GEU 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



GEU 



611 



scariose, sharp; peduncles many-parted; flowers in corymbs, 

 shrubby. Native of Jamaica. 



8. Gesneria Exserta. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, crenate, 

 smooth ; peduncles three-flowered ; genitals twice the length 

 of the corolla; capsules ovate, shrubby. Native of Jamaica. 



9. Gesneria Calycina. Leaves lanceolate-ovate, acuminate, 

 serrate, smooth ; peduncles three-flowered ; genitals longer 

 than the corolla ; calices bell-shaped ; capsules cylindric. 

 It is a shrubby plant, and a native of the West Indies. 



10. Gesneria Ventricosa. Leaves elliptic, acuminate, cre- 

 nate, smooth; peduncles four-flowered or thereabouts; seg- 

 ments of the calix awl-shaped, elongated ; corollas ventricose. 

 This also is a shrubby plant, and a native of Jamaica.. 



11. Gesneria Pulchella; Fair Gesneria. Herbaceous : leaves 

 ternate, ovate, acute, serrate, villose ; peduncles axillary, one- 

 flowered. Browne describes this as having; a slender even 

 stem, seldom rising above ten or fourteen inches in height, 

 and throwing out a beautiful single reddish flower from the 

 axil of each of the upper leaves ; filamenta longer than the co- 

 rolla, and somewhat twisted as they rise. Native of Jamaica. 

 This sort deserves to be cultivated in the flower-gardens of 

 America. It thrives' best in a cool gravelly soil, well furnish- 

 ed with moisture, and intermixed with rick mould. 



12. Gesneria Pumila. Stemless : leaves ovate-wedge- 

 shaped, crenate, subsessile ; peduncles subbiflorous, shorter 

 than the leaves. Native of Jamaica. 



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

 gynia. GENERIC . CHARACTER. Calix: none, unless a 

 sheath obliquely truncate. Corolla: one-petalled, superior; 

 tube long, filiform, radical; border expanding 1 , flat, six- 

 parted; divisions oblong. Stamina: filamenta six, inserted 

 into the mouth of the tube, shorter than the .border, usually 

 divided; antherse linear, spirally bent in. Pistil: germen 

 inferior; style simple, longer than the stamina; stigma capi- 

 tate. Pericarp: berry club-shaped, blunt, radical, (sessile 

 in the bulb itself, and proceeding from it,) somewhat fleshy, 

 one-celled. Seeds: nestling, one upon another in three rows, 

 globular, smooth. Observe. In some flowers, particularly 

 those of the second species, the filamenta are divided above 

 the base, with as many antherse ; but two antherse are seldom 

 seen on a single filamentum ; so that the same flower may 

 have eight, ten, or more antherse. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Calix: none. Corolla: six-parted. Berry: club- 

 shaped, radical, one-celled. All the plants of this genus 

 have the habit or air of Colchicum, but are sufficiently dis- 

 tinguished from it, by having a moflppetalous corolla, and a 

 berry for a fruit. There is but one flower jon a naked stalk ; 

 and the fruit has a grateful odour, with a pleasant taste. 

 The species are, 



1. Gethyllis Villosa; Hairy Gethyllis. Leaves linear, 

 filiform, spiral, villose ; segments of the corolla ovate-oblong. 

 Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



2. Gethyllis Ciliaris; Fringed Gethyllis. Leaves Jinear, 

 spiral, ciliate, three or four inches high ; flower the height 

 of the leaves, greenish-white, the size of -a daffodil; segments 

 of the corolla ovate-oblong. Native of the Cape. 



3. Gethyllis Spiralis; Spiral Gethyllis. Leaves linear, 

 spiral, smooth ; segments of the corolla oblong. It has been 

 long known in Europe. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



4. Gethyllis Lanceolata; Lanceolate Gethyllis. Leaves 

 lanceolate, flat ; segments of the corolla lanceolate. Native 

 of the Cape of Good Hope. 



Geum; a genus of the class Icosandria, order Polygamia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one-leafed, ten- 

 cleft, uprightish ; segments alternately very small, sharp. 

 Corolla: petals five, rounded; claws the length of the calix, 



narrow, inserted into the calix. Stamina: filamenla nume- 

 rous, subulate, length of the calix, into which they are in- 

 serted ; antherse short, broadish, blunt. Pistil: germina 

 numerous, collected into a head ; styles inserted into the 

 side of the gejrmen, hairy, long ; stigmas simple. Pericarp : 

 none; common receptacle of the seeds oblong, hirsute, 

 placed on the reflex calix. Seeds: numerous, compressed, 

 hispid, awned, with a long style. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix : ten-cleft. Petals: five. Seeds: with a kneed awn. 

 This genus consists of perennial herbaceous plants. The 

 leaves are usually unequally pinnate, with the terminating 

 leaflet larger than the rest; the stipules fastened to the 

 petiole; and the peduncles terminating or axillary, support- 

 ing few flowers, sometimes only one, The species are, 



1. Geum Virginianum ; American Avens. Flowers up- 

 right ; awns hooked, naked ; stem-leaves ternate, the upper 

 ones lanceolate ; petals shorter than the calix ; stem a foot 

 and a half or two feet high, branching at top into small pe- 

 duncles, each terminated by a small white flower. It flowers 

 in July and August, and is a native of North America. 



2. Geum Strictum ; Upright Avens. Flowers upright, yel- 

 low; awns hooked, naked ; stem-leaves pinnate; leaflets and 

 stipules gash-cleft ; petals longer than the calix ; stems up- 

 right, round, a foot and a half high and more, most of the 

 branchlets ending in one-flowered peduncles ; root-leaves 

 pinnate, and petioled, with the outmost leaflet very large, 

 rounded and lobed ; the side ones ovate, differing much in 

 size, all sessile, and unequally serrate; sometimes the ex- 

 treme leaflet is trifid palmate ; sometimes, but more rarely, 

 all the leaflets are deeply gashed ; stem-leaflets lanceolate, 

 and acute. It flowers in May and June. The whole plant 

 is covered with whitish hairs ; the fruit is also hairy. Na- 

 tive of North America. 



3. Geum Urbanum ; Common Avens, or Herb Bennet. 

 Flowers upright; awn hooked, naked; stem-leaves ternate; 

 rooj-leaves lyrate-pinnate ; stalks from one to two feet high, 

 nearly upright, somewhat flexuose, slightly angular, hairy, 

 branched at top ; peduncles single, nearly upright, round, 

 somewhat hairy, supporting one flower; corolla small, yel- 

 low, with very short claws ; filamenta yellowish, at first bent 

 in, afterwards upright, half as long as the larger segments of 

 the calix; antheras rotmdish, yllow, turning brown, having 

 hairs about the edge visible only in a glass; germina hairy; 

 styled smooth, purple, fixed to the top of the germen. The 

 roots have a mildly astringent aromatic taste, somewhat like 

 that of cloves, whence 1 this plant has the name of Caryophyl- 

 lata. They should be gathered in dry warm situations, for 

 in shady moist places they have little virtue. Gathered in 

 the spring, and put into fresh ale, they communicate a. plea- 

 sant flavour, and prevent it from turning sour. Infused in 

 wine, it is esteemed to be a good stomachic; but in water, 

 Haller declares it to have been attended with bad effects, 

 producing delirium, when given to those labouring under 

 malignant fevers. The roots chewed in the mouth are said 

 to relieve an offensive breath. Meyrick describes it to be 

 of a mild, austere, 'aromatic nature, perfectly adapted to 

 strengthen the head and stomach. A drachm of the powder 

 taken in a glass of wine dissolves and disperses inward con- 

 gealed blood, occasioned by falls and bruises : it is also effi- 

 cacious in the bloody flux, and other profuse purgings and 

 spittings of blood. Boiled in water, in the proportion of an 

 ounce to a pint and a half, until one-third of the fluid be 

 wasted, or, which is better still, infused in half a pint of red- 

 port for the space of twelve hours, and the whole quantity 

 taken at the coming on of an ague-fit, has frequently been 

 known to cure that disorder. Hill calls it a cordial and sudo- 



