748 



I M P 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAU 



I N A 



any thing touching the capsule, has furnished this plant with 

 names in most of the European languages. Hence we call 

 it, Quick-in-hcmd, (alive as it were in the hand,) and Touch- 

 me-not. The Germans call it, sprinysame, springraut ; the 

 Swedes, tpringkorn; the Danes, ipriwjhorn or springvrt ; 

 the French, impatiente, ne me touchez pas, from the Latin 

 impatiens and i.cli tangere, and also bahammc jaune ; the 

 Italians, erba impaziente, balsamina giulla; the Spaniards, 

 noquierus tocarme, balsamina amar ilia ; and the Portuguese, 

 Htelindre nao me toques. In the day-time the leaves are ex- 

 panded, but they hang pendent at night, contrary to what is 

 observed in most plants, which, from a deficiency of moisture, 

 or too great perspiration from heat, commonly droop their 

 during the day. The whole plant is rather acrid, so 

 that no animal but the goat is said to eat it. Notwithstand- 

 ing this, it was formerly considered as diuretic and vulnerary, 

 and was given to relieve the haemorrhoids and the strangury. 

 Bocrhaave considered it as poisonous. This is the only 

 species of Impatiens found wild in Europe. It is also found 

 in Canada. With us it occurs in Wales, and the northern 

 cuunties of England, in moist shady places, and by the banks 

 in rivulets : as, on the banks of Winandermere, near Amble- 

 side, near Rydall Hall, and between both those places in 

 Westmoreland ; in the parish of Satterthwaite, and on the 

 banks of Collision Lake, in Lancashire ; and about Bingley 

 in Yorkshire ; flowering in July and August. If the seeds 

 of this plant be permitted to scatter, they generally succeed 

 better than when they are sown : for unless they are sown in 

 the autumn soon after they are ripe, they seldom grow. They 

 only require weeding and thinning, and delight iu a moist 

 soil and shady situation. 



Imperatoria ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Digy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Catix : umbel universal, flat- 

 spreading; partial unequal: involucre universal none; partial 

 very slender, with one or two leaflets, almost the length of 

 the umbel ; perianth proper, obscure. Corolla : universal 

 uniform; floscules all fertile; proper of five petals, inflex- 

 emarginate, nearly equal. Stamina: filamenla five, capillary; 

 antherae roundish. Pistil: germen inferior; styles two, 

 reflex ; stigmas obtuse. Pericarp : none ; fruit roundish, 

 compressed, gibbose in the middle, margined, bipartilc. 

 Seeds: two, ovate, marked on one side with two furrows, 

 surrounded by a broad margin. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Fruit: roundish, compressed, gibbose in the middle, sur- 

 rounded by a margin. Petals: inflex-emarginate. The 



only known species is, 



1. Imperatoria Ostruthium; Masterwort. Root running 

 obliquely in the ground, the thickness of a man's thumb, 

 fleshy, aromatic, with a strong acrid taste, biting the tongue 

 and mouth like Pellitoryof Spain. Leaves rising immediately 

 from the root, on footstalks seven or eight inches long, divid- 

 ing into three very short ones at the top, each sustaining a 

 trilobate leaf,. indented on the border. The footstalks are 

 deeply channelled, and when broken emit a rank odour. The 

 flower-stalks rise about two feet high, and divide into two 

 or three branches, each being terminated by a pretty large 

 umbel of white flowers, whose petals are split; succeeded by 

 oval compressed seeds, like those of Dill, but larger. The 

 flowers appear in June, and ripen seeds in August. The root 

 of this plant is warm and aromatic; a sudorific, diuretic, and 

 ialagogue : it is recommended in dropsies, and debilities of 

 the stomach and bowels. An infusion of it in wine is said to 

 have cured quartans that resisted the bark. When chewed, it 

 excites a copious flow of saliva, with a warm and not disagree- 

 able sensation in the gums, and frequently cures the rheumatic 

 toothache. It is most efficacious when newly taken out of 



the ground ; and the best manner of giving it is in a light 

 infusion. Gerarde says, " it greatly helpeth such as have 

 taken great squats, bruses, or falls from some high place, 

 dissoluing and scattering abroad congealed and clotted bloud 

 within the body : the root with his leaues stamped and laid 

 vpon the members infected, cureth the biting of inad dogs, 

 and of all other venomous beasts." Native of many parts of 

 the Alps, Austria, Silesia, &c. and found on the banks of the 

 Clyde in Scotland, and in the isle of Bute, near Mount- 

 Stewart. This plant is cultivated in gardens to supply the 

 markets. It may be propagated either by seeds or by parting 

 the roots: the former should be gown in autumn, soon after 

 they are ripe, on a bed or border in a shady situation ; 

 observing not to sow the seeds too thick, nor to cover them 

 too deep. The plants will appear in the spring, and should 

 be carefully weeded, and refreshed with water in dry seasons, 

 which will greatly encourage their growth. Towards th* 

 beginning of May, if you find the plants come up too close 

 together, prepare a moist shady border, and thin the plants 

 carefully, leaving them about six inches asunder; and plant 

 those which you draw up into the border about the same 

 distance apart every way, taking care to water them in dry 

 seasons until they have taken root ; after which these plants, 

 as well as those remaining in the seed-beds, will require no 

 other culture but to keep them clear from weeds ; which may 

 be easily effected by hoeing the ground between the plants 

 now and then in dry weather; and stirring the ground also 

 will be very serviceable to them. The following autumn, they 

 should be transplanted where they are designed to remain, 

 which should be in a rich moist soil, and a shady situation, 

 where they will thrive much better than if exposed to the sun 

 in a dry soil, where they will require a continual supply of 

 water in dry weather. They must not stand less than two 

 feet distant every way. When rooted, they require only to 

 be kept clear from weeds ; and in the spring, before they shoot, 

 to have the ground gently dug between them, being careful 

 not to injure the roots. With this management they will 

 continue several years, and produce abundance of seeds. To 

 propagate them by offsets, part the roots at Michaelmas, and 

 plant them in a shady situation, at the same distance as 

 directed for the seedling plants, observing to water them 

 until they have taken root, after which they may be managed 

 exactly in the same way as the seedlings. 



Inarching ; a method of grafting, commonly called graft- 

 ing by approach. This is used when the stock intended to 

 be grafted upon, and the tree from which the graft is to be 

 taken, stand so near, or can be brought so near, that they 

 may be joined together. The manner of performing it is this : 

 take the branch you would inarch, and having fitted it to 

 that part of the stock where you intend to join it, pare away 

 the rind and wood on one side about three inches in length : 

 after the same manner cut the stock or branch in the place 

 where the graft is to be united, so that the rind of both may 

 equally join together, at least on one side, that the sap may 

 meet; then cut a little tongue upwards in the graft, and 

 make a notch or slit in the stock downwards to admit it, so 

 that when they are joined, the tongues will prevent their 

 slipping, and the graft will more closely unite with the stock. 

 Having thus placed them exactly together, tie them with 

 bass, or other soft bandage; then cover the place with graft- 

 ing clay, to prevent the air from dtying the wound, or the 

 wet from rotting the stock. Fix a stake in the ground, to 

 which the stock, or branch and graft, should be fastened, 

 to prevent the wind frcm separating them. In this manner 

 tbey are to remain about four months, by which time they 

 will be sufficiently united, and the graft may then be cut 



