D n A 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



D R A 



473 



U ; styles twice as long as the flowers. Native of Jer- 

 katsch in Siberia. 



5. Drarocephalum Peregrinum ; Prickly-leaved Dragon's 

 Ill-nil. Flowers somewhat spiked > stem-leaves ovate-oblong, 



lied; bractes linear-lanceolate, denticulate, spiny. Root 

 pi-rcnnial ; stems several, a long span in length, with the 

 joints an inch asunder ; leaves like those of the common 

 Hyssop or Rosemary, moderately hoary underneath ; from 

 the axils of these come out branches with similar leaves, 

 but smaller, and flowers at the end, with rigid calices, 

 and corollas of a very elegant blue purple colour ; seeds 

 oblong, angular, blackish. Native of Siberia. 



6. Dracocephalum Austriacum ; Austrian Dragons Head. 

 Leaves and bractes linear, parted, spiny. Root perennial ; 

 stalks hairy.a foot and a half high, sending outseveral side- 

 branches; flowers terminating in short whorled spikes, with 

 some very narrow leaves or bractes under each whorl. This, 

 saysJacquin,is a beautiful plant, and grows inAustria, where 

 it was first observed by Clusius. The stems, which vary in 

 number according to the soil, are annual, squarish,.aml vil- 

 lose; the leaves opposite, hoary below, smooth and green 

 above, and are deeply lobed, or cut in a pinnatifid manner. 

 The flowers are axillary on the upper part of the plant, com- 

 monly in pairs, sometimes in threes, large, and of a violet 

 purple colour, paler without. Native of Austria and Hun- 

 gary. This, and the seventh and eighth species, will be best 

 propagated by seed, which should be sown in the latter end 

 of March, in a bed of fresh light earth, in an open exposure, 

 and in about five or six weeks after, the plants will appear, 

 when they should be carefully cleared from weeds ; and, if 

 the season should prove dry, they must be refreshed now and 

 then with water, which will greatly promote their growth. 

 When the plants are about two inches high, they should be 

 carefully transplanted into a bed or border of fresh, light, 

 undunged earth, observing to shade them from the sun until 

 they have taken root, as also to refresh them with water 

 until they are well established in this bed ; after which time, 

 they will require no farther care, but to keep them constantly 

 clear from weeds till Michaelmas, when they are to be re- 

 moved into the places where they are finally to remain. 

 When they are first removed from the seed-bed into the nur- 

 sery-bed, they should be planted six inches asunder every 

 way, which will be sufficient room for them the first season; 

 anil this will admit of the hoe to come between the plants to 

 destroy the weeds, which is safer than pulling them up by 

 hand, as well as sooner performed : for as the hoe stirs the 

 ground between the plants, it not only cuts down the weeds 

 which were up and visible, but also destroys all those whose 

 seeds were sprouted, and would soon after have appeared ; 

 so that one hoeing, if well performed, and in dry weather, 

 will more effectually destroy the weeds, than two hand weed- 

 ings would do, were they performed ever so carefully; be- 

 sides, the stirring the ground is of great service to the plants. 

 At Michaelmas, when they are transplanted for good, they 

 should be carefully taken up with balls of earth to their roots, 

 and planted in fresh light earth in the middle of the borders 

 of the pleasure garden, where, when intermixed with other 

 hardy plants of the same growth, they will make a pretty 

 ap]>eiirance when they are in flower, and will continue three 



r four years, and have been known to live six or seven 

 years in stony soils, where, however, the spikes of flowers 

 are neither so large nor so vigorous as those of younger 

 plants. Hence, as these plants do not continue many years, 

 it will be proper to raise a supply of young plants to succeed 

 1 "in. t'nrthe old plants will produce seed plentifully, which 

 are ripe the latter end of August, or the beginning of Septem- 

 VOL, i. 4O. 



her, when they should be gathered in dry weather, and kept 

 in a warm dry room ready for use. 



7. Dracocephalum Ruyschiana ; Hyssop -leaved Dragon's 

 Head. Leaves and bractes lanceolate, undivided, awnless. 

 Root perennial; stems about two feet high, with two smooth 

 linear leaves at each joint, about an inch long, and one- 

 eighth of an inch broad, with a deep furrow along the mid- 

 dle ; at each joint, at the other sides of the stem, come out 

 two or three very narrow small leaves of the same shape. The 

 calices are cut into five segments at top, of which, four are 

 narrow and acute, and the fifth, which is on the upper side 

 of the flower, is broader, and rounded at the point. Tube of 

 the corolla longer than the calix, swelling, and large at the 

 chaps ; the upper lip broad, erect, and arched over the tube, 

 the lower shorter, with two short, erect, side segments ; but 

 the middle segment is broad, rounded, indented at the 

 point, and reflex. The flowers appear in June, and are of 

 a fine blue colour. Native of Norway, Sweden, Switzer- 

 land, and Siberia. See the sixth species. 



** In Whorls. 



8. Dracocephalum Sibiricum ; Siberian Dragons Head. 

 Flowers subverticilled ; peduncles bifid, pointing one way ; 

 leaves cordate, oblong, acuminate, naked. The stalks of 

 this species do not grow erect, like the preceding, but spread 

 nearer to an horizontal position ; they divide into several 

 branches, which have a pair of large leaves at each joint, and 

 four smaller, two on each side ; they are smooth, have sharp 

 indentures on their edges, and stand erect. The flowers 

 come out from the side of the stalks, at the base of the leave 9, 

 two or three together, on each side; calix purple, cut into 

 five acute segments, three broad in the upper lip, two nar- 

 rower in the lower ; upper lip of the corolla broad, indented 

 at the point, and erect, lower trifhl, but the middle segment 

 not so much reflexedas that of the preceding, and the whole 

 of a paler blue. The chaps of the corolla are broad, and 

 almost inflated; the upper lip is compressed and bifid, the 

 lower toothletted, and villose in front ; the two upper stamina 

 are hirsute at the base, The smell of (his plant is fetid, 

 and not unaptly compared to that of rancid oil. Native of 

 Siberia. See the sixth species. 



9. Dracocephalum Moldavica ; Moldavian Dragons Head, 

 or Balm. Leaves dotted underneath ; bractes lanceolate, 

 the serratures capillaceous. This is an annual plant, rising 

 with branching stalks, a foot and a half high, with oblong 

 leaves, deeply serrate on their edges. The flowers come out 

 in whorls round the stalks at every joint, are blue, appear in 

 July, and continue to the middle of August. The seeds ripen 

 in September. It has a strong balsamic odour, which is very 

 agreeable to some persons. Native of Moldavia. This, with 

 the five following species, may be propagated by seeds, 

 sown either in the spring or autumn, in small patches upon 

 the borders where they are to remain. When the plants 

 come up, they should be thinned where they grow too near 

 together, and kept clear from weeds. 



10. Dracocephalum Canescens ; Hoary Dragon's Head. 

 Bractes oblong, with spiny serratures; leaves subtomentose. 

 The stalks are hoary, a foot and a half high, putting out two 

 or three side-branches, with hoary leaves, nearly two inches 

 long, and half an inch broad, a little indented on their edges ; 

 they are placed just under the whorls of flowers which sit 

 close to the stalk ; the corolla is large, of a fine blue colour, 

 and makes a pretty appearance among the hoary leaves. It 

 flowers and seeds about the same time as the foregoing sort, 

 and is generally treated as an annual, although the roots will 

 survive two or three years in a dry soil. There is a variety 



6 K 



