40 



LI G 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



LI L 



high ; flowers in an umbellet, eight or ten, yellow, all fertile. 

 Native of Majorca and Minorca, and about Rome. 



!$. Lifustictiin Candicaus ; Pale L-ovage. Superdecom- 

 P'.'und ; leaf!. -is wedge-form, sashed, smooth; universal invo- 

 lucre two-leaved, subfoliaceous; ribs of the seeds membra- 

 naceods, smooth. It flowers in July and August. Native 

 place unknown. 



9. Ligusticum Actaeifolium. Leaflets oval, equally den- 

 tated ; iiivolucels selaceous ; fruits oblong-oval. It grows to 

 the height of more than three feet, and is found on the river 

 St. Lawrence, and in -Virginia near Staunton. 



Ligustrum; a genus of the class Diandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one- 

 leafed, tubular, very small ; mouth four-toothed, erect, obtuse. 

 Corolla : one-petalled, funnel-form ; tube cylindric, longer 

 than the calix ; border four-parted, spreading ; divisions 

 ovate. Stamina: filamenta two, opposite, simple; antherae 

 upright, almost the length of the corolla. Pistil: germen 

 roundish ; style very short ; stigma two-cleft, obtuse, thickish. 

 Pericarp: berry globose, smooth, one-celled. Seeds: four, 

 convex on one side, cornered on the other. Observe. Accord- 

 ing to Gaertuer, the berry is two-celled ; the cells coated 

 with a thin membrane. The seeds are two in each cell. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: four-cleft. Berry: 



four-seeded. The species are, 



1. Ligustrum Vulgare ; Common Privet. Leaves ovate, 

 obtuse ; panicle simple, trichotomous. This shrub is usually 

 about six feet hih, branched, the branches opposite, the 

 young ones flexible and purplish. The flowers are sweet- 

 scented ; corolla white, but soon changing to a reddish 

 brown. This plant varies in many respects. The leaves 

 sometimes grow by threes, and sometimes are enlarged at the 

 base; they frequently continue green great part of the winter 

 like the Italian Privet, which is also a variety, and rises with 

 a" stronger stem, less pliable and more erect branches, and 

 bark of a lighter colour. The regular number of stamina is 

 two, but sometimes there are three or four in a flower, and 

 they have been found with white berries. Thunberg says, 

 that in Japan the leaves are somewhat broader and more 

 blunt than in the European shrub. In point of utility and 

 ornament, few shrubs are preferable to the Common Privet. 

 Its chief use is to form such hedges as are required in dividing 

 gardens for shelter or ornament ; and for this the Italian or 

 Evergreen variety is usually preferred. It bears clipping 

 well, is not liable to be eaten by insects, and having only 

 fibrous roots, it robs the ground less than any other shrub. 

 It is one of the few plants that will thrive in the smoke of 

 London, though it seldom produces any flowers in the closer 

 parts after the first year. It also grows well under the drip 

 of trees. The leaves are bitter and slightly astringent ; a 

 strong infusion of them in water, with the addition of a little 

 red wine and honey, is an excellent gargle for the mouth and 

 throat when they are sore, or for the gums when they become 

 spongy, and are apt to bleed. From the pulp of the berries 

 a rose-coloured pigment may be prepared. With the addition 

 of alum, they dye wool and silk of a good durable green, and 

 for this purpose must be gathered as soon as they are ripe. 

 They continue on the shrub till spring, and in times of scar- 

 city are eaten by different sorts of birds, particularly the 

 bulfinch. The wood is bard, and fit for turning. It is not 

 generally eaten by cattle. Linueus says, kinp, sheep, and 

 goals, will eat it; but horses refuse it. The Sphinx Ligustri, 

 or Privet Hawk-moth, and Phalaena Syringaria, feed on it in 

 the caterpillar stale ; and Meloc Vesicatorius, Cantharides 

 or Blister Beetle, is found on it. Our old English authors call 

 it, Prim, Print, and Primprint, probably from its regular 



appearance when clipped. The Germans, Dutch, Danes, 

 and Swedes, call it Ligttster ; the Freu h, Troent ; the Ita- 

 lians, Lirvetro ; in Spanish, Alktnu : in Portuguese, Alfena: 

 and in Kussian, Srkost. This shrub is easily propagated 

 by laying down the tender .shoots in autumn. In one year's 

 time they may be removed where they arc to remain, or 

 planted in a nursery for two or three years, where the> may 

 be trained for the purposes designed. Also, by suckers, 

 which it sends forth in great plenty. But these arc not easily 

 kept within bounds, nor do they rise so high as I hose which 

 are increased by layers. Thirdly, by cuttings, planted in the 

 autumn on a shady border, and in a loamy soil. But the 

 strongest and best plants are raised from seeds. Gather the , 

 berrits when ripe, put them into a pot with sand, bury them 

 in the ground, as is practised with Holly- berries and Haws. 

 After they have laid a year in the ground, take them up, 

 and sow them in the autumn on a border exposed to the east, 

 where the plants will come up in the following spring. The 

 varieties with striped leaves may be increased by budding or 

 inarching upon the plain sort ; or by laying down the branches, 

 hut they seldom shoot so fast as to produce branches proper 

 for this purpose. Being more tender, they should have a 

 dry soil, and a warm situation. In a rich soil, they soon 

 lose their variegation, and become plain. The Italian or 

 Evergreen Privet, is now generally found in the nurseries 

 instead of the common one. It is equally hardy, and will 

 thrive in almost any situation. It is increased in the same 

 manner; but as it seldom produces berries here, they must 

 be procured from Italy. 



2. Ligustrum Japonicum ; Broad-leaved Priret. Leaves 

 ovate-acuminate ; panicle decompoundedlv trichotomous ; 

 stem arboreous, very much branched, a fathom and half in 

 height ; branches opposite, roundish ; panicle spreading. It 

 flowers in June and July. Native of Japan. 



3. Ligustrum Sinense. Leaves lanceolate ; racemes oblong, 

 lateral, and terminating. This is a small tree, about eight 

 feet high ; flowers white, small ; corolla bell-shaped. Native 

 of China about Canton. 



Lilac. See Syringa. 



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

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: none. Corolla: six- 

 petalled, bell-snaped, narrowed beneath ; petals upright, 

 incumbent, obtusely carinated on the back, gradually more 

 expanding, wider, with thick reflex obtuse tips; nectary a 

 longitudinal tubular line, engraven on each petal from the 

 base to (lie middle. Stamina: filamenta six, awl-shaped, 

 upright, shorter than the corolla; anther* oblong, incumbent. 

 Pistil: germen oblong, tylindric, striated with six furrows; 

 style cylindric, length of the corolla; stigma thickish, tri- 

 angular. Pericarp : capsule oblong, six-furrowed, with a 

 three-cornered hollow obtuse tip, three-celled, three- valved; 

 the valves collected by hairs, disposed in a cancellated man- 

 ner. Seeds: numerous, incumbent, in a twin order, flat out- 

 wardly, semiurbicular. Observe. The nectary in some is 

 bearded, in others beardless ; petals in some totally revolute, 

 in others not so. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: six- 

 petallfd, bell-shaped, with a longitudinal nectareous line. 



C'apaule : the valves connected by cancellated hairs. The 



species are, 



1. I. ilium Candidum ; Common White Lily. Leaves scat- 

 tered ; corollas bell shaped, smooth within; bulb large, from 

 which proceed several succulent fibres ; stem stout, round, 

 upright, u.tuuliv about three feet in height; flowers large, 

 white, terminating, the stem in a cluster, on short peduncles; 

 petals within of a beautiful shining white, on the outside 

 rigid and less luminous. The principal varieties of this 



