L YS 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



L Y S 



67 



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

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five- 

 parted, acute, erect, permanent. Corolla: one-petalled, 

 wheel-shaped ; tube none ; border five-parted, flat ; divisions 

 ovate-oblong. Stamina : filameuta five, awl-shaped, opposite 

 to the divisions of the corolla; antheree acuminate. Pistil: 

 germen roundish; style filiform, the length of the stamina ; 

 stigma obtuse. Pericarp : capsule globular, mucronate, one- 

 celled, ten-valved ; according to Geertaer, five-valved. Seeds: 

 very many, angular; receptacle globular, very large, dotted. 

 Observe. In some species the stamina are united at the base. 

 The ninth species has a five-cleft corolla, and a five-valved 

 fruit. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: wheel-shaped. 

 Capsule: globular, mucrouate, ten-valved; according to 

 Geertner, five-valved; with Receptacle, free; and Seeds with 

 a ventral navel, opposite to the embryo. The species are, 



1. Lysimachia Vulgaris; Common Loosestrife. Panicled : 

 racemes terminating. Root perennial, creeping; stem three feet 

 or more high; leaves in pairs, or three, four, or five together, 

 sessile, ovate, or lanceolate; corolla yellow. Native of most 

 parts of Europe, on the banks of streams, and in marshy 

 meadows; flowering from the end of June to September. It 

 derives the English name Loosestrife, from the quality ascribed 

 to it by the ancients, of quieting oxen when put upon their 

 yokes. This herb is of an astringent balsamic nature, and 

 has the credit of being so excellent a vulnerary, that if the 

 young leaves are bound about a fresh wound, they will imme- 

 diately check the bleeding, and perform a cure in a very short 

 lime. Hill says, the root dried and given in powder is good 

 against the whites, immoderate menstrual discharges, the 

 bloody flux, and purgings. The Germans call it Gelbe Wei- 

 derich; the Dutch, Gemeene Weiderich; the Danes, Fredlos ; 

 the French, Lisimaqwe Vulyaire; and the Italians, Lisimachia. 

 This, together with the fifth and eighth species, though not 

 often admitted into gardens, because their creeping roots are 

 troublesome, still deserve cultivation, for the beauty of their 

 large flowers; especially as they will grow in moist places, 

 where nothing better will thrive. 



2. Lysimachia Ephemerum; Willow-leaved Loosestrife. 

 Racemes terminating; petals obovate, spreading; leaves li- 

 near-lanceolate, sessile. Root perennial; stems several, up- 

 right, more than three feet hi<j;h ; flowers in a long close up- 

 right spike; corolla white. Native of Spain. This, which is 

 the finest plant of the genus, may be propagated by parting 

 the roots in autumn; but this method increases it slowly; so 

 that the best way is to sow the seeds upon an eastern-aspected 

 border soon after they are ripe, in autumn, then the plants 

 will come up the following spring; but those which are sown 

 in the spring will not grow the same year. When they come 

 up, they should be kept clean from weeds; and if they are 

 too close, some of them may be drawn out, and transplanted 

 on a shady border; which will give the remaining plants 

 room to grow till autumn, when they may ba transplanted into 

 the borders of the flower-garden, where they are designed to 

 flower: after which, they will require no other culture but 

 to keep them clean from weeds, and dig the ground between 

 them every spring. It is very ornamental for shady borders, 

 and deserves a place in every pleasure-garden, delighting in 

 a moist soil, where it will continue long in beauty. 



3. Lysimachia Stricta; Upright Loosestrife. Racemes 

 terminating; petals lanceolate, spreading; leaves lanceolate. 

 Stem erect, four-cornertr'd, smooth. After flowering, it throws 

 out bulbs from the axils, which falling off in October, pro- 

 duce young plants in the ensuing spring. Native of swampy 

 ground in North America. It increases by its bulbs; and 

 requires a very moist situation. 



VOL. n. 71. 



4. Lysimachia Dubia; Purple-flowered Loosestrife. Ra- 

 cemes terminating; petals converging; stamina shorter than 

 the corolla; leaves lanceolate, petioled. It flowers in July 

 and August. Native of the Levant. It is propagated by 

 seeds sown on a moderate hot-bed in the spring; often water- 

 ing the ground, to bring up the plants, if the season should 

 prove warm. The glasses of the hot-bed should be shaded 

 in the heat of the day. When the plants are up, they should 

 have a large share of fresh air admitted to them, and ought 

 to be frequently refreshed with water : when they are fit to 

 remove, plant each in a separate pot, plunging them into a 

 moderate hot-bed, to forward their taking new root; after 

 this, inure them gradually to bear the open air, into which 

 they should be removed at the begining of June, and remain 

 till October, when they should be placed under a common 

 frame, where they may be sheltered from frost in winter; but 

 always partake of free air in mild weather. The spring fol- 

 lowing, some of the plants may be shaken out of the pots, 

 and planted in borders; but a few should be put into larger 

 pots, where they may flower and seed. 



5. Lysimachia Thyrsiflora; Tufted Loosestrife. Racemes 

 lateral, peduncled. Root perennial, creeping and spreading in 

 the mud, bearded with long fibres; stems in tufts, porous, 

 jointed, round, succulent; flowers in racemes; corolla small, 

 yellow. Native of many parts of Europe, in bogs, marshes, 

 ponds, ditches, and banks of rivers. Though not common in 

 England, it has been found near King's Langley, in Hertford- 

 shire; inYorkshire; and in the isle of Anglesea, North Wales: 

 also along the banks of the river Ballynahinch, above the 

 bridge, near Belfast, Ireland.- See the first species. 



6. Lysimachia Quadrifolia ; Four-leaved Loosestrife. Leaves 

 in fours, ovate-acute; peduncles in fours, one-flowered; 

 flowers yellow. Native of Virginia. 



7. Lysimachia Punctata; Dotted Loosestrife. Leaves in 

 fours, subsessile; peduncles in whorls, one-flowered. Flowers 

 small; corolla yellow. Native of Holland, among reeds; 

 Austria, Silesia, &c. 



8. Lysimachia Ciliata; Ciliated Loosestrife. Petioles cili- 

 ated ; flowers drooping. Stalks many, erect, about two feet 

 high ; flowers like those of the common sort, but smaller, 

 hanging down. Native of Canada and Virginia. 



9. Lysimachia Linum-Stellatum; Small Loosestrife. Ca- 

 lices exceeding the corolla; stem upright, very much branched. 

 This is an annual plant, two inches, seldom three, high, from 

 a slender whitish hair-like root. The leaves are short, ending 

 in a fine point; flowers small, pale green, or herbaceous, stel- 

 late. Native of France and Italy; flowering in the spring. 



10. Lysimachia Nemorum; Wood Loosestrife, or Yellow 

 Pimpernel. Leaves ovate, acute; flowers solitary; stem pro- 

 cumbent. Root perennial, with whitish fibres; stems several, 

 roundish, grooved on each side alternately, smooth, red, root- 

 ing from the lower joints ; corolla yellow. When the flowers 

 are expanded, they somewhat resemble in shape those of 

 Anagallis Arvensis, or Common Red Pimpernel: and hence 

 the botanists of former times considered it as an Anagallis. It 

 differs from the next species, to which it bears no small affinity 

 in its general habit, in having the leaves more pointed, the 

 flowers smaller, less bell-shaped, and on much longer pedun- 

 cles, and the stalks generally redder. Native of many parts 

 of Europe, in moist woods; flowering from June to Septem- 

 ber : found in Charlton wood ; Hanging-wood, near Woolwich ; 

 Shooter's -Hill wood; between Dartford-road and Leeson- 

 heath; also between Muswell-hill and Highgate; in Cane- 

 wood ; at Scarlet Spring, near Harefield ; in Stow and Stoken- 

 church woods, in Oxfordshire; at Pychley, in Northampton- 

 shire; and near Nottingham. 



