696 



HIR 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



HOE 



Hip (or Hep) Tree. See Rosa Canina. 



HirtBa; a genus of the class Decandria, order Trigynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth five-leaved; 

 leaflets ovate, upright, very small, permanent. Corolla: 

 petals five, roundish, concave, with long claws. Stamina: 

 filamenta ten, capillary, united at the base, the outer ones 

 shorter; antherx roundish, upright. Pistil: germen round- 

 ish ; styles three, simple, upright ; stigmas bifid, blunt, 

 spreading. Pericarp: capsules three, upright, keeled on 

 the back ; each having a single spreading wing on the outside 

 at the base, and a double one at the tip, not gaping. Seeds: 

 solitary, roundish. Observe. Swartz says, that this genus is 

 too nearly allied to Triovteris: differing in having three two- 

 winged capsules, instead of a three-celled capsule with three 

 wings. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-leaved. Pe- 

 tals: roundish, with claws. Capsules: three, closed, single- 

 seeded, with two or three unequal wings. Seeds: two; (Jac- 

 quin says, solitary.) The known species are, 



1. Hirsea Reclinata. This is a small tree, seldom exceed- 

 ing fifteen feet in height, and dividing into round, long, 

 smooth, bending and reclining branches, by which it supports 

 itself on neighbouring shrubs ; bark ash-coloured ; leaves 

 oblong, a little broader at top, blunt at both ends, quite 

 entire, smooth underneath, having soft, decumbent, scarcely 

 conspicuous hairs on the upper surface, and being from three 

 to six inches long; the petiole has two upright bristly stipules 

 at the base ; common peduncles thick, very short, and nu- 

 merous, beautifully surrounding entire and very long branches, 

 and, by means of twelve semioval short bractes, finish in a 

 quadrilocular top ; the partial peduncles being one-flowered, 

 an inch long, solitary, and therefore four to each common 

 peduncle ; flowers beautiful, but without scent, yellow, an 

 inch in diameter. Native of woods in Carthagena, New 

 Spain : flowering in June, and ripening seeds in September. 



2. Hirsea Odorata. A shrub : leaves ovate, acute, oppo- 

 site, entire, veiny ; smooth above, downy beneath ; clusters 

 copious at the ends of the branches, axillary, forming a ter- 

 minal leafy panicle, with downy stalks ; flowers fragrant. 

 Found in Guinea. 



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

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

 five-parted ; parts subovate, reflex, unequal, permanent. Co- 

 rolla : petals five, roundish, concave. Stamina : filamenta 

 three or five, bristle-shaped, flattish, very long, permanent, 

 at length rolled in spirally; antheree orbiculate. Pistil: ger- 

 men roundish, compressed, and declining, villose; style fili- 

 form, almost the length of the stamina, arising from the 

 depressed side of the germen ; stigma simple. Pericarp : 

 berry oval, broader at top, a little compressed, obscurely 

 three-cornered, at whose base, in front, lie a villose germen 

 and style. Seed: one, large, of the same form with the peri- 

 carp. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Petals: five. Filamenta: 

 very long, permanent, spiral. Style: lateral. Berry: one- 

 seeded. The species are, 



1. Hirtella Americana. Leaves ovate-lanceolate; branch- 

 lets hirsute ; racemes upright, simple ; flowers five-stamined. 

 This is a tree, with a trunk from twenty-five to thirty feet in 

 height, and a ferruginous bark ; petals rounded, with claws, 

 emarginate, bluish ; germen rounded, villose ; berry obovate, 

 compressed, hairy, rough, dry. Native of Cayenne. 



2. Hirtella Triandra. Leaves oblong, acuminate ; racemes 

 compound, loose; flowers three-stamined. This is a branch- 

 ing tree, which sometimes rises twenty feet high, but is gene- 

 rally less. The flowers have no scent; the stamina and style 

 are placed cross-wise. The calicine segments are ovate, 

 roundish, concave, equal, reflex; petals spreading, equal, 



deciduous, white; stigma simple. It flowers in April and 

 May, and is found in Jamaica, Martinico, and St. Domingo. 



3. Hirtella Pendula. Clusters compound, terminal, long, 

 pendulous, hairy; leaves oblong, pointed, heart-shaped at the 

 base, downy beneath ; stamina three. Grows in the VV. Indies. 



4. Hirtella Paniculata. Leaves elliptic, shining, with 

 hairy subcoriaceous racemes, upright; flowers five-stamined; 

 branches round, with a purplish bark, rough-haired at top; 

 stipules awl-shaped, very rough-haired ; pedicels copious, 

 alternate, solitary, or sometimes, but seldom, two together ; 

 bractes ovate, frequently two on the pedicel, hirsute on the 

 outside, and others lanceolate at the base of the pedicel ; fila- 

 menta five, long; style hirsute at the base. Native of Cayenne. 



Hoeing, is beneficial to plants : first, for destroying weeds ; 

 secondly, because it disposes the ground better to imbibe the 

 night dews, keeps it in a constant freshness, and adds a vigour 

 to the plants and trees, by which their fruit becomes more 

 abundant, as well as more nutritious. This operation is per- 

 formed by the hand. Of the instrument called a Hoe, (and 

 well known to every gardener,) there are several sizes. The 

 smallest, called an Onion Hoe, is used not only to cut up 

 young weeds, but to thin the Onions, by removing all such 

 as are too close. The next size is nearly four inches and a 

 half broad, and is called a Carrot Hoe, from being used for 

 Carrots, or any other crops where the same distance is required 

 to be left between the plants. The largest size is about seven 

 inches broad, and is frequently called a Turnip Hoe, from its 

 being used in hoeing Turnips, but which is generally em- 

 ployed by the Kitchen-gardeners for hoeing between all their 

 crops which are planted out, or stand so far asunder as to 

 admit an instrument of this breadth to pass between the plants. 

 Besides these sorts of hoes, which are contrived to draw 

 towards the person who uses them, there is another of a dif- 

 ferent form, which is called a Dutch Hoe, designed to be 

 pushed from the person using it, so that he does not tread 

 over the ground which is hoed. This is a very proper instru- 

 ment for scuffling over the ground to destroy weeds, whenever 

 the plants will admit of its being used ; and a person will go 

 over a much greater space of ground with one of these instru- 

 ments, than with the common hoe ; but they are not so pro- 

 per for hoeing our crops so as to leave the plants at a proper 

 distance, nor will it penetrate the ground so far ; therefore 

 the other sort of hoe is to be preferred to this, because it stirs 

 the ground and loosens the surface, thereby promoting the 

 growth of the plants. There has been of late years another 

 instrument introduced into the field culture, called the Horse 

 Hoe, which is a sort of plough with the share set more hori- 

 zontally than that of the common plough. The utility of 

 Horse-hoeing is, first, in proportioning the number of plants 

 which the ground is supposed to be capable of nourishing; the 

 second is, that by frequently stirring the surface of the land, 

 all weeds which rob the crop of its nourishment are destroyed, 

 and the clods of earth divided and pulverized, so that the 

 roots of the plants can more easily penetrate them, and search 

 their proper food ; besides, the dew and moisture are easily 

 imbibed in the loose ground, whereby the plants receive a 

 greater share of nourishment. There are few persons who 

 properly consider of what consequence the stirring and 

 breaking of the ground is to all crops growing therein. It 

 has frequently been tried, when the crop has been so bad as 

 to be thought not worth standing, which has been occasioned 

 by the great quantity of rain binding the surface of the 

 ground so closely that the plants could find no nourish- 

 ment, but have changed from their usual verdure to a purple 

 colour, and made no progress : yet when the clods have been 

 broken, and the ground hoed, they have put forth new roots, 



