502 



EPI 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



EPI 



five acute segments, which spread open in the form of a star. 

 It flowers in July, but does not produce fruit in England. 

 Native of Virginia and Canada. This plant is easily propa- 

 gated by its trailing stalks, which put out roots at the joints, 

 and may be cut ofi' from the old plant, and placed in a shady 

 situation and a moist soil : the best time for this is in autumn, 

 that the plants may be well rooted before the spring. If the 

 winter should prove very severe, it would be proper to lay a few 

 dried leaves, or some light covering, over them, which will 

 defend them from the injuries of the frost; and after they are 

 well rooted, they will require no farther care but to keep 

 them clean from weeds. 



2. Epigcea Cordifolia ; Heart-leaved Epigaa. Leaves 

 heart-shaped, roundish, serrate, convex, hispid, rigid; corol- 

 las ovate. Native of Guadaloupe. 



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

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one-leaf- 

 ed, four-parted, superior; divisions oblong, acuminate, co- 

 loured, deciduous. Corolla: petals four, roundish, outwardly 

 wider, emarginate, expanding, inserted into the divisions of 

 the calix. Stamina: filamenta eight, subulate, the alternate 

 ones shorter; antherse oval, compressed, obtuse. Pistil: 

 germen cylindric, extremely long, inferior ; style filiform ; stigma 

 four-cleft, thick, obtuse, rolled back. Pericarp: capsule 

 extremely long, cylindric, streaked, four-celled, four-valved. 

 Seeds: numerous, oblong, crowned with down; receptacle 

 extremely long, four-cornered, free, flexile, coloured. Ob- 

 serve. In some the stamina and pistil are upiight, in others 

 bent downwards to the lower side. ESSENTIAL CHARAC- 

 TER. Calix: four-cleft. Petals: four. Capsule: oblong, 

 inferior. Seeds: downy. This genus consists of hardy per- 

 ennials, which, though not destitute of beauty, are in general 

 only considered as weeds, and, excepting the first species, 

 seldom find admission into gardens. They propagate sponta- 

 neously both by seeds and runners, and require to be re- 

 strained, rather than increased by the hand of art, but may 

 be advantageously admitted to fill up remote shady corners, 



or decorate rock-work. The species are, 



'Stamina bent down. 



1. Epilobium Angnstifolium ; Narrow-leaved or* Rosebay 

 Willow-herb. Leaves scattered, linear-lanceolate, quite en- 

 tire, veined; flowers unequal; root creeping; stem upright, 

 from three to six feet high, branched at top, round, and pu- 

 bescent; branches and leaves alternate; flowers purple, 

 showy, growing in a kind of long spike on purple peduncles, 

 the length of the germen, bending down before the flowers 

 open, but afterwards erect, seldom more than four or five 

 blown together on the same spike ; toe two lowermost petals 

 somewhat remote from each other. From the similitude of 

 the leaves of this species to those of the Willow, this plant 

 obtained the name of Willow-herb, or French Willow. It was 

 formerly much planted in gardens ; biit as it overruns all the 

 neighbouring plants by means of its creeping roots, it has 

 generally been cast out; however, in low moist places, or in 

 great shade, this plant will make a good appearance while it is 

 in flower, which will continue nearly a month, unless the season 

 be very hot. It is a native of most parts of Europe, from 

 Lapland to Italy, but is not common in Great Britain, though 

 it mny be found on Maizehill beyond Greenwich, and in 

 other places near London. Mr. Miller found it wild in 

 great plenty near Alton in Hampshire, in Cltarlioii forest, 

 and several other woods in Sussex: it is also found about 

 Birkhampstead in Hertfordshire, in several parts of York- 

 shire, and many places in Scotland. Gerarde informs us, 

 that he had plants of this species from Yorkshire, and that 

 they grew in his garden, and were very goodly to behold, for 



the decking up of houses and gardens. The young shoots 

 are said to be eatable, although an infusion of the plant pro- 

 duces a stupifying effect. The pith, when dried, is boiled, 

 and becoming sweet, is by a proper process made into ale, 

 and this into vinegar, by the Kamtschadales ; it is also 

 added to the Cow-Parsitep, to enrich the spirit that is pre- 

 pared from that plant. As fodder, goats are said to be 

 extremely fond of it, and cows and sheep to eat it. The 

 down of the seeds, mixed with cotton or fur, has been manu- 

 factured into stockings, &c. 



2. Epilobium Angustissimum; Linear-leaved Willow-herb. 

 Leaves scattered, linear, obscurely toothletted, veinless : pe- 

 tals equal, quite entire. This has been confounded with the 

 preceding species. It differs, however, in its woody stem, its 

 very narrow leaves with salient glands on theiredges, the much 

 more lively colour of the flower, shorter siliques, and has an 

 entirely different air. Hallcr says, that the stem is only a foot 

 or eighteen inches high, with a branch from almost every axil; 

 the flowers almost the same with the foregoing, but the leaves 

 totally different. Villars informs us, that the flowers cio 

 not come in a spike, like those of the preceding, but terminate 

 the stem, and are fewer in number. It is an Alpine plant, 

 but is common low down in the beds of the Alpine torrents, 

 as in the Vevaise and the Grande Eau, near Aigle; it is also 

 found in Provence; flowering in July and August. 



3. Epilobium Latifolium; Broad-leaved Willow-herb. 

 Leaves alternate, lanceolate-ovate ; flowers unequal. This 

 differs from the first species, in having flowers twice the size: 

 the leaves broader, regularly alternate, not scattered, very 

 smoothly tomentose on both sides. The stem is round, erect, 

 and from eighteen inciirs to two feet in height. Native of 

 Denmark, Silesia, and Siberia. 



** Stamina upright, regular; Petals bifid. 



4. Epilcbium Hirsutum ; Large-flowered Willow-herb. 

 Leaves ovate-lanceolate, half stem-clasping, hirsute ; stem 

 branching very much, from three to six feet high ; root 

 creeping, sending out from the upper part runners of a con- 

 siderable thickness, which spread widely, and propagate the 

 plant; flowers large, showy, purple or flesh-coloured, some- 

 what bell-shaped, andhangingdown a little, on peduncles, soli- 

 tary, alternate. Native of most parts of Europe, by the sides 

 of ditches, ponds, lakes, and livers, flowering in July and 

 August. The loaves, and particularly the top-shoots, when 

 slighily bruised, have a delicate cool fragrance, resembling 

 scalded codlings, whence its name of Codlings and Cream ; 

 but this fragrance is very soon lost after the plant is gathered. 

 It is also called Great Hairy-codded Loosestrife. 11 

 sheep, and goats eat it ; and, if it were found to be an accept- 

 able fodder, it might be advantageously cultivated in wet 

 situations. It varies with white flowers, and also with varie- 

 gated leaves, in which state it is sometimes sold by the gar- 

 deners; but having a creeping root, it is very liable to increase 

 too much. 



5. Epilobium Villosum; Hoary Willow-herb. Leaves ob- 

 long, lanceolate, toothed, pubescent; stem columnar, villose. 

 This species invariably differs from the foregoing in its co- 

 rolla, root, and pubescence. The corolla is in general not 

 more than one-third of the size; the root does not creep; and 

 both stem and leaves are covered with numerous soft hairs, 

 which give the whole plant a hoary appearance. It is also 

 smaller, and less branched, than the preceding species, but 

 grows in the same places, and flowers at the same time. 



6. Epilobium Montanum ; Mountain or Wood Willow-herb. 

 The root has, on its upper part, little buds of a bright red 

 colour; stem from one to three feet high, upright, red, cylin- 

 dric ; down scarcely perceptible ; sometimes branched at 



