482 



EC H 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



EC H 



19. Echites Dotningensis. Peduncles racemed; leaves 

 cordate-ovate, somewhat rigid, of a different colour under- 

 neath ; stem twining-. Native of the West Indies. 



20. Echites Asperuginis. Peduucles racemed ; follicles 

 filiform; leaves oblong, acute, rough above; stem twining. 

 Native of the West Indies. 



21. Echites Circinalis. Peduncles axillary, many-flowered, 

 jointed ; segments of the corolla waved ; leaves elliptic ; stem 

 twining. Native of the West Indies. 



^ 22. Echites Floribunda. Racemes corymbed ; leaves 

 ovate, acuminate ; nerves parallel ; branches almost erect. 

 Native of the West Indies. 



23. Echites Difformis. Flowers small, greenish ; calix 

 angular at the base ; corolla lined with a silky villus around 

 the orifice ; antheree simple ; style one, as long as the stamina ; 

 stigma annulate, two-lobed, viscid; germen surrounded at 

 the base by a glandular five-toothed torus. Native of South 

 America. 



Echium; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five-parted, 

 upright, permanent; divisions subulate, upright. Corolla: 

 one-petalled, bell-shaped ; tube very short; border upright, 

 gradually widened, five-cleft, obtuse; divisions generally 

 unequal; the two superior ones longer; the inferior smaller, 

 sharp, reflex ; throat pervious. Stamina : filamenta five, 

 subulate, length of the corolla, declined, unequal; antherse 

 oblong, incumbent. Pistil: germina four; style filiform, 

 length of the stamina ; stigma obtuse, two-cleft. Pericarp : 

 none ; the calix grown stiffer, guarding the seeds in its cavity. 

 Seeds: four, roundish, obliquely acuminate. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Corolla: irregular, with the throat naked. 

 Stigma: deeply cloven. Seed: four, naked. Most of these 

 plants are herbaceous ; some, however, are sufFrutescent. 

 The flowers are in spikes, or spike-panicled ; in the spikelets, 



the flowers all point one way. The species are, 



1. Echium Frnticosum; Shrubby Viper's Bugloss. Stem 

 shrubby; leaves lanceolate, attenuated at the base, villose, 

 strigose, without veins ; calicine leaflets lanceolate-acute. It 

 has a shrubby stalk, two or three feet high, dividing at top 

 into several branches ; leaves sessile, hairy, light green ; 

 stamina not longer than the corolla. The flowers are pro- 

 duced singly between the leaves, at the ends of the branches ; 

 the'y are of a purple colour, and in shape much like those of 

 the Cretan sort. It flowers in May and June, but does not 

 ripen seed in England. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 

 This plant is propagated by seeds, w)ien they can be obtain- 

 ed, which should be sown in pots, filled with light sandy 

 earth, soon after they are received. These may be exposed 

 to the open air till the beginning of October, when the pots 

 should be placed under a frame, to guard* them from frost ; 

 but in mild weather, they should have the free air, to prevent 

 the seeds from vegetating till the winter is past ; for if the 

 plants come up at that season, their stems will be weak and 

 full of juice, and very liable to rot with damps ; therefore it 

 is much better if the plants do not come up till toward March, 

 which is the usual time of their appearing, when the seeds 

 are not forced by warmth. When the plants are fit to re- 

 move, they should be each planted into a small pot filled 

 with light earth, and placed under a frame, to forward their 

 putting out new roots; then they should be gradually inured 

 to bear the open air, and may be placed abroad in a sheltered 

 situation at the latter end of May, where they may remain 

 till the beginning of October, at which time they must be 

 removed into an airy glass-case, where they may enjoy the 

 sun, and have free air in mild weather. During the winter 

 season, thee plants must be sparingly watered ; for as their 



stems are succulent, too much moisture will cause them to 

 rot. In the summer they should be set abroad in a sheltered 

 situation, and treated in the same way as other plants from 

 the same country. 



2. Echium Candicaiis ; Hoary Tree Viper's Bugloss. Stem 

 shrubby ; leaves lanceolate, nerved ; they and the branches 

 hirsute ; calicine leaflets oblong, and lanceolate-acute ; styles 

 rough with hairs. This handsome shrub has woody stems, 

 and branches which are somewhat tomentose, marked with 

 linear transverse scars from fallen leaves ; leaves a span long, 

 approximating, lanceolate-subulate, attenuated at the base, 

 to the insertion where it widens, marked with lines above, 

 and veined underneath ; veins very long, and simple ; towards 

 the panicle they are imbricate, and narrower at the base ; 

 flowers in a conical panicle, formed of many spikes at the 

 ends of the branches; spikes pedicelled, simple, pointing 

 one way, bending inwards ; corollas small, subhirsute, blue. 

 The whole plant is white, and as it were silvery, with a soft 

 close shagginess covering the whole, hardly excepting the 

 corolla. Native of the high rocks of Madeira. 



3. Echium Giganteum ; Gigantic Viper's Biigloss. Stem 

 shrubby; leaves lanceolate, attenuated at the base, hairy ;- 

 hairs very short ; bractes and calices strigose ; stamina longer 

 than the corolla. It is a very lofty shrub, with woody, round, 

 hoary, smooth branches ; leaves a span long, and the breadth 

 of a finger, scabrous, veined ; flowers pointing one way, and 

 forming a very large, pyramidal, terminating thyrse, con- 

 sisting of long-spiked peduncles; corollas obtuse, nearly 

 equal, white. Found by Masson on the rocks of Teneriffe. 



4. Echium Strictum ;- Upright Viper's Bugloss. Stem 

 shrubby, stiff, branching; leaves oblong-lanceolate, hairy; 

 corollas somewhat bell-shaped ; stamina longer than the 

 corolla. It is distinguished, as its English name imports, 

 by the uprightness and stiffness of the stem, by its petioled 

 oblong leaves, and by the hairs of the stem being turned 

 downwards; peduncles axillary at the top of the stem, soli- 

 tary, naked, with three-parted spikelets, contracted into a 

 head at the tip. The corolla is small and blue, with the 

 stamina standing out. It is biennial, and flowers most part 

 of the year; and was found by Masson on the rocks of 

 Teneriffe. 



5. Echium Spicatum ; Spiked Viper's Bugloss. Stems 

 ascending-, very simple ; flowers in spikes; root-leaves very 

 many, a hand in length, lanceolate-linear, very narrow ; stems 

 twice the length of the leaves, with a few smaller alternate 

 hairy leaves; spike terminating, nearly a finger's length, 

 compact ; calices hoary ; stamina longer than the corolla. 

 Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



6. Echium Argenteum ; Silvery Viper's Bur/loss. Leaves 

 linear, hirsute, and whitish, patulous at the tip; stem 

 branched determinately. Native of the Cape of Good 

 Hope. 



7. Echium Capitatum ; Headed Viper's Bugloss. Stem 

 hairy; leaves hispid; flowers crowned closely into terminat- 

 ing heads ; corollas regular, funnel-form ; stamina twice as 

 long as the corolla ; and style double the length of the 

 stamina. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



8. Echium Plantagineum ; Plantain-leaved Viper's Bugloss. 

 Root-leaves ovate, marked with lines, petioled ; leaves above 

 hairy, soft, hispid ; root-leaves like those of Plantain, very 

 entire, large; stem-leaves lanceolate, sessile; stems hairy, 

 with soft, not strigose, hairs ; brown dots under the hairs, as 

 in the rest, but minute; corollas violet-coloured; bractes 

 between the flowers, half cordate, the length of the calix, 

 not subulate, not longer than the calix. It flowers from July 

 to October, is annual, and a- native of Italy. 



