616 



G L A 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



G L E 



tip; lateral segments spreading, divaricate. Native of the 

 Cape. See the third species. 



25. Gladiolus Faleatus. Stem simple; leaves sickle- 

 shaped ; flowers alternate ; style trifid ; scape compressed, 

 striated; flexuose, smooth, a hand in height; one or two 

 leaves obversely stem-clasping, ovate-lanceolate, sickled, 

 bluntish, entire, striated, smooth ; spathes green, obtuse, 

 much shorter than the tube; corolla blue, with a spreading 

 border. Native of the Cape. 



26. Gladiolus Flexuosus. Leaves linear; stem simple, 

 rlexuose; flowers in spikes, ringent; tube long; scape round, 

 flexuose, erect, smooth, a foot high; spathes oblong, lanceo- 

 late, "acuminate, smooth, shorter than the tube of the corolla; 

 spike ovate, four or five flowered ; corolla whitish flesh- 

 colour, with a tube double the length of the spathe, and a 

 ringent border. Native of the Cape. 



27. Gladiolus Longiflorus ; Long-flowered Corn Flag. 

 Stem round; tube of the corolla very long; spathes and 

 leaves linear, smooth; scape round, simple, and many-spiked, 

 erect, smooth, a foot high and more; flowers alternate, pale 

 flesh-colour, very many, close ; bractes membranaceous, 

 striated, very short. Native of the Cape. 



28. Gladiolus Spathaceus. Stem branched; flowers in 

 imbricate spikes ; spathes membranaceous, awned ; leaves 

 plaited ; scape sheathed, a span high, terminated by several 

 spikes ; flowers whitish, with the tube of the corolla many 

 times longer than the spathes. Native of the Cape. 



29. Gladiolus Setifolius. Stem branched; corolla rin- 

 gent; the lowest leaf filiform, setaceous; scape many-spiked, 

 very seldom simple, flexuose,, erect, smooth, a hand high, 

 with round erect branches ; flowers alternate, white, ringent, 

 with the tube scarcely longer than the spathes. Native of 

 the Cape. 



30. Gladiolus Cardinalis; Superb Corn Flag. Leaves 

 sword-shaped, many-nerved ; flowers directed the same way; 

 many on a stem ; corolla upright, with a bell-shaped border; 

 flowers fine scarlet, with large white, and somewhat rhora- 

 boidal spots on several of the lowermost divisions of the co- 

 rolla. Strong plants will throw up a stem three or four feet 

 high, dividing at top into several branches. It flowers with 

 us in July and August. Probably a native of the Cape. In- 

 troduced from Holland a few years ago ; and first flowered 

 with Messrs. Lewis and Mackie, at Kingslaud; and in 1790, 

 at Messrs. Grinwood's and Co. Kensington. 



31. Gladiolus Milleri. Leaves with many prominent ribs; 

 flowers bell-shaped, inclined one way; tube fleshy, slender. 

 The root is bulbous, in shape and size like that of the Vernal 

 Crocus: from this spring up five or six long narrow leaves, 

 deeply furrowed; between these arises the flower-stem, about 

 a foot and a half high, bending on one side, bearing towards 

 the top five or six flowers, each having a two-leaved sheath ; 

 they are of a pure white when they first open, but afterwards 

 change to a yellower colour. Native of the Cape. 



Glasswort. See Salicomia. 



Glastonbury Thorn, so famous in legendary lore, buds and 

 blossoms in the midst of winter. Tke story of its budding 

 always upon Christmas-day, is false; though, if the winter 

 be mild, it buds about the latter end of December, but later 

 if it be severe. See Mesphilus. 



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

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : none, unless the 

 corolla be so called. Corolla : petal one, five-parted, bell- 

 shaped, upright, permanent; segments obtuse, rolled back. 

 Stamina: filamenta five, subulate, upright, the length of the 

 corolla; antheree roundish. Pistil: germen ovate; style 

 filiform, the length of the stamina; stigma capitate. Ptri- 



carp : capsule globular, acuminate, one-celled, five-valved. 

 Seeds : five, roundish. Receptacle : very large, globular, 

 hollowed for the reception of the seeds. Observe: The 

 cover of the flower is perhaps a calix more properly than, the 

 corolla. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: one-leafed, 

 bell-shaped. Capsule: one-celled, five-valved, five-seeded. 

 The only known species is, 



1. Glaux Maritima; Sea Milkwort, or Black Saltwort. 

 Root perennial, creeping; stems about four inches high, 

 erect, branched a little ; leaves sessile, oval-oblong, or oval- 

 lanceolate, succulent, opposite at bottom, but among the 

 flowers alternate; flowers almost sessile, axillary, solitary, 

 from about the middle of the stem purple, greenish-white, 

 white, or striped. It is found on the sea-coast, and on salt- 

 marshes at a distance from the sea, and even about Upsal 

 in Sweden, which is at a great distance from the ocean. 

 It is a pretty little plant, enlivening large tracts of the dreary 

 situations where it is found. The whole plant is succulent, 

 and salt to the taste. Cows eat this herb, and it is used 

 for a pickle. It flowers in June, and continues the rest of 

 the summer; but is seldom cultivated in gardens. 



Glechoma; a genus of the class Didynamia, order 

 Gymnospermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : peri- 

 anth one-leafed, tubular, cylindric, streaked, very small, 

 permanent; mouth five-cleft, acuminate, unequal. Corolla: 

 one-petalled, ringent ; tube slender, compressed ; upper 

 lip erect, obtuse, semibifid; lower spreading, larger, ob- 

 tuse, trifid ; middle segment larger, emarginate. Stamina : 

 filamenta four, under the upper lip, of which two are 

 shorter; each pair of antheree converging in form of a 

 cross. Pistil: germen four-cleft; style filiform, bending 

 beneath the lip; stigma bifid, acute. Pericarp: none; calix 

 cherishing the seeds in its bosom. Seeds : four, ovate. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-cleft; each pair 



of antherse converging in form of a cross. The only 



species is, 



1. Glechoma Hederacea; Ground Ivy, Gill, Cafs-foot, 

 Tun-hoof, Kobin-run-in-the-hedge, or Ale-hoof. Leaves kid- 

 ney-shaped, crenate, or scalloped. Root perennial, send- 

 ing out trailing four-cornered shoots, producing roots at 

 the joints, and spreading wide; the flowering-stalks spring 

 from the joints, which arc woolly, these are upright, but 

 weak, square, hirsute with hairs turning downward, from 

 four to six inches high ; the leaves are beset underneath 

 with hollow dots, in which are glands secreting an essen- 

 tial oil, and above with little eminences, but which do 

 not secrete any odoriferous oil, so that this surface being 

 rubbed gives out no peculiar scent, whereas the under 

 surface affords a pleasant reviving smell; peduncles axil- 

 lary, opposite, short, branched, supporting from three to 

 five flowers; corolla blue, sometimes varying to white; the 

 larger middle segment of the lower lip marked with purple 

 dots of a deeper colour, and hairy at the base ; stamina 

 sometimes in the spring imperfect, with filamenta only half 

 the usual length, terminated by a reddish blunt point, or 

 sometimes by effete antheree ; when perfect, the antherse, 

 after bursting, form a cross, or the shape of the letter X ; 

 the leaves are often deformed with red hairy tumors, which 

 are the galls of the cynips glechomae. Ground Ivy expels 

 the plants which grow near it, and thus impoverishes 

 the pastures: the leaves were formerly thrown into the 

 vat with ale, to clarify it, and to give it a flavour. 

 This was called Gill-ale, Ground Ivy being named GUI, 

 or Gill-creep-by-ground, in some places. From this use of 

 the plant, and the form of its leaves, it has also the namct 

 of Ale-hoof and Tun-hoof, but has gradually fallen into 



