674 



H EL 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



HEL 



drous: leaves cordate, serrate; the whole fruit twisted. 

 Swartz -describes it, " Leaves elliptic, subcordate ; fruit sub- 

 ulate at the tip." A small upright tree, about twelve feet 

 high, branching but little ; peduncles many-flowered, termi- 

 nating, glandular; petals white, obtuse, reflex. This curious 

 shrub, as Browne calls it, is very frequent in the lower 

 gravelly hills of Jamaica. 



3. Helicteres Hirsuta. Decandrous : leaves cordate, ser- 

 rate; fruit oblong, five-celled, straight, very hirsute; stem 

 shrubby, six feet high, upright, round, hairy, with diffused 

 branches ; peduncles many-flowered, axillary ; corolla dusky 

 purple. In this and the fifth species, the stamina are not 

 gynandrous, but rather monadelphous ; nor ought the pedicel 

 supporting the germen to be looked upon as a receptacle, for 

 it is entirely detached from the stamina. Native of the 

 woods of Cochin-china. 



4. Helicteres Undulata. Decandrous : leaves lanceolate, 

 waved ; flowers in heaps ; siliques five, stellate. This is a 

 middle-sized tree, with spreading branches; flowers small, 

 mostly terminating ; calix none ; corolla greenish-red ; siliques 

 oblong, thick, scarlet, straight above, convex underneath ; 

 seeds few, ovate, smooth, brown, fleshy, adhering to each 

 valve by their proper pedicels. Native of Cochin-china, in 

 woods. 



5. Helicteres Angustifolia. Decandrous : leaves lance- 

 olate, quite entire ; fruit ovate, straight ; stem shrubby, five 

 feet high, upright, branched ; flowers pale purple, on two- 

 flowered axillary peduncles. Native of China, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Canton. 



6. Helicteres Pentandra. Pentandrous : leaves ovate, 

 floral leaves coloured, dusky purple ; calices hispid with 

 branching bristles. Native of Surinam. 



7. Helicteres Carthaginensis. Polyandrous : leaves cor- 

 date, serrate, tomentose on both sides ; fruit oblong, straight. 

 This is an upright tree, about twelve feet high; flowers 

 extremely fetid, generally coming out with the leaves, but 

 sometimes before them ; calix brownish-yellow ; petals purple. 

 It has so much the habit of the first sort, that it can hardly 

 be distinguished from it, except "in the flower and fruit. 

 Native of the woods of Carthagena in New Spain, where it 

 is found flowering in June and July. 



8. Helicteres Paniculata. Polyandrous : leaves ovate, 

 acute, smooth, petioled ; flowers panicled ; siliques five, stel- 

 late, oblong, two-valved, red. This is a large tree, with 

 spreading branches ; flowers in loose panicles, mostly termi- 

 nating ; calix none ; corolla of a reddish colour, and spread- 

 ing very much. Native of the woods of Cochin-china. 



9. Helicteres Apetala. Dodecandrous, apetalous : leaves 

 five-lobed ; siliques divaricate. This is an elegant tree, forty 

 feet in height, with a large handsome head ; the leaves are 

 plaited, smooth above, subvillose beneath, upwards of a foot 

 in diameter, and numerous ; flowers also numerous, very 

 fetid, dirty yellow with purple spots, without either petals or 

 nectary, in large loose panicles at the ends of the twigs. It 

 is apparent that the filamenta are the continuation of the 

 bark, or outer part of the receptacle, but that the germen 

 springs from the pith of it. Native of Carthagena, in woods, 

 flowering from May and June to September. 



Heliocarpus ; a genus of the class Dodecandria, order 

 Digynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth four- 

 leaved, coloured ; leaflets linear, long, broadish, spreading, 

 deciduous. Corolla : petals four, linear, much shorter than 

 the calix, narrower. Stamina : filamenta sixteen, awl-shaped, 

 almost the length of the calix; anther twin, linear, incum- 

 bent. Pistil: germen roundish; styles two, simple, upright, 

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



capsule turbinate-ovate, peduncled, compressed, surrounded 

 perpendicularly on both sides with rays pinnately branched, 

 two-celled, two-valved, with the partition contrary. Seeds, 

 solitary, subovate. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : four 

 leaved. Corolla: four-petalled. Styles: simple. Capsule 

 two-celled, compressed, longitudinally radiated on both sides 

 (according to Geertner, superior, club-shaped, surrounded 

 with filiform feathered rays.) The only species known is, 



1. Heliocarpus Americana; American Heliocarpus. It rises 

 with a thick, soft, woody stalk, from fifteen to eighteen feet 

 high, sending out several lateral branches towards the top; 

 leaves heart-shaped, full of veins, serrate, ending in acute 

 points, alternate, on oblique petioles three inches long. The 

 flowers are produced at the ends of the shoots, in branching 

 clusters, and are of a yellowish-green colour. Found at La 

 Vera Cruz. This plant is propagated by seeds, which must 

 be sown upon a hot-bed in the spring; and when the plants 

 are fit to remove, they should be each planted in a small pot, 

 filled with light kitchen-garden earth, and plunged into a hot- 

 bed, treating them in the same way as other tender plants 

 which will not bear the open air in this country at any season 

 of the year: while young, the plants require to be plunged 

 into the tan-bed, but after they have acquired strength, they 

 will thrive in the dry-stove. In winter they should have but 

 little water, and must be kept warm; but in summer they 

 should have plenty of fresh air in mild weather, and must be 

 frequently refreshed with water. With this management the 

 plants will flower the third year, and produce good seeds, 

 and may be preserved by care for several years. 



Heliophila; a genus of the class Tetradynamia, order 

 Siliquosa. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth four- 

 leaved ; leaflets spreading, oblong, concave, membranaceous 

 at the edge, deciduous ; the two outer ones bladdery at the 

 base. Corolla: four-petalled, cruciform; petals roundish, 

 flat, sessile ; nectaries two from the receptacle, bowed back 

 towards the bladder of the calix. Stamina: filamenta six, 

 awl-shaped, erect, the length of the calix, two opposite a 

 little shorter ; antherae oblong, erect. Pistil: germen cylin- 

 dric ; style shorter than the germen ; stigma blunt. Pericarp: 

 silique columnar, somewhat torulose, mucronate, two-celled, 

 two-valved. Seeds: several. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Nectaries: two, bowed back towards the bladder of the calix. 

 The seeds of plants belonging to this genus may be sown 

 in the spring on a south border; and when the plants come 

 up, if they are thinned, and kept clean from weeds, it is all 

 the culture they require. The species are, 



1. Heliophila Integrifolia ; Whole-leaved Heliophila. Leaves 

 lanceolate, undivided, rough with hairs above, smooth below; 

 stalk erect, four or five inches high, sending out two or three 

 side-branches; the flowers grow in a loose terminating bunch, 

 and have no scent; the corolla resembles that of Flax or 

 Anagallis Monelli ; it is blue, and closes at night; the pods 

 are nearly three inches long, taper, and contain a double row 

 of three flat seeds. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



2. Heliophila Coronopifolia; Buck's-horn-leaved Heliophila. 

 Leaves linear, pinnatifid. This is a smooth shrubby plant. 

 Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



3. Heliophila Amplexicaulis. Leaves stem-clasping, entire, 

 smooth ; siliques necklace-shaped. Found by Thunberg at 

 the Cape of Good Hope. 



4. Heliopliila Incana; Hoary Heliophila. Leaves spatu- 

 late, quite entire, pubescent; siliques villose, shrubby. 

 Found at the Cape, flowering in May and August. 



5. Heliophila Filiformis ; Divaricated Heliophila. Leaves 

 subulate, filiform, smooth ; siliques pendulous ; branches 

 divaricate; stem half a foot high, herbaceous, rushy ; racemes 



