32 



LE P 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



LEP 



parts of Europe, on banks or under hedges, in a gravelly or 

 calcareous soil. It has been observed near Combe Wood in 

 Surry, and in Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suf- 

 folk, and Monmouthshire. This and the following species, 

 when once planted in a garden, will soon multiply, especially 

 if the seeds be permitted to scatter. The roots will continue 

 for many years. 



2. Leonurus Crispus ; Curled Motherwort. All the leaves 

 acutely serrate, very much wrinkled, unequally reflex at the 

 edge ; stem-leaves five-lobed. Stems several, from two to 

 three feet high, upright; branches scarcely any at bottom, 

 but decussately opposite at top, slender, the length of a foot 

 or more ; whorls very numerous, terminating, distant, com- 

 posed of many axillary flowers, heaped together in four divi- 

 sions ; flowers sessile, white. This is very nearly allied to 

 the preceding species ; which see. Biennial. Native of 

 Switzerland and the south of France. 



3. Leonurus Marrubiastrum ; Small-flowered Motherwort. 

 Leaves ovate and lanceolate, serrate ; calices sessile, spiny. 

 From a branched fibrous, whitish root, a stem rises three feet 

 high, and almost twice as high in gardens, upright, leafy, 

 branched ; corolla flesh or saffron coloured. It flowers from 

 July to August. It is found in Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, 

 Germany, Piedmont, the Ukraine, on the eastern coast of 

 Africa, in Zanguebar, and even in the island of Java. The 

 seeds of this, and the two following species, should be sown 

 in the spring, upon a bed of common earth, and require no 

 other care but to keep them clean from weeds, and thin them 

 where they are too close. In autumn they may be transplanted 

 where they are designed to flower and seed. 



4. Leonurus Tataricus ; Tartarian Motherwort. Leaves 

 three-parted, jagged; calices villose. Corolla flesh-colour. 

 Mr. Miller says there are two distinct varieties, one with 

 smooth stalks and leaves, and the other very hairy. It is a 

 biennial plant, native of Russia ; and Gmelin says, growing 

 all over Siberia. 



5. Leonurus Sibiricus ; Siberian Motherwort. Leaves 

 three-parted, multifid-linear, bluntish. Stems several, from 

 eighteen inches to about a yard in height, tinged with purple; 

 branches seldom more than two or three pairs ; flowers in 

 close whorls; corolla red. Gmelin asserts that it is a mere 

 variety of. the preceding, with much larger flowers, and the 

 upper lip almost equal to the lower. Native of Siberia and 

 China. 



Leopard's Bane. See Doronicum. 



Lepidium ; a genus of the class Tetradynamia, order Sili- 

 culosa. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth four- 

 leaved ; leaflets ovate, concave, deciduous. Corolla : four- 

 petalled, cross-shaped; petals obovate, twice the length of 

 the calix, with narrow claws. Stamina : filamenta six, awl- 

 shaped, length of the calix, the two opposite ones shorter ; 

 antherae simple. Pistil: germen heart-shaped ; style simple, 

 length of the stamina; stigma obtuse. Pericarp: silicle 

 heart-shaped, emarginate, compressed, sharp on the margin, 

 two-celled ; valves navicular, keeled, opposite the lanceolate 

 dissepiment. Seeds : some ovate-acuminate, narrower at the 

 base, nodding. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Silicle: emar- 

 ginate, cordate, many-seeded; valves keeled, contrary. If 

 the seeds of the annual sorts be sown in autumn, the plants 

 will appear in April, May, and June, and the seeds will ripen 

 a month after. If these be permitted to scatter, the plants 

 will come up in autumn ; and require no other care but to 

 thin and weed them. The perennial sorts are easily propa- 

 gated, for every piece of root will grow and multiply wher- 

 ever it is planted, and will be difficult to root out of a garden 

 when once established. The species are, 



1. Lepidium Perfoliatum; Various-leaved Pepperwort. 

 Stem-leaves pinnate-multifid ; branch-leaves cordate, embrac- 

 ing, entire. Root annual; stem about a foot high, round, 

 upright, smooth, tinged with purple, dividing into many 

 slender branches ; from the ends of which hang the flowers 

 in long loose spikes ; they are small and compressed, and 

 appear in July ; petals yellow* Native of Austria, &c. 



2. Lepidium Vesicarium; Bladdery Pepperwort. Joints 

 of the stem inflated ; flowers white. Stem two or three feet 

 high, remarkably inflated at the joints ; leaves pinnate, with 

 long narrow leaflets. Annual. Native of Iberia and Media, 

 in dry places, and flowers there in July. 



3. Lepidium Nudicaule ; Naked Pepperwort. Scape naked, 

 quite simple; flowers four-stamined; leaves pinnatifid. An- 

 nual. Native of Spain and the south of France. 



4. Lepidium Procumbens ; Prostrate Pepperwort. Leaves 

 sinuate-pinnatifid, the outmost larger; scape naked ; stems 

 prostrate, racemiferous. Petals wedge-shaped, white. Annual. 

 Native of the South of France, and the county of Nice. 



5. Lepidium Alpinum; Alpine Pepperwort. Leaves pin- 

 nate, quite entire ; scape subradicate ; silicles lanceolate, 

 mucronate. Root perennial, slender. The whole plant is 

 very smooth, and has the same taste with cress ; flowers 

 tetrandrous ; petals milk white, quite entire, wide. Native 

 of the Alps, of Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. It flowers 

 from April to June, and in the Alps from May to August. 



6. Lepidium Petraeum; Rock Pepperwort. Leaves pin- 

 nate, quite entire ; petals emarginate, smaller than the calix. 

 Root biennial, taper, and fibrous ; stem much and alternately 

 branched ; leaves dark green, elegantly pinnate, with an odd 

 lobe; flowers in a close corymb, gradually lengthening out 

 into a spike, very minute, erect; silicle exactly oval, flat. 

 It flowers in March and April. Native of Oeland, Austria, 

 Switzerland, Dauphiny, Silesia, England ; and, according 10 

 Loureiro, of China. With us it is found on St. Vincent's 

 Rocks, and on the walls near Bristol ; at Uphill in Somerset- 

 shire ; near Pembroke, &c. 



7. Lepidium Cardamines. Root-leaves pinnate; stem- 

 leaves lyrate. Stems a span high, branched. Native of 

 Spain, by way-sides, in a dry clay soil. 



8. Lepidium Spinosum ; Prickly Pepperwort. Leaves 

 pinnate; leaflets lunate, the outer elongated; branches mu- 

 cronate. Stem a span high, stiffish, thickish, awl-shaped, 

 branched at bottom ; branches awl-shaped, quite simple, 

 sirT, spiny at the end ; flowers scattered, white, on a very 

 short stiff' peduncle. Annual. Native of the Levant. 



9. Lepidium Sativum ; Garden or Common Cress. Flowers 

 tetradynamous ; leaves oblong, multifid ; root annual, white, 

 fusiform, slender. Stem upright, round, smooth, from a foot 

 to two feet in height, branched at top; both stem and branches 

 terminated by loose narrow spikes of small flowers, which 

 have white petals ; silicle roundish, without any style ; seeds 

 small, rufescent, ovate, marked with lines, having a sharp 

 taste like Mustard. Of this plant, so much used in winter 

 and spring salads, there are several varieties ; one with broad 

 leaves, another with curled leaves, and the common sort. 

 The young plant, though inferior to Scurvy Grass, (see Coch- 

 learia Officinalis,) may, however, be of some use as a diuretic 

 and antiscorbutic, if taken largely. The seeds are sown in 

 pretty close drills during the winter on moderate hot-beds, 

 in spring and autumn on borders, and are soon fit for use. 

 It should be cut young, otherwise it will be too rank. 



10. Lepidium Lyratum. Leaves lyrate, curled. Stalks a 

 foot high, dividing into a great number of slender branches, 

 having small oblong leaves on them, which are cut on their 

 sides, and a little curled on their edges. The stalks and 



