724 



H YM 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



H YO 



sessile, at the upper concave segment of the calix; wings, two 

 petals similar, lateral, a little narrower ; keel, the lowest petal, 

 channelled and excavated, approximating to the wings, within 

 the hollow segment of the calix. Stamina: filamenta ten, 

 distinct, awl-shaped, erect, bent down above the middle, very 

 long, between the keel and the wings, inserted into the neck 

 of the calix ; antheree linear, fixed by the back. Pistil : ger- 

 men sabre-shaped, compressed, pedicelled ; style very long, 

 bristle-shaped, bent down ; stigma thickened, obliquely trun- 

 cate. Pericarp: legume woody, very large, ovate-oblong, ob- 

 tuse, one-celled, filled with farinaceous pulp. Seeds : several, 

 four to eight, large, ovate, wrapped up in pollen and fibres. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-parted. Petals: five, 

 almost equal. Style: twisted inwards. Legume: filled with 



a farinaceous pulp. The only known species is, 



1. Hymeneea Courbaril ; Loeust Tree. Stem large, covered 

 with a russet bark, dividing into many spreading branches, 

 garnished with smooth stiff leaves which stand by pairs, their 

 base joining at the footstalk. The flowers are produced in 

 loose spikes at the eud of the branches, some of the short 

 ligneous footstalks supporting two, and others three flowers, 

 which are composed of five yellow petals striped with purple; 

 and are succeeded by thick fleshy brown pods, shaped like 

 those of the garden bean, six inches long, and two and a half 

 broad, of a purplish brown colour, and ligneous consistence, 

 containing three or four seeds, enclosed in a whitish substance 

 of fine filamenta as sweet as honey. This substance, which 

 purges when fresh gathered, but loses that properly as it 

 grows old, is eaten by the Indians with great avidity. The 

 wild bees are fond of building their nests in this tree, which 

 grows to a considerable size, and is looked upon as excellent 

 timber ; but it must be very old before it is cut, otherwise the 

 heart will be but small. It is in great request for wheel-work 

 in the sugar-mills, particularly for cogs to the wheels, being 

 extremely hard and tough, capable of receiving a fine polish, 

 and so heavy that a cubic foot weighs a hundred pounds. 

 From between the principal roots of the tree a fine yellowish 

 or red transparent resin, called gum-anime, exudes. It is 

 collected in large lumps, and makes a varnish superior to 

 Chinese lacca, when dissolved in the highest rectified spirits 

 of wine. It burns readily, and with a clear flame, emitting 

 a grateful fragrant smell, on which account it is sometimes 

 ordered by way of fumigation, in the chambers of persons 

 labouring with asthmas or suffocating catarrhs. Us vapours 

 not only strengthen the head, but all parts of the body afiected 

 with cold. Some apply it outwardly, dissolved in oil or spi- 

 rits of wine, to strengthen the nerves. An oil may be distilled 

 from it, efficacious in palsies, cramps, and contractions of the 

 sinews. A decoction of the leaves expels flatulencies, and 

 gives ease in colic pains, by gently opening the bowels; and 

 the inward bark is an excellent vermifuge, in substance or 

 decoction. Native of the West Indian Islands, where it grows 

 in great plenty. It is easily raised from fresh seeds, which 

 must be sown in pots, and plunged into a hot-bed of tanners' 

 bark. There should be but one seed put into each pot, or, 

 if there be more, when the plants appear they should be all 

 drawn out to one, soon after they come up, before their roots 

 entangle, when it will be hazardous doing it ; and if great 

 care be not taken, the plant intended to be left, may be drawn 

 out with the other. As the roots are but slender, this plant 

 is very difficult to remove, for unless a ball of earth be pre- 

 served to their roots, they seldom survive their removal, and 

 on that account they must be seldom transplanted from one 

 pot to another. The plants must constantly remain in the 

 tan-bed in the stove, and should be treated in the same way 

 as other tender plants of the santt country, giving them but 



little water, especially in the winter. They make consider- 

 able progress for two or three months after they first appear; 

 after which they will perhaps stand a whole year without 

 shooting, growing very like the Cashew-nut, or Anacardium, 

 and being very difficult to preserve long in this country. 



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

 spermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth seven- 

 leaved ; leaflets linear, acuminate, erect, the length of the 

 corolla. Corolla: one-petalled, ringent; upper lip vaulted, 

 emarginate ; lower none. Stamina: filamenta four, twin, 

 inserted into the base of the corolla, of a middling length ; 

 antherte ovate, nodding, opening on the upper side. Pistil: 

 germen ovate; style filiform, curved at the top; stigma 

 thickened, blunt, emarginate. Pericarp : capsule roundish, 

 two-celled. Seeds: numerous, small. Observe. The calix 

 and corolla prevent it from being associated with Orobanche. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: seven-leaved. Corolla: 

 ringent, without any lower Up. Capsule: two-celled, many- 

 seeded. The only known species is, 



1. Hyobanche Sanguinea. Stem half a foot high, quite 

 simple, woody, thick, closely imbricated with leaves, or 

 rather ovate scales, convex on the outside, smooth, blunt ; 

 spike tenninating, dense, fleshy, villose, the length of tlxj 

 stem, and three times as broad, imbricated with bractes and 

 flowers. The whole plant resembles the Orobanche in struc- 

 ture, but is blood-red. Parasitical at fhe roots of shrubs, at 

 the Cape of Good Hope. 



Hyoscyamus; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mo- 

 nogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, tubular, ventricose at bottom, with a five-cleft sharp 

 mouth, permanent. Corolla: one-petalled, funnel-form; tube 

 cylindrical, short; limb from erect spreading, half five-cleft; 

 segments obtuse, one broader than the others. Stamina: 

 filamenta five, awl-shaped, inclining; antheree roundish. Pis- 

 til : germen roundish; style filiform, the length of the sta- 

 mina ; stigma headed. Pericarp : capsule ovate, obtuse, 

 marked with a line on each side, two-celled, two capsules 

 closely approximating, with a lid opening horizontally ; recep- 

 tacles half ovate, fixed to the partition. Seeds: numerous, 

 unequal, irregular. Observe. The seventh and eighth spe- 

 cies differ in having the fruit seldom opening, and a more 

 regular corolla. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: funnel - 

 form, obtuse. Stamina: inclined. Capsule: : two-celled, 

 covered with a lid. This genus consists of biennial plants, 

 which perish soon after they have perfected their seeds. They 

 flower in June and July, and their seeds ripen in the autumn, 

 which, if permitted to scatter, will produce plenty of the 

 plants in the following spring ; or if the seeds be sown at that 

 season, they will succeed much better than plants sown in 

 the spring, which seldom come up in the same year. They 

 are all hardy except the second species, and require no other 

 culture than weeding and thinning where they grow too close. 

 The species are, 



1. Hyoscyamus Niger; Black or Common Henbane. Leaves 

 stem-clasping, sinuate ; flowers sessile. It has long- fleshy 

 roots, which strike deep into the ground, and are branched; 

 bottom leaves soft, deeply gashed on their edges, and spread- 

 ing on the ground. The stalks, which do not rise till the 

 second spring, have leaves of the same shape, but smaller 

 and clasping, and about two feet high : on the upper part are 

 flowers standing on one side in a double row, sitting close to 

 the stalk alternately. The corolla is yellow, or rather pale 

 yellowish-brown, beautifully netted with purple veins, and a 

 dark purple eye or base ; seeds very abundant, gray, exca- 

 vated ana angular. The whole plant is covered with unctuou* 

 fetid hairs, producing A strong and peculiar odour, greatly 



