94 



MAY 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



ME A 



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

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth cylindric, 

 quite entire, erect, short, permanent. Corolla: petal one, 

 very long, from a slender tube ending gradually in an entire 

 border, with a repand mouth. Stamina : filamenta five, 

 awl-shaped, shorter than the corolla; antheree simple. Pis- 

 til: germen globular, inferior; style filiform, the length of the 

 corolla; stigma thickish, blunt. Pericarp: drupe globular, 

 crowned with the calix, one-celled. Seeds: nut globular; 

 nucleus globular. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Cafe: entire. 

 Corolla: tubular, superior, undivided. Drupe: with a glo- 

 bular nucleus. The only species is, 



1 . Matthiola Scabra. This tree rests on the authority of 

 Plumier, and requires farther inquiry before any thing can be 

 determined about it. Found in the West Indies. 



Mattuschkcea ; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order 

 Monogyuia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Cafe: perianth four- 

 parted ; segments ovate, acute, villose. Corolla: one-petalled ; 

 tube long; border four-cleft. Stamina: filamenta four, almost 

 equal, the length of the segments of the corolla ; antheree 

 roundish. Pistil: germen superior, four-cleft ; style filiform; 

 stigma simple. Pericarp: none. Seeds: two or four, very 

 small, naked. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Cafe: four-parted, 

 with linear leaflets. Corolla: one-petalled, with a long tube, 

 and four-cleft border. Germen: superior, four-cleft. Seeds: 

 four, naked. The only known species is, 



1. Mattuschkaea Hirsuta. Stem filiform, erect, frequently 

 quite simple, hirsute, as is the whole plant, especially the 

 calix ; flowers in a terminating sessile head, the size of a pea. 

 Native of Guiana. 



Maudlin. See Achillea. 



Maurandia; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Angio- 

 spermia. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: inferior, in five 

 deep segments. Corolla: ringent; tube bell-shaped, furrowed. 

 Capsule: of two cells, opening by five teeth at their summit. 

 There is but one species, 



1 . Mauraijdia Semperflorens ; Bastard Foxglove. It is a 

 native of Mexico, and an elegant greenhouse plant, flowering 

 for months together in the summer. The flowers are of a 

 beautiful lilac, or purple and white colour. Root perennial. 



Mauritia; a genus of the class Dioecia, order Hexandria. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male Flowers: in an oblong 

 sessile ament, covered all round with flowers closely ap- 

 proximating, with blunt scales between the flowers. Calix: 

 perianth one-leafed, cup-shaped, truncated, entire, three- 

 sided, short. Corolla: one-petalled; tube short, the length 

 of the calix; border three-parted; segments equal, spreading, 

 a little lanceolate, rigid, apparently woody, blunt. Stamina: 

 filamenta six, inserted into the throat of the tube, thick, very 

 short; antherse linear, angular, the length of the segments of 

 the corolla; three alternate ones extended between the seg- 

 ments of the corolla, and horizontal; the three others erect, 

 pressed close to the channel of the segments. Female Flowers: 

 unknown. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male Flowers: in an 

 oblong sessile ameot. Calix: one-leafed, cuD-shaped, entire. 

 Corolla: one-petalled, with a short tube, and a three-parted 

 border. Filamenta : six.- The only known species is, 



1. Mauritia Flexuosa. This is a singular tree, almost 

 without leaves; branches angular, flexuose, smooth, with short 

 joints, thickening upwards, somewhat recurved, terminated 

 by embracing sheaths, with a cup-shaped and sharper knee- 

 joint. Native of the woods of Surinam. 



May Apple. See Podophyllum. 



May Lily. See Convallaria. 



Mays. See Zea. 



May-weed. See Anthemis, Cotufa, and Matricaria. 



May wort. See Artemisia. 



Meadows. Under this title all pasture-land is commonly 

 comprehended, or at least all g^rass-land which is mown for 

 hay. By this appellation we shall distinguish such land as is 

 too moist for cattle to graze upon in winter, being generally 

 too wet to admit heavy cattle, without poaching and spoiling 

 the sward ; and for those grass-lands which are drier, we 

 refer the reader to the article Pasture, p. 254. There are two 

 sorts of meadows in England, one of which is styled Water 

 Meadows, and the other are simply called Meadows. Water 

 Meadows are those which lie contiguous to rivers or brooks, 

 from whence the water can be carried to overflow the grass at 

 pleasure. Of these there are large tracts in several parts of 

 England, which, if skilfully managed, would become much 

 more profitable to their owners than they are at present : for 

 nothing can be more absurd than the common practice of 

 plowing these low grounds all the winter, whereby the roots 

 of all the sweetest kinds of grass are destroyed, and those 

 only left, which, being natives of marshes, are sour and coarse. 

 If cultivators were curious to examine the herbage of these 

 water meadows, they would find the bulk of them composed 

 of bad weeds, such as grow by the sides of rivers, brooks, 

 and ditches, of which the several sorts of docks make no 

 small share; and although many of these produce a great 

 burden of what the country people call hay, yet it is only fit 

 for cows, cart-horses, and other animals which by hard labour 

 and hunger are. driven to eat it. After the grass is mown off" 

 these meadows, and cattle turned in to graze, how common 

 is it to see the land almost covered with these rank weeds, the 

 seeds of which ripen in autumn, and, falling into the water, are 

 carried by the stream, and deposited on the flowed land, where 

 they grow, and fill the ground in every part : but so incurious 

 are the generality of farmers in this respect, that if the ground 

 be but well covered, they care not what it is, few of them ever 

 taking any pains to weed or clean their pastures. The best 

 method for the management of these meadows is, never to flow 

 them till the middle or latter end of March, excepting once or 

 twice in winter, when there may happen floods, bringing down 

 a great deal of soil from the upper lands ; at which times it will 

 be of great service to le.t water upon the meadows, that the 

 soil may settle there ; but the sooner the wet is drained off 

 when this is lodged, the greater advantage the meadows will 

 receive by it; but from the end of March to the middle of May, 

 in dry seasons, by frequently letting on the water, the growth 

 of the grass will be greatly encouraged ; and at this season 

 there will be no danger of destroying the roots of the grass ; 

 and after the hay is carried ott'the ground, if the season should 

 prove dry, it will be of great service to the grass if the mea- 

 dows are flowed again; but when this is practised, no cattle 

 should be turned in till the surface of the ground is become firm 

 enough to bear their weight without poaching the land, for 

 otherwise the grass will suffer more from the treading of the 

 cattle, than it will receive benefit by the flowing : but these are 

 things which the country people seldom regard; so that the 

 meadows are generally very unsightly, and rendered less pro- 

 fitable. These meadows should be weeded twice a year ; the 

 first time in April, and again in October ; at which times, 

 if the roots of docks, and all bad weeds, are cut up with a 

 spaddJe, the meadows will soon be cleared of this trumpery, 

 and the herbage greatly improved. Another great improve- 

 ment of these lands might be procured by rolling them with a 

 heavy roller in spring and autvnn. This will press the sur- 

 face of the ground even, whereby it may be mown much 

 closer, and it will also sweeten the grass ; and this piece of 

 husbandry is of more service to pastures than most people 

 are aware. WATERING of' MEADOWS. There being no 



