620 



GLO 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



OLY 



Glossoma; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTEK. Calix : perianth one- 

 leafed, turbinate, four-toothed, superior, permanent. Co- 

 rolla: petals four, lanceolate, acute, bowed back; nectary 

 a rim round the base of the style. Stamina : filamenta four, 

 very short ; antherae oblong, almost united into a cylinder, 

 prolonged at the tip into a membranaceous strap or scale, 

 gaping on the inside. Pistil: germen inferior; style filiform, 

 the length of the stamina; stigmas four, acute. Pericarp: 

 drupe spear-shaped, one-celled, crowned with the calix. 

 Seed: single, ovate, streaked. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix : turbinate, four-toothed, superior. Corolla : four- 

 petalled. Antherte : almost united, with a membranaceous 



scale at the end. Stigmas: four. The only known 



species is, 



1. Glossoma Guianensis. This is a middling-sized shrub, 

 five or six feet high; the bark^ brown; the wood yellow, hard, 

 and compact; branches jointed, and four-cornered; leaves 

 opposite, cruciate, six inches and a half long, and two and a 

 half wide, entire, smooth, thick, elliptic, acuminate, on very 

 short petioles ; stipules short, acute, at the base of the peti- 

 oles deciduous ; peduncles axillary, bearing two, three, or 

 four flowers, each on its proper pedicel, bracted at the base; 

 corolla white. It flowers in September, and is a native of 

 Guiana, where Vitomita is the vernacular name. 



Glossvpetalum ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order 

 Pentagynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth 

 one-leafed, very small, five-toothed, permanent. Corolla : 

 petals five, lanceolate, spreading, acute ; at the tip of each 

 a linear-lanceolate truncate strap, nearly the length of the 

 petal, and lying in it. Stamina : filamenta five, very short ; 

 antherse roundish. Pistil: germen roundish, surrounded 

 by a gland, bearing the petals and stamina ; style none ; 

 stigmas five, acute.' Pericarp: roundish, five-grooved, one- 

 celled. Seeds: five, angular. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix: very small, five-toothed. Petals: five, with a strap 

 at the tip of each. The species are, 



1. Glossopetaium Glabruui. Leaves smooth. This is a 

 tree, the trunk of which rises to the height of sixty feet or 

 more, and is from two to three feet in diameter. The bark 

 is smooth and gray ; the wood white, and of a loose texture. 

 The petiole is short, and has two small, narrow, deciduous 

 stipules at the base ; peduncles solitary, axillary, two inches 

 long, bearing many flowers in a spherical head ; corolla yel- 

 low ; berry black. Native of Guiana, where it flowers in 

 November. The natives make canoes of the trunk. 



2. Glossopetaium Hirsutum. Leaves hairy. The trunk of 

 this species is only from twenty to twenty- five feet in height. 

 The bark is wrinkled, blackish, marked with white; the 

 leaves are covered with short hairs on both sides : the juice 

 is used against inflammations in the eyes ; they are bitter, 

 and so also is the bark. Native of Guiana and Cayenne, 

 where its vernacular name is Goupi. 



Gloxinia ; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Angio- 

 spermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth supe- 

 rior, five-leaved ; leaflets equal, lanceolate, serrulate at the 

 tip; the three upper ones nerved, the two lower bent down 

 with the nectary, permanent. Corolla : monopetalous, irre- 

 gularly campanulate ; tube scarcely any ; border oblique, 

 five-cleft; segments roundish, the four upper spreading and 

 entire, the lowest straight, concave, toothed. Stamina: fila- 

 menta four, with the rudiment of a fifth, two scarcely shorter, 

 inserted into the receptacle, fastened to the lower margin of 

 the corolla, sickled, pubescent, converging laterally above ; 

 anthera; ovate, two-celled, peltate, united within the opening 

 of the corolla. Pistil : germen inferior, turbinate, striated ; 



style filiform, the length of the stamina; stigma capitate, the 

 length of the antheree. Pericarp ; capsule one-celled, or 

 half-celled ; receptacles two, opposite, two-parted, fastened 

 to the sides of the capsule by the partition. Seeds: very- 

 numerous, inserted into the receptacles. Observe. L'Heri- 

 tier remarks, that it is distinct from Martynia, by its inferior 

 germen ; from Gesneria, by its bell-shaped corolla, with the 

 upper segment bent back ; and from Cyrilla, by its bell- 

 shaped corolla, without the tricallous mouth. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. "Calix : superior, five-leaved. Corolla: bell- 

 shaped, with the border oblique; filamenta, with the rudi- 



mentum of a fifth, inserted into the receptacle. The only 



known species is, 



1. Gloxinia Maculata; Spotted Gloxinia. Root peren- 

 nial, thick, fleshy, divided into knots, which are scaly, 

 somewhat like those of toothwort; stems several, about a 

 foot high, thick, succulent, purplish, terminated by a short 

 spike of blue flowers, or rather an erect raceme, leafy or 

 bracted, in which the flowers are axillary, solitary, pedun- 

 cled, bright blue, and sweet-scented ; corolla hirsute on the 

 outside, inserted into the receptacle, larger than the calix ; 

 the base is gibbous in front, very large, melliferous within, 

 and dark purple. Native of South America. This plant 

 must be constantly preserved in the stove, and plunged into 

 the bark-bed. During the winter season, much water will 

 rot the roots. In the middle of March, just before it begins 

 to shoot, the roots may be parted, and transplanted into 

 middling-sized pots, filled with light rich earth, and plunged 

 into the baric-bed, which should then be renewed with fresh 

 tan. When the plants come up, they must be frequently re- 

 freshed with water in small quantities; and as. the season be- 

 comes warmer, a large share of fresh air should be admitted. 

 They should not be placed where they are shaded or over- 

 hung by other plants ; nor should they be shifted or trans- 

 planted when they are in leaf, for that will prevent their 

 flowering. As this increases very fast by the roots, there i* 

 no necessity for using other methods to propagate it. 



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

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

 very thinly membranaoeoug, bell-shaped, obtuse, shorter than 

 the germen, deciduous. Corolla: petals five, lanceolate, 

 longer than the calix, spreading at top, but below, as far the 

 middle, glued to the column of the germen. Stamina : fila- 

 menta five, bristle-shaped, of a middling length, inserted into 

 the tip of the column ; antheree versatile, roundish. Pistil: 

 germen obovate, sitting on an oblong column ; style filiform, 

 of a middling length ; stigma obtuse. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Calix: bell-shaped, deciduous ; petals five, glued 

 at bottom to the column of the germen ; filamenta inserted 

 into the tip of the column; germen sitting on an oblong co- 

 lumn. The only known species is, 



1. Gluta Benghas. A tree, with branches leafy at the end; 

 leaves alternate, sessile, broad-lanceolate, about a foot in 

 length, veined, naked, on the flowering branches only a hand 

 long, more obtuse, and crowded ; panicle terminating, pe- 

 duncled, with flowers the size of those of cabbage ; fructi- 

 fication singular; and, if we were to suppose the petals to be 

 separated from the column, the situation of the stamina would 

 be as in Passiflora. Native of Java. 



Glycinc ; a genus of the class Diadelphia, order Decan- 

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

 compressed ; mouth two-lipped ; upper lip emarginate, ob- 

 tuse ; lower longer, trifid, acute ; the middle tooth more 

 produced. Corolla: papilionaceous; banner obcordate, the 

 sides bent down, the back gibbous, the tip emarginate, 

 straight, repelled from the keel; wings oblong, towwds tna 



