764 



ISO 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



ITE 



one-valved. jRoot-perennial, simple, long, jointed, white, 

 very tough ; flowers ovate, smooth, awnless, small. Native 

 of Cochin-china, where it is a troublesome weed. 



8. Ischsemum Rugosum. Outer barren glumes trans- 

 versely wrinkled ;' male and female florets fertile, one only 

 awned. Root annual. Plant from seven inches to a foot in 

 height. Native of the East Indies. 



Iscrtia ; a genus of the class Hexandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 superior, coloured, four or six toothed, permanent. Corolla: 

 one-petalled, funnel-form ; tube long, cylindric, slightly 

 curved; border six-cleft; divisions subovate, rather upright, 

 villose. Stamina : filamenta six, very short, within the 

 mouth of the corolla ; antheree linear, fastened by the back, 

 upright. Pistil : germen inferior, roundish ; style filiform, 

 surrounded at the base by a glandule; stigma six-cleft. 

 Pericarp : pome subglobose, crowned with the calix, succu- 

 lent, six-celled; the shell of the cells fragile. Seeds: several, 

 small, angular, rough. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : 

 coloured, four or six toothed. Corolla : six-cleft, funnel- 

 form. Pome: subglobular, six-celled, many-seeded. The 



species are, 



1. Isertia Coccinea. Leaves opposite, disposed cross-wise, 

 smooth, entire, oval, ending in a long point; flowers termi- 

 nating, in a large straight panicle, the branches of which 

 are opposite and subdivided, and come out from between two 

 little scales; tube of the corolla two inches long, bright red. 

 It is a tree, with a trunk ten or twelve feet in height, and about 

 eight inches in diameter; the bark wrinkled, and of a russet 

 colour; (he wood light, and of a loose texture; it is bitter. 

 The Creoles use a decoction of the leaves in fomentations. 

 Common in the island of Cayenne, and on the continent of 

 Guiana, flowering and bearing fruit great part of the year. 



2. Isertia Parviflora. Leaves oblong, the lower ones some- 

 what heart-shaped at the base; bunch of flowers ovate. 

 Found in Trinidad. 



Isnardia; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth bell- 

 shaped, half four-cleft; divisions ovate, spreading. Corolla: 

 none, unless the calix be so termed. Stamina: filamenta 

 four, growing from the middle of the calix; antheras simple. 

 Pistil: germen inferior; style simple, longer than the sta- 

 mina; stigma thickish. Pericarp: capsule four-cornered, 

 obtuse, covered by the calix, and crowned, four-celled, four- 

 valved; valves obscurely keeled, thick, fungous, attenuated 

 on the margin ; partitions opposite to the valves. Seeds : 

 very many, oblong, sharp, affixed to the pillar. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Calix : four-cleft. Corolla: none. Cap- 



svle : four-celled, covered by the calix. The only known 



species is, 



I. Isnardia Palustris. Flowers axillary, opposite, sessile, 

 and green. It is creeping and floating; and has been deter- 

 mined by Swartz to be a species of Ludgwigia, frequent in 

 the rivers of Jamaica, with petals to the flower, though 

 fugacious. Annual. Found in the rivers of Italy, France, 

 Alsace, Russia, Jamaica, and Virginia. 



Isoetet; a genus of the class Cryptogamia, order Filices. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male Flowers, solitary, within the 

 base of the inner leaves. Calix : scale cordate, acute, 

 sessile. Corolla: none. Stamina: filamenta none; antlieree 

 roundish, one-celled. Female Powers, solitary, within the 

 base of the outer leaves of the same plant. Calix : as in 

 the males. Corolla: none. Pistil: germen ovate, within 

 the leaf. Pericarp : capsule snbovale, two-celled, con- 

 cealed within the base of the leaf. Seeds: numerous, glo- 

 bular. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. Anthcra: : 



within the base of the frond, 

 within the base of the frond.- 



Femnle. Capsule: two-celled 

 The species are, 



1 . Isoetes Lacustris ; Common Quiliwort. Leaves awl- 

 shaped, semicylindrical, curved back. Root fibrous ; fibres 

 numerous, simple, slender, striking deep into the mud ; 

 leaves in thick tufts, extremely like young Rushes, at the 

 base swelling into a kind of bulb, covered by a thin skin, filled 

 with numerous whitish minute seeds. The edges of the in- 

 flated base of the outer leaves, where the female flowers re- 

 side, form a thin fine membrane, which so closely embraces 

 the gibbous part of the inner leaf, where the male flower is 

 found, as to exclude the water ; and by this admirable con- 

 trivance, the flowers of each sex are not only near each other, 

 but, though at the bottom of a lake, are kept perfectly dry. 

 Flowering from May to September. Native of the mountain 

 lakes in the north of Europe ; and, with ns, of those in West- 

 moreland, Cumberland, Wales, and Scotland. 



2. Isoetes Corotnandeliana; Coromandel Quiliwort. Leaves 

 filiform, erect, smooth. This is larger than the preceding, 

 which it very much resembles. Native of Coromandel, in 

 wet places that are inundated in the rainy season. 



hopyrtim ; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Poly- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: none. Corolla: 

 petals five, ovate, equal, spreading, deciduous; nectaries five, 

 equal, tubular, very short, with a three-lobed month, the 

 outer lobe larger, the receptacle inserted within the petals. 

 Stamina : filamenta numerous, capillary, shorter than the 

 corolla; anthers: simple. Pistil: gcrmina very many, ovate; 

 styles simple, the length of the germen ; stigmas blunt, the 

 length of the stamina. Pericarp : capsules several, lunu- 

 late, recurved, one-celled. Seeds : very many. Observe. 

 This genus is very nearly allied to that of Helleborus, but 

 extremely different in habit. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix : none. Petals: five. Nectary: trifid, tubular. Cap- 

 sule : recurved, many-seeded. To propagate these plants, 

 sow the seeds in a shady border soon after they are ripe, or 

 permit them to scatter; and when they come up, keep them 

 clean from weeds. The species are, 



1. Isopyrum Fumaroides. Stipules awl-shaped; petals 

 acute. Leaves shaped like those of Fumitory, small, and of 

 a gray colour ; the stalk is naked to the top, where there is a 

 circle of leaves just under the flowers, which are small, of an 

 herbaceous colour on the outside, and yellow within ; they 

 appear in the beginning of April, and ripen seeds in May. 

 Annual : three or four inches high. Native of Siberia. 



2. Isopyrum Thalictroides. Stipules ovate ; petals obtuse. 

 Stem commonly single, near a fooi high, terminating in a few 

 spreading slender peduncles, each bearing one small flower; 

 the petals of which, from five to six in number, are first 

 white, but turn to red or purple. All the leaves have a pale 

 roundish stipule on eack side; stamina from thirty to thirty- 

 six. It flowers at the end of March, and ripens seed in May. 

 Perennial. Native of the south of Europe, and found also in 

 Austria, flowering in April or May. 



3. Isopyrum Aquilegioides. Stipules obsolete. Stem a 

 long span in height, slender, having two or three short, entire, 

 stipular leaves on it, and a single blue flower five times less 

 than that of the preceding. It is the Aquilegia Viscosa of 

 Linnens. Native of the mountains of Switzerland, Moravia, 

 Trent, and the Apennines, in meadows, flowering in the spring. 



Itea; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Monogynia. 

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

 cleft, upright; segments lanceolate, acute, permanent, co- 

 loured. Corolla: petals five, sessile, lanceolate, acuminate, 

 spreading, deciduous. Stamina: rilumema fi\r\ awl-shaped, 

 upright, the length of the corolla, inserted into the b;scof the 



