H Y S 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



H \ S 



733 



stigma bifid or simple. Pericarp: none; the calix fostering 

 the seeds. Seeds: four. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: 

 turbinate. Corolla : with a very spreading border; lower lip 

 semibifid. Anthers: hanging down. The species are, 



1. Hyptis Verticillata. Leaves lanceolate; flowers in 

 whorls. This shrub is ten feet high, with one or two upright 

 woody stems ; corolla white. -Native of St. Domingo. 



2. Hyptis Capitata. Leaves ovate ; flowers in heads. Stems 

 sufFruticose, two or three feet high or more, becoming woody, 

 commonly four-cornered, brown ; branches annual, herba- 

 ceous, subdivided; peduncles axillary, solitary, four-cornered, 

 slender, from two to three inches long, beaiing at the end 

 numerous flowers collected closely into a semi-globular head; 

 the petals are white, with sometimes a tinge of flesh-colour; 

 antherse yellow. The whole plant is inodorous. Native of 

 St. Domingo, where it flowers in December and January. 



Hyssop. See Hyssopus. 



Hyssop, Hedge. See Gratiola. 



Hyssopus; (Hyssop) a genus of the class Didynamia, order 

 Gymnospermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth 

 one-leafed, cylindrical, oblong, striated, acutely five-toothed, 

 permanent. Corolla: one-petalled, ringent; tube cylindrical, 

 slender, the length of the calix ; throat inclined ; upper lip 

 straight, flat, short, roundish, emarginate; lower lip trifid ; 

 lateral segments shorter, blunt, the middle one crenate, ob- 

 cordate, acute, with distant lobes. Stamina: filamenta four, 

 upright, longer than the corolla, distant ; the two upper ones 

 shorter, but the two longer nearer to the lower lip ; antherse 

 simple. Pistil: germen four-parted; style filiform, under the 

 upper lip, and of the same length ; stigma bifid. Pericarp : 

 none ; the calix fostering the seeds. Seeds: four, subovate. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: lower lip with a small 



middle crenate segment. Stamina: straight, distant The 



species are, 



1. Hyssopus Officinalis; Common Hyssop. Spikes directed 

 one way; leaves lanceolate. Height a foot and half; steins 

 first square, afterwards round, with small sessile leaves in 

 pairs on their lower part, and seven or eight very narrow erect 

 leaves or bractes, springing from the same joint; on the upper 

 part, flowers in whorls, the lower ones half an inch apart, the 

 upper almost joined ; anther twin; seeds black. There are 

 many varieties of this plant. The leaves vary in colour as 

 well as the flowers, some being white striped with green, 

 or half green and half white ; others with the leaves wholly 

 yellow, or but a little green in them : others yellow, as the 

 Gold Hyssop; which, Parkinson says, was "of so pleasant a 

 colour in his time, that it provoked many gentlewomen to wear 

 them in their heads and on their arms, with as much delight 

 as many fine flowers can give." The leaves are also sometimes 

 curled or cramped at the edges, so that each leaf seems to be 

 composed of many. It also varies in the stem, and in the 

 scent, which is sometimes stronger than common, approaching 

 to that of musk. Ray enumerates nine varieties. The roots 

 will abide many years. The whole plant has a strong aroma- 

 tic smell. It flowers in July and August, and ripens seed in 



September. Meyrick remarks, that it is a plant of very con- 

 siderable virtues, particularly in disorders of the breast and 

 lungs. A strong infusion, or tea, made with the young tops, 

 is not particularly unpleasant, and is the best mode of using 

 it. There are few better medicines for coughs, hoarsenesses, 

 and obstructions of the breast. The infusion, made into a 

 syrup with honey, is excellent for the same purposes. Tho 

 tea, when plentifully taken, removes obstructions of the vis- 

 cera, arid operates powerfully by urine. It should be gathered 

 when just beginning to flower. The green herb bruised, with 

 the addition of a little sugar, is said to heal cuts and green 

 wounds with great expedition. Native of the south of Europe. 

 This plant, with all its varieties, may be propagated by seed., 

 or cuttings: if by seeds, they must be sown in March, upon 

 a bed of light sandy soil, and when the plants come up, they 

 should be transplanted out to the places where they aie to re- 

 main, placing them at least a foot asunder each way; but ii 

 they are designed to abide in those places for a long time, 

 two feet distance will be small enough, for they grow pretty 

 large, especially if they are not frequently cut to keep them 

 within compass. If you would propagate them by cuttings, 

 they should be planted in April or May, on a border where 

 they may be defended from the violent heat of the sun ; and 

 being frequently watered, they will take root in about two 

 months ; after which they may be transplanted where they 

 are to continue, managing them as was before directed for the 

 seedling plants. They are very haidy, and will endure the 

 cold of our winters in the open air, provided they are planted 

 in a dry undunged soil; for a rich soil causes them to grow so 

 luxuriantly in summer that they are the less able to resist the 

 cold of the winter, while those plants which we frequently find 

 growing out of the joints of old walls, will better resist the 

 severest frost, and be much more aromatic. 



2. Hyssopus Lophanthus ; Mint-leaved Hyssop. Corollas 

 resupinate ; lower stamen shorter than the corolla ; leaves 

 cordate. Root strong, fibrous, perennial, sending out many 

 square stalks, which divide into smaller branches ; flowers 

 produced at each joint in small clusters; corollas blue. The 

 flowers appear in June and July, and the seeds ripen in Sep- 

 tember. Native of Siberia. Both this and the following spe- 

 cies are very hardy, and may be easily propagated by sowing: 

 seeds in autumn, for those sown in the spring often lie a year 

 in the ground before they vegetate. When the plants come 

 up, keep them clean from weeds, and thin them where they 

 are too close. The following autumn transplant them where 

 they are to remain, and the roots will last several years. 



3. Hyssopus Nepetoides ; Square-stalked Hyssop. Stem 

 sharp, quadrangular. Root perennial ; leaves oblique, heart- 

 shaped, serrate, acute, on short footstalks; flowers yellow, 

 in close thick spikes, four or five inches long; upper lip of the 

 corolla divided into two roundish segments. There is a vari- 

 ety with purple stalks and flowers, the leaves on longer foot- 

 stalks, and the spikes of flowers thicker. Gouan remarks, that 

 this plant has the appearance of Galeopsis. Native of Vir- 

 ginia and Canada. 



J AC 



JACA Tree. See Artocarpus. 



Jacqidnia; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five- 

 leaved ; leaflets roundish, concave, permanent. Corolla : 

 one-petalled ; tube bell-shaped, ventricose, longer than the 

 calix; border ten-cleft; divisions roundish, of which the five 

 interior ones are shorter. Stamina : filamenta five, awl- 

 VOL. i. 62. 



J AC 



shaped, arising from the receptacle; antherae spear-shaped. 

 Pistil: germen ovate; style the length of the stamina; stigma 

 headed. Pericarp : berry roundish, acuminate, one-celled, 

 Seed: single, roundish, cartilaginous. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Corolla: ten-cleft. Stamina: inserted into the 

 receptacle. Berry: one seeded. These plants must be kept 

 in the bark-stove, giving them little water in winter, and in 

 9 A 



