds, and 

 singling out the plants to about six or eight inches' distance ; 

 and as the plants advance, and the weeds begin to grow 

 again, hoe them a second time, cutting out the plants to a 

 wider distance, for they should be finally left at least a foot 

 asunder; and you should be particularly careful to clear them 

 from weeds, especially during thefirst summer, forwhenthe 

 plants have spread so as to cover the surface of the ground, 

 the weeds will not so readily grow between them. The 

 second year after sowing, the plants will shoot up stalks 

 with heads, which will be fit to cut about the beginning of 

 August, and should afterwards be tied up in bunches, setting 

 them in the sun if the weather be fair, but if not, placing 

 them in rooms to dry. The common produce is about one 

 hundred and sixty bundles or staves upon an acre, which 

 they commonly sell for about one shilling a stave. Some 

 persons sow Caraway and other seeds among their Teasels, 

 but it is not a good method, for the one spoils the other ; 

 nor can you so easily clear them from weeds as when alone : 

 this, however, is still the common practice in Essex, where 

 the Teasel is chiefly cultivated, on account of the neigh- 

 bouring manufactories of ordinary cloth and baize, in which 

 it is used for raising the nap. Old pasture-land, the soil of 

 which is a strong clayey loam, is best adapted to the culture 

 of Teasel. The method of managing the land for their com- 

 pound crop, has already been given under the article Carum, 

 or Caraway ; we have only to add therefore, for the instruction 

 of the hoers, that the first appearance of Teasel is much like 

 that of a Lettuce; that the heads being ready about the middle 

 of September, the second year, are to be cut as soon as they 

 begin to turn brown, with a stalk a foot long, and tied up in 

 bundles or bunches, twenty-five in each ; twenty-four of 

 these bunches are fixed on a small stick, and called a row, 

 two hundred and forty of which make a load, in bulk equal 

 to a ton of hay from the meadow. The work of cutting and 

 bunching the Teasel can only be done by those who are well 

 acquainted with it ; the crop must be looked over, and the 

 heads cut at several times as they ripen ; the produce is 

 sometimes a load on an acre, the average price of which is 

 twelve pounds, but it often happens that there is not more 

 than one-fourth of a load. 



2. Dipsacus Sylvestris ; Wild Teasel. Leaves connate, 

 crenate, uppermost entire ; involucres long, bending up ; 

 chaffs straight. Root biennial, simple, with large fibres ; stem 

 from three to six feet high, branched, round, striated, hollow, 

 spinous, but the spines few near the base, very numerous 

 near the heads, long and sharp ; root-leavesof the firstyear's 

 plant spread on the ground in a circular form, ovate-oblong, 

 bluntish, notched, wrinkled, and rough, with spines thinly 

 scattered over the leaf ; stem-leaves, at least the lowermost, 

 less wrinkled, uniting at the base so as to form a large cavity 

 containing water after rain, and hence the name ofdipsacus, 

 and lithium Generis. The flowers are blue purple, first 

 breaking forth about the middle of the heads ; chaffs of the 

 receptacle the length of the stamina, rigid, bearded ; some 

 of the lower chaffs bowed downwards, but not hooked at the 

 points. Native of most parts of Europe, on the edges of 

 pastures, in cultivated places, and by road-sides, flowering 



from June or July to September. The water contained in 

 the basin formed by the leaves, is said to cure warts, and to 

 serve as a beauty-wash for the face ; it is also supposed to 

 be good for the eyes. Cattle in general, even asses, appear 

 to avoid this plant : a small moth, earwigs, and other 

 insects, take refuge in the head. Linneus thought this to be 

 a mere variety of the first species ; but Mr. Miller, after 

 having cultivated both for nearly forty years, hesitates not 

 to declare them to be distinct species. 



3. Dipsacus Laciniatus ; Cut-leaved Teasel. Leaves con- 

 nate. Root biennial, long, branching; stem three feet high, 

 upright, angular, prickly, branched ; leaves pinnatifid, lari- 

 niate or sinuate, bright green, smooth above, pubescent be- 

 neath, having short prickles along the nerve, and being filiati- 

 on the edge : heads ovate, obtuse, terminating the stem and 

 branches, with an involucre at the base, consisting of stiff 

 prickly leaves, spreading out like a star ; chaffs lanceolate, 

 straight, ending in a stiff prickle ; flowers whitish ; anthene 

 reddish. It differs from the common Teasel, not only in the 

 leaves being cut so deeply, but in the prickles being weaker, 

 and having lateral flowers, rising higher than those in the 

 middle. The goldfinch is fond of the seeds, as well as those 

 of the common sort. Native of Germany, France, Alsace, 

 Austria, and Carniola. 



4. Dipsacus Pilosus ; Small Teasel. Leaves petioled, with 

 little appendages. It differs from its congeners in having a 

 fragile stem, from two to six feet high, sharp, with short 

 prickles pointing upwards, angular, and grooved; leaves witli 

 li ttle appendages at the base, but these are sometimes want! ng, 

 and the upper leaves are nearly entire, slightly hairy on both 

 sides, and with short prickles along the midrib underneath ; 

 scales of the receptacle longer than the corollas, ciliate, in 

 hemispherical heads ; corollas white, sometimes with a pur- 

 ple tinge ; antherae dark purple ; seeds ovate-quadrangular, 

 crowned with the calix ; stigma sometimes simple, but most 

 frequently trifid, with the lower lobe shorter than the upper, 

 as it is likewise in the common sort ; sometimes it is slightly 

 cloven into three parts. The heads of flowers hang down 

 during the time of flowering, but afterwards become upright. 

 This plant is called Shepherd's Rod, and Shepherd's Sfajf; 

 it flowers in July, and in September ripens seeds. They are 

 eaten by the small birds ; and the flowers are frequented by 

 great numbers of moths after sun-set. It is the handsomest 

 species of the genus, and very distinct from the three others, 

 which are very nearly allied. It is a native of France, Ger- 

 many, Switzerland, and Austria : in England, it is found in 

 moist and watery places, by brooks and damp hedges and 

 ditches ; between Deptford and Lewisham ; at Edgecotabe, 

 near Croydon ; at Guildford, and Godalmin, in Surry ; in 

 Beckcnham church-yard nearChislehurst, Foot's-cray, Farn- 

 borough &c. in Kent ; about Finchley in Middlesex ; at 

 Fulham, between the bishop's palace and the field ; at More- 

 hall, &c. near Harefield ; near Thame 1'ark in Oxfordshire ; 

 at LittL-shall abbey, in Shropshire ; at Eversham in Worces- 

 tershire ; in the way from Braintree to lledingham, and 

 from Dunmow to London ; in Gnrunton park, and Holling- 

 hall wood, in Leicestershire ; and in Scotland. 



Dipteryx ; a genus of the class Diadelphia, order Decan- 

 dria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calir : perianth one-leafed, 

 turbinate: two upper segments wing-shaped, oblong.concavp, 

 spreading ; the third lower, small, entire, or three-toothed. 

 Corolla: papilionaceous; standard longer, obovate, bent in 

 at the sides, erect ; wings two, oblong, shorter than the 

 standard; keel shorter, two petalled. Stamina; lilamenta 

 eight to ten, united into a cylinder, cloven at top ; antherae 

 small, roundish. Pistil : germenpedicelled, oblong; style 



