90 



MAR 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



MAR 



Marica ; a genus of the class Triandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: spathes bivalve. 

 Corolla: six-parted; petals, three outer ovate, three inner 

 smaller, all connate at the claws. Stamina : filamenta three, 

 very short, inserted into the tube of the corolla; antherse 

 oblong, erect. Pistil: germen inferior, angular; style three- 

 cornered ; stigmas three, petal-form, simple, acute. Peri- 

 carp: capsule oblong, angular, three-celled. Seeds: several, 

 angular. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: six-parted, 

 with three alternate segments as small again as the others. 

 Stigma: petal-form, trifid, with the three divisions simple, 

 acute. Capsule: three-celled, inferior. The species are, 



1. Marica Northiana. Stalk sword-shaped, winged. Na- 

 tive of Brazil. 



2. Marica Paludosa. Root a fleshy bulb, covered with 

 several membranes as in Saffron ; stem stout, with two leaves 

 at the top. It flowers in August. Native of the moist mea- 

 dows of Guiana, at the foot of the mountain Courou. 



Marigold. See Calendula. 



Marigold, Marsh. See Caltha. 



Marigold, African and French. See Tagetes. 



Marigold, Fig. See Mesembryanthemum. 



Marila ; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five-leaved; 

 leaflets oblong, blunt, spreading. Corolla : petals five, obo- 

 vate, waved at the edge, spreading, longer than the calix. 

 Stamina: filamenta very numerous, inserted into the recep- 

 tacle, a little connate at the base, filiform, the inner ones the 

 same length with the corolla, the outer gradually shorter; 

 antherse ovate. Pistil: germen linear, four-cornered, supe- 

 rior ; style short, thick ; stigma blunt, subcapitate. Peri- 

 carp: capsule subcolumnar, incurved, four-cornered, four- 

 celled, four-valved. Seeds: very numerous, like saw-dust, 

 ciliate. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-leaved. 

 Corolla: five-petalled. Capsule: four-celled, many-seeded. 

 Stigma: simple. -The only species is, 



1. Marila Racemosa. Native of the West Indies. 



Marjoram. See Origanum. 



' Marrubium; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Gym- 

 nospermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, salver-shaped, rigid, ten-streaked ; mouth equal, patu- 

 lous, often ten-toothed ; toothlets alternate, smaller. Corolla : 

 one-petalled, ringent ; tube cylindrical; border gaping, with 

 a long tubular opening; upper lip erect, linear, bifid, acute; 

 lower reflex, broader, half three-cleft; the middle segment 

 broader, emarginate ; the lateral ones acute. Stamina: fila- 

 menta four, shorter than the corolla, concealed beneath the 

 upper lip, two longer; antheree simple. Pistil: germen four- 

 cleft ; style filiform, of the same length, and in the same situ- 

 ation with the stamina ; stigma bifid. Pericarp: none; calix 

 contracted at the neck, spread out at the mouth, inclosing 

 the seeds. Seeds: four, somewhat oblong. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Calix: salver-shaped, rigid, ten-streaked. 

 Corolla : upper lip bifid, linear, straight. Most of the plants 

 of this genus are easily propagated by seeds, which should 

 be sown on a bed of poor earth in the spring ; and when the 

 plants come up, they must be kept clean from weeds ; and 

 where they are too close, they should be thinnecl, leaving 

 them a foot and half asunder, that their branches may have 

 room to spread : after this, they require no other culture. 

 They may also be propagated by cuttings, in the same man- 

 ner as the tenth and eleventh species. If these plants are 

 upon a dry poor soil, they will live several years ; but in rich 



land, they 'seldom last above three or four.- The species are, 



* With Jive-teethed Calices. 



1 . Marrubium Alyssum ; Plaited-leaved White Horehound. 



Leaves wedge-shaped, five-toothed, plaited; whorls without 

 any involucre. Root biennial ; stems about eighteen inches 

 high; flowers large, of a dark purple colour. It flowers in 

 July and August. Native of Spain and Italy. 



2. Marrubium Peregrinum. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, ser- 

 rate ; toothlets of the calices bristle-shaped; stems nearly 

 three feet high, branching much more than the common sort. 

 Native of the Levant, Austria, Sicily, &c. 



3. Marrubium Candidissimum ; Woolly WJiite Horehound. 

 Leaves subovate, woolly, emarginate, crenate at top; calicine 

 toothlets awl-shaped. This has stalks about a foot to a foot 

 and half high ; flowers at the end of the stem and branches, 

 in close whorls, white. It flowers from July to September. 

 Native of the Levant. 



4. Marrubium Astracanicum. Leaves ovate, crenate, to- 

 mentose, very much wrinkled; calicine teeth awl-shaped; 

 upper segments of the corolla acute. Stems several, perennial, 

 half a foot high, branched and procumbent. Native of 

 Astracan ; flowering in May. 



5. Marrubium Supinum ; Procumbent White Horehound. 

 Calicine teeth bristle-shaped, straight, villose. Stems seldom 

 above eight or nine inches long, covered with a soft hoary 

 down. It flower-s from August to October. Native of Spain 

 and the south of Europe. 



** With ten-teethed Calices. 



6. Marrubium Vulgare ; Common White Horehound. Teeth 

 of the calix bristle-shaped, hooked. Root perennial; the 

 whole plant white with down ; stems upright, a foot or eigh- 

 teen inches high, branching towards the top ; whorls very 

 close, consisting of 40 or 50 sessile flowers ; corolla small, 

 white, compressed. The whole plant is bitterish, and has a 

 strong, but not altogether unpleasant, smell. It was a famous 

 medicine, with the ancients, for obstructions of the viscera; 

 and, taken in large doses, operates as a gentle purgative: it is 

 likewise a principal ingredient in the negro Caesar's antidote 

 for vegetable poisons. A young man, says Linneus, who had 

 occasion to take mercurial medicines, was brought into a sali- 

 vation, which continued for more than twelvemonths; and 

 every means tried to remove it only served to make the com- 

 plaint worse : at length an infusion of this plant was ordered 

 him; by the use of which, he got well in a very short time. 

 A strong decoction of the young tops, boiled into a thin syrup 

 with honey, is an excellent medicine for colds, coughs of long 

 standing, hoarseness, and all other disorders of the breast and 

 lungs. The leaves, dried and reduced to powder, are sup- 

 posed to destroy worms in the stomach and intestines. Two 

 or three ounces of the juice taken frequently for a dose, is 

 efficacious in menstrual obstructions, and all other disorders 

 which proceed from a thick viscid state of the fluids, or 

 obstructions of the viscera. A drachm of the dried leaves, or 

 an infusion of a handful of the green leaves, is a sufficient 

 dose. Native of most parts of Europe, by road sides, and in 

 waste places; flowering from June to September. 



7. Marrubium Afncamim; African White Horehound, 

 Leaves cordate, roundish, emarginate, crenate. Root peren- 

 nial. Stem two feet high, upright, subtomentose, deeply 

 grooved on the opposite sides. It flowers from July to Sep- 

 tember. Native of the Cape. 



8. Marrubium Crispum; Curled White Horehound. Leaves 

 cordate, roundish, crenate, subdentate; calices ten-toothed, 

 awnless. Stem sufFrutlcose, upright, rough-haired. Native of 

 Italy, Sicily, and Spain. 



9. Marrubium Hispanicum ; Spanish White Horehound. 

 Borders of the calices spreading; toothlets acute. Stalks more 

 erect than those of the common sort; the whole plant very 

 hairy. Native of Spain. 



