GL Y 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



GLY 



623 



bifid, the lower entirely simple, linear. Corolla: papilionace- 

 ous; banner ovate-lanceolate, straight, longer; wings oblong, 

 very like the keel, but a little larger; keel two-petalled, 

 acute, with a claw the length of the calix. Stamina: fila- 

 menta diadelphous, (simple and nine-cleft,) straight ; anlheiae 

 simple, roundish. Pistil : germen shorter than the calix ; 

 tyle subulate, the length" of the stamina; stigma obtuse, 

 ascending. Pericarp: legume ovate or oblong, compressed, 

 acute, one-celled. Seeds: very few, kidney-form. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Calix: two-lipped; upper lip three- 

 parted, lower undivided. Legume: ovate, compressed. 



The species are, 



1. Glycyrrhiza Echinata ; Prickly-headed Liquorice. Le- 

 gumes prickly; leaves stipuled, with the terminating leaf- 

 lets sessile. The stems are two or three feet high, nearly 

 simple, leafy, round, and striated. The flowers appear in a 

 roundish head : they are produced in shorter spikes than 

 those of the second species, their colour a dull purple ; the 

 pods are very short, and broad at their base, ending in acute 

 points, and armed with sharp prickles. The whole plant is 

 somewhat clammy to the touch. It flowers from April to 

 June, and in warm seasons will perfect seeds in England. 

 Native of Monte Gargano, in Apulia; the north of China; 

 and of Tartary. 



2. Glycyrrhiza Glaora ; Common Liquorice. Legumes 

 smooth; no stipules; the terminating leaflet petioled. The 

 roots run very deeply into the ground, and also creep to a 

 considerable distance, especially where they stand long un- 

 removed. From these arise strong herbaceous stalks, four 

 or five feet high; leaves composed of four or five pairs of 

 ovate leaflets, terminated by an odd one ; these and the 

 stalks are clammy, and of a dark green ; flowers in axillary 

 spikes, standing erect, and of a pale blue colour ; pods short, 

 containing two or three seeds. Native of the south of Eu- 

 rope, France, Spain, Italy, also of China, where it is culti- 

 rated, as well as in Germany and England; witli us at Pon- 

 tefract in Yorkshire, Worksop in Nottinghamshire, Godalmin 

 in Surry, and, of late years, in the gardens near London. 

 It appears from Turner's Herbal, that it was cultivated in 

 England in 1562; and Stow expressly says, " the planting 

 and growing of licorish begun about the first year of Queen 

 Elisabeth," (1558.) Gerarde, in 1597, says, that he has 

 plenty in his garden ; and the poor people of the north parts 

 of England manured it with great diligence, whereby they 

 obtained great plenty. Ray asserts the English liquorice to 

 be superior to the foreign. The quantity now imported from 

 Spain is said to be annually not less than 4000 quintals, or 

 nearly 250 tons ; a considerable part of which is supposed 

 to be used by the porter-breweis of London. Liquorice-root 

 contains a great quantity of saccharine matter, with some 

 portion of mucilage. Lightly boiled in a little water, it gives 

 out nearly all its sweetness : the decoction, pressed through 

 a strainer, and inspissated with a gentle heat till it will no 

 longer stick to the fingers, affords a better extract than that 

 brought from abroad, under the name of Spanish-juice, and 

 will often amount in quantity to nearly half the weight of the 

 root. Large quantities of extract of liquorice have been annu- 

 ally imported from Spain, but the shops seldom afford any that 

 is perfectly genuine ; the makers, both foreign and domestic, 

 being either very slovenly in the preparation, or else they de- 

 signedly mix it with sand, and other impurities. When care- 

 fully extracted, it is exceedingly sweet, more agreeably tasted 

 than the root itself, and of a pleasant smell. It dissolves 

 in boiling water, without leaving any sediment. Rectified 

 spirit takes up the sweet matter of the liquorice, equally with 

 water ; and as it dissolves much less of the insipid mucilage, 



the spirituous tincture and extract are sweeter than the 

 watery. Before the roots are boiled, it is best to cut them 

 into small pieces, that they may more readily give out their 

 virtues ; for if the boiling be too long continued, the rich 

 sweet taste, for which the extract is so justly esteemed, will 

 be greatly injured. For the same reason, the quantity of 

 water ought not to be more than is absolutely necessary to 

 extract the virtues of the root. A quart, or at most three 

 pints, will be found a sufficient quantity for a pound ot' 

 liquorice. It would be of considerable advantage to the 

 preparation, and probably less expensive to the preparers, to 

 use the juice of the roots, which might be obtained by press- 

 ing them between iron rollers, in the manner practised in the 

 West Indies, for obtaining the juice of the sugar-cane, 

 instead of the above process of decoction. Both the extract 

 and the fresh root, in substance, are excellent for coughs, 

 hoarseness, shortness of breath, and other disorders occa- 

 sioned by an acrimonious state of the humours. They pro- 

 mote expectoration, thicken the juices, increase the urinary 

 discharge, and are serviceable in the gravel, and similar dis- 

 orders. It was prescribed by the first practitioners in phy- 

 sic, in dropsies, to prevent thirst, for which it is indeed an 

 excellent thing, though probably the only one of the sweet 

 class that does so ; sugar, and other substances of a like na- 

 ture, generally increasing, rather than alleviating that sensa- 

 tion. The infusion is also a commodious vehicle for other 

 medicines. Culture. Most plants thrive best in a rich soil, 

 but Liquorice will not grow in any other; and to have it in 

 any degree of perfection, the soil must not only be rich, but 

 deep, as the thriving of it depends entirely on those two cir- 

 cumstances. We expect to see the roots of this plant a yard 

 or more in length ; and it must have a free passage, otherwise 

 they will not be straight, which regularity of form is not only 

 more pleasing to the eye, but a real advantage, for the crook- 

 ed ones are never so tender or full of juice as the other, nor 

 do they attain their due degree of growth in so short a time. 

 The proper ground then for producing Liquorice in perfec- 

 tion, should have a coat of mellow black mould, at least 

 three feet deep, without any great mixture of other matter in 

 the way. This is the best natural soil for this valuable plant, 

 and where it can be procured should always be preferred. 

 But there are other soils, which, though not quite so well 

 adapted by nature for the culture of Liquorice, may bo so 

 prepared by art and industry, as very well to answer the 

 purpose. The best of these are, first, a rich loam, without 

 much clay in its composition ; and, secondly, a deep, warm, 

 sandy soil, that is not barren, but, together with its lightness 

 and dryness, has some richness. In all these soils, the depth 

 must be at least a yard, before there is any hard bottom ; and 

 that must be examined, for if it should turn out a clay, the 

 Liquorice will never thrive, because of the coldness and mois- 

 ture with which such an under stratum is always attended ; 

 the wet lodging upon it, and starving the whole soil. To 

 ensure success in the planting of Liquorice, the soil should 

 possess the four following properties : depth, that it may 

 penetrate and attain its full growth ; lightness, that it may 

 make its way easily ; warmth, to promote its growth ; and 

 richness, to afford it nourishment. Liquorice, though raised 

 in the field, requires a kind of garden culture, and the spade 

 is a much more proper instrument to prepare the land with 

 for its reception than the plough, for it requires to be broke, 

 and made fine to a depth which the latter can never reach. 

 There is one comfort, however, arises to the husbandman, 

 which is, that if the land requires an expensive tillage, only 

 a small quantity is required, as a few acres will yield an 

 amazing produce of this root; and the price it will bear is so 



